We're back in gorgeous Hornsea by the sea and I was faced once again with Candy.
Candy is the name I've given to a large shop display doll in the window of a charity shop. I blogged about her last September and yep, she's still there in the same chair. This time I even asked if she was for sale but no chance.
I call her Candy because she looks a lot like the girl doll of the same name from the obscure Gerry Anderson comic and book line, Candy and Andy.
Here's the Anderson Candy stood next to a lake in one of the Sixties comics.
Spookily we're sat in a very similar spot, on Hornsea Mere, as I write! All I need is the doll from the shop and I could recreate the scene!
The question still remains, what happened to the actual Candy and Andy dolls? Are they lost?
The answer is no. At least they weren't around 1994. The then owner Roger Perry, erstwhile Century 21 editor, had them sold as he explains on the Bear Alley website in 2016:
"Candy, Andy and the two Bearandas be sent off for auction. By now, the rubberised “flesh” had become noticeably perished (the soft wire that ran through the fingers thus allowing items to be held began poking through the rubber) and some of the welded joints on the skeletal armature – particularly on the two bears – were sadly in need of attention. I believe the dolls were eventually bought by someone for an absolute pittance somewhere around 1994."
So there we have it. Candy et al were sold. But to whom I wonder?
I can't find any reference to that auction in 1994.
I see no one has commented on the Candy dolls.
ReplyDeleteThat's because they're just too sinister and freak us out !
I'll keep blogging about them Mish so they're not forgotten entirely!
DeleteI agree - those dolls are really, really creepy.
ReplyDeleteFunny how larger dolls are creepy. Small ones aren't.
DeleteI always think of Gerry Anderson as some kind of Sci-Fi genius... I tend to forget he was first and foremost a Producer with a lot of different projects that were hurledcatvtye wall to see what stuck! Properties like Candy and Andy and Topo Gigo haven't really lasted beyond vague memories.
ReplyDeleteCreepy dolls play on one of our most basic childhood fears - 'the monster under the bed'. Having something which at first appearance is harmless and designed to be held close at bedtime, but turns totally inimical after dark, plays on the impression that we have all had as kids, that there was something present in the room, just as we were falling asleep.. The creepy doll meme has been mined heavily by hollywood with films such as 'M3GAN' and 'Chucky', but for me, one of the scariest is Anthony Hopkins 1978 'Magic'. https://www.imdb.com/list/ls013390001/
ReplyDeleteBill
Good point. Dolls look lifelike, but have no soul. Therefore, they can easily be taken over by evil spirits, who animate them towards their own ends... SFZ
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