Tressy was an American

fashion doll Fashion dolls are dolls primarily designed to be dressed to reflect fashion trends. They are manufactured both as toys for children to play with and as collectibles for adults. The dolls are usually modeled after teen girls or adult women, though ...

with a feature to adjust the length of its hair. Tressy was first produced by

American Character Doll Company The American Character Doll Company was an American toy company specializing in dolls. Their most popular dolls included "Tiny Tears," " Tressy," "Butterball Doll", "Sweet Sue," and "Toodles." Founded in 1919, the company's fortunes peaked in the ...

in the 1960s and later by

Ideal Toy Company Ideal Toy Company was an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post–World War II baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular dolls included Betsy ...

in the 1970s. The doll was invented and patented by modern furniture designer Jesse Dean and his wife, Diana.

Description

"Tressy" was trademarked in 1963 as a doll with "hair that grows" by the American Character Toy Company of New York. It was first sold as an 11½" fashion doll similar to

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

and by the late 60s as a larger preteen doll by the Ideal Toy Company. Tressy featured a long swatch of hair that could be pulled out of the top of the doll's head by pushing a button on the doll's midriff; that mechanism allowed children the ability to comb the hair in a variety of styles. American Character clearly intended that Tressy's "growing" hair feature would give the doll a marketing edge over its blockbuster competitor, Barbie.

History

American Character Doll Company

In 1963, after approaching Ideal Toy Company with his concept and being rejected, inventor Jesse Dean sold the doll to American Character Doll Company, where it was popular from the outset, selling into its retirement in 1965. Unlike

, which maintained sole manufacturing and global distribution rights on its bestselling Barbie doll, American Character allowed the

Regal Toy Company Regal may refer to: Companies * Regal Beloit, usually referred to as Regal, an American manufacturer of electric motors * Regal Cinema (disambiguation), several cinemas of that name * Regal Cinemas, a major American theater chain * Regal Cinemas ...

of Canada to manufacture and sell its own version of Tressy which had heavier eye and facial makeup. There was also a Palitoy Tressy sold in the United Kingdom, Señorita Lilí a Mexican version of Tressy sold by Lili Ledy, and a Bella Tressy made and marketed by Societe Bella in France. In Spain it was made and distributed by Novo Gama. "Cricket" was marketed by the American Character Doll Co. in 1964. as Tressy's cousin.

Ideal Toy Company

In 1968 American Character filed for bankruptcy and Ideal acquired the defunct company's dyes, patents, and trademarks."American Character Dolls 1919-1968,"
DollReference.com. Accessed Dec. 26, 2014. Ideal used both trademarks Tressy and Cricket on their own products in the 1970s. The

version of the Tressy doll was an 18" fashion doll introduced in the year 1970 as "Gorgeous Tressy" and in 1971 as "Posin' Tressy". The Ideal Tressy Doll was specially produced for and sold only by

Sears, Roebuck & Company Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

and is considered by some collectors to be part of the

Crissy Crissy is an American fashion doll with a feature to adjust the length of its hair. Crissy was created in the Ideal Toy Corporation's prototype department in 1968. History and concept The creative idea and realization of a doll that “grows” ...

"family" of dolls. She was advertised next to Crissy in Sears catalogs and like the Crissy Doll, Ideal Tressy's major appeal was her "growing-hair" feature. Tressy was pictured in Sears catalogs modeling exclusive Sears catalog outfits created for her and the Crissy Doll. However, Crissy Doll fashion packages do not mention the Ideal Tressy Doll as they do Crissy's companion dolls, the

Kerry doll Crissy is an American fashion doll with a feature to adjust the length of its hair. Crissy was created in the Ideal Toy Corporation's prototype department in 1968. History and concept The creative idea and realization of a doll that “grows” ...

and the

Brandi Doll Crissy is an American fashion doll with a feature to adjust the length of its hair. Crissy was created in the Ideal Toy Corporation's prototype department in 1968. History and concept The creative idea and realization of a doll that “grows” ...

Gorgeous Tressy

In 1970 Ideal's "Gorgeous Tressy" came dressed in a yellow and white geometric print dress and panties with black bow tie shoes. This same issue can also can be found in an orange and white dress variation. This issue was released with a straight body in a white or black version. Tressy's Caucasian version had black hair and blue eyes, and the

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

version had black hair and brown eyes.

Posin' Tressy

Ideal's "Posin' Tressy" was released in 1971 (white-only) with the Posin' body style, meaning the doll had a swivel waist that had limited movement in both the horizontal and vertical planes so the doll could strike various poses for the child at play. In 1971 Posin' Tressy could be purchased wearing a belted turquoise, satin and white lace long-sleeved mini dress and panties with matching bow tie shoes. In 1972 Sears also offered the "Posin' Tressy" doll in a special gift set. This was a satin wedding dress set which coordinated with the bridesmaid dress set also available with the Cricket doll.

Cricket

In 1971 Ideal released 16-inch tall "Posin' Cricket" with copper-colored hair, brown sleep eyes and featuring the Posin' body style. Like Tressy, Cricket was produced for and sold only by Sears, Roebuck & Company.