Amy of "Little Women"

My mother had read the book, "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, and really liked the name "Amy". So that is why I was named Amy. For some reason it was a really big deal in our family that I was named after that book.

My mother liked the Madame Alexander brand of dolls. When I was about 5-7 years old, she bought the entire set of 8" collectible dolls of the four March sisters, from the book "Little Women". For Christmas that year, Cheryl got "Meg", Cindy got "Jo", I got "Amy", and Carla got "Beth". (Above: You can see the picture from the Collectible and Antique Doll book of all four dolls. Meg in purple stripes, Jo in red, Amy in floral, Beth in pink. The book says they were manufactured from 1957-1967)

Like I said, it was a big deal that I had the "Amy" doll from the book.


A few years later, I was dressing and undressing my doll, and came upon the cloth tag in the neckline of the dress. My sisters' dolls' tags said, "Meg", "Jo" and "Beth", but my doll's tag said, "Southern Belle". I asked my mother "Why?". She confessed that the day she was buying the dolls, they were all out of the "Amy", and she substituted one she liked better. I was crushed. (Below: Southern Belle doll in blue).







Later, when I was about 16 years old, my mother made it up to me by buying me the new edition of the Amy Little Women doll (photo in yellow dress) . She is 11" tall, so she doesnt' fit with the other 8" dolls, but she is very pretty and I'm glad to have her.








(About 16 years old, probably Christmas 1975)