Mod Barbie & Other 70s Dolls
  • Mod Barbies
  • blog
  • Barbie & Friends
    • P.J. Doll, Barbie's best friend
    • Francie Doll
    • Skipper Doll
  • Collecting Mod Barbies
  • History
  • Ten fast facts about Barbie
  • Contact

1974 - 1978 Mattel Sunshine Family

1/18/2020

2 Comments

 
1978 The Sunshine Fun Family dolls #sunshinefamily #70sdolls #steveandstephie #sweetssunshine #babysweets1978 Mattel Sunshine Fun Family; Dad Steve, Mom Stephie, big sister Sweets Sunshine and baby brother
belo
Trend-setting Barbie was living in her 3-story posh beach townhouse tooling around town in her pink Star 'Vette sports car. Dawn sashayed down her fashion show stage and zipped around in her pink convertible action car. Fashionista Tuesday Taylor entertained her highbrow, cosmopolitan friends in a beautiful penthouse apartment. Then... there was The Sunshine Family. A fashionable and luxurious lifestyle was definitely not their vibe!

This salt-of-the-earth hippie family wove macrame belts and purses and made pretty flower pots. They probably also embroidered jeans, baked granola and tie-dyed vintage T-shirts. They made their living selling these treasures to local folks from their mobile craft store in the Piggyback Shack on the back of their far-out yellow van. 

Mattel produced The Sunshine Family (SF) from 1974 - 1978 and they were 9" tall. The first set of dolls included Dad Steve, Mom Stephie and baby Sweets. All of the adult dolls were made of soft, posable vinyl with jointed knees. They wore prairie dresses, peasant blouses, bell bottoms, turtlenecks, cords, rainbow striped tank tops and sandals. I'm willing to bet they recycled and were vegan! Next came The Sunshine Family's white-haired grandparents and family pets, a friendly cat and playful dog.

In 1975, before the second issue of SF in 1976, Mattel added groovy African-American neighbors, The Happy Family, along with their set of grandparents. The Happy Family set included Dad Hal, Mom Hattie and baby Hon. One doll you don't hear much about is SF's red-haired aunt and cousin (a baby). All SF dolls were made the same size and shape.
​
Initially, the dolls' fashions were DIY and you could customize the threads yourself. The second series SF fashions were redesigned and looked a little more modern. Steve wore jeans instead of khaki pants and another red turtleneck but in a brighter color and different fabric. Stephie had a more noticeable update. Her granny-style dress with the apron was replaced with a cooler jumper dress over a short-sleeved red blouse. Her hair was shorter, blonder and styled a bit differently.

In the last year of production in 1978, the third series of The Sunshine Family was updated and changed its name to, "The Sunshine Fun Family." The African-American dolls were renamed "The Happy Fun Family."

​Baby Sweets grew up to be big sister Sweets Sunshine and the family added an unnamed cute, freckle-faced baby boy with red hair. The box the new family came packaged in says, "And now there are 4! Mom, Dad, big sister and baby brother having fun together!" Dad Steve had a new outfit along with a funky, tight-curled hairstyle. Mom Stephie wore a new dress, had longer hair with a more natural color and upped her game with eye shadow and lipstick! Blonde-haired Sweets had orange ribbons in her ponytails and wore a cute orange jumper with matching orange shoes. The baby donned a jumper with a white top and brown shorts that matched the Dad's new outfit. The Happy Family also came in a family of four with big sister Hon Happy. The little girl versions of Sweets Sunshine and especially Hon Happy are probably the hardest to find of the SF dolls because they were only produced for about a year.

The Sunshine Family's modest (vinyl fold-out) one-bedroom home had a wood-burning furnace, rocking chair, kitchenette set, bed and other accessories and furniture. The house was comprised of a bedroom, kitchen, patio and living room. The Sunshine Fun Family got an updated house that included a kiddie pool and swing set. Each Sunshine family of dolls and each family accessory came with its own things-to-make Idea Book. It gave kids suggestions on how to creatively decorate The Sunshine Family's home with odds-n-ends around the house. You could grow potato plants in tiny paper cups, braid yarn to make a rug, make a sofa out of a milk carton or build an ice cream stick fence.

The eco-conscious Sunshine Family had other cool things like a Craft Store that came with a functional spinning wheel and pottery stand, a 2-story farm complete with a cow you could milk, a baby's nursery and a 3-wheeled Surrey bicycle the family could ride together. You could also purchase separate fashions, coloring books and paper dolls.

In our bicentennial year, 1976, a set of dolls were released called the Star Spangled dolls. These were my least favorite. The collection included blonde-haired Miss Alison Thompson (Colonial Girl #7941) in a long blue and yellow dress with a white wrap; Rosa Lee Linden (Southern Belle #7939) with long red hair wearing a floral dress and straw hat; brunette Sara Jane Benson (Pioneer Daughter #7940) wearing a pink bonnet, long purple dress and floral purple shawl; Indian Maiden #7938; Regina and Richard Stanton (Liberty Patriots #7944); Jazz Performers #7945 and Thanksgiving Pilgrims #7943. 
​
Thank you dolls for tripping down memory lane with me! xo

​Find Sunshine Family dolls on eBay in this link below! 

https://ebay.us/SDIjyy
Sunshine Family, 1976 Indian Maiden, Star-Spangled Series
Sunshine Family, 1976 Colonial Girl, Star-Spangled Series
Sunshine Family, 1976 Southern Belle Rosa Lee Linden, Star-Spangled Series
Hal, Hattie and Baby Hon from the 1975 Happy Family, friends of the Sunshine Family
#SUNSHINEFAMILY #BABYSWEETS #THEHAPPYFAMILY #70SDOLLS #STARSPANGLEDDOLLS #BABYHON #STEVEANDSTEPHIE #HALANDHATTIE #HONHAPPY #SWEETSSUNSHINE #SUNSHINEFAMILYDOLLS #MATTEL #MATTELSUNSHINEDOLLS #70SSUNSHINEFAMILY

REFERENCES:
HTTPS://CLICKAMERICANA.COM/TOYS-AND-GAMES/SUNSHINE-FAMILY-PLAY-SETS-1970S
HTTPS://WWW.METV.COM/STORIES/THE-SUNSHINE-FAMILY-WERE-THE-MOST-1970S-TOYS-OF-THE-1970S
HTTP://ILOVETHESUNSHINEFAMILY.BLOGSPOT.COM/
HTTPS://CLICKAMERICANA.COM/TOYS-AND-GAMES/SUNSHINE-FAMILY-PLAY-SETS-1970S
2 Comments
barbie doll boxes link
9/9/2021 01:49:09 am

Thank you for sharing such information.
Your informative post has answered all of my questions.
I really appreciate the research work and effort it improves my knowledge.
<a href="https://packagingxpert.com/Barbie Doll-boxes">Barbie Boxes</a>

Reply
Lynne link
9/11/2022 06:23:34 pm

Hi there! I love helping people so your comment just made my day. TU!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search for any Barbie or other 70s doll blog posts in the box below!
    Tweets by ModBarbies

    Archives

    September 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    September 2018
    May 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

Contact Us

Subscribe to my new blog posts

Join Now
  • Mod Barbies
  • blog
  • Barbie & Friends
    • P.J. Doll, Barbie's best friend
    • Francie Doll
    • Skipper Doll
  • Collecting Mod Barbies
  • History
  • Ten fast facts about Barbie
  • Contact
Picture