1976 - 1978 Tuesday Taylor

1976 Ideal Tuesday Taylor doll

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I love me some Mod Barbies but let's take a peek at another mod doll from the late 70s... 1976 Tuesday Taylor! She's often confused with Tiffany Taylor, but more on Tiffany later.

​Tuesday was advertised as a 'sophisticated city girl who goes to exciting places and has a fantastic career.' She has a few things in common with Mod Barbie; both are 11 1/2" vinyl fashion dolls with rooted hair and eyelashes and painted eyes. Both wear hip, stylish fashions. 

Twist Tuesday's scalp and she goes from blonde to brunette!

Tuesday had a unique gimmick: you could rotate her scalp (see photo on left) transforming her from a sun-streaked blonde with short bangs to an exotic brunette - all with a quick twist of the top of her head.

​Hair play with dolls was very popular in the 70s. When you look closely at my photo, you'll see a line on the top of her head. That's the part you twist and she flips her hair colors. 
Ideal also produced an African-American counterpart, named Taylor Jones, with black and bright auburn hair. She's valued higher than the white doll. Ms. Jones reminds me of one of my favorite Barbie dolls, 1974 Malibu Christie.

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The second iteration of Tuesday is 1977's posable Suntan Tuesday Taylor.  She still had the color-changing hair but her new gimmick is she tans. When you place little doodle stickers on her body and put her in the sunshine, cute tattoos show up when you remove the stickers - fun! The tan does go away after indoors for a while. Malibu Barbie has been known to say, however, 'A plastic tan never fades.' That line cracks me up every time! Suntan Tuesday is highly sought after with her vertical, oval-shaped sunglasses. A European version also had the same sunnies but came with a shorter, Marlo Thomas flip hairstyle (like Barbie's "Marlo Flip" Twist 'n Turn doll!)

The third model of Tuesday was 1978 Beauty Queen Tuesday Taylor (photo on right.) She does not have posable arms, wrists and legs like the first two Tuesday dolls. She only has blonde hair without the rotating scalp. Unfortunately, there was not a black version of this doll. LAME.
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The last and final edition is 1978's curly-haired Super Model Tuesday Taylor with her Fashion Stepper. A walking mechanism allowed her to walk like the Walk Lively Barbie dolls of the 70's. Like the Beauty Queen doll, she does not have rooted eyelashes or the rotating scalp and only comes in blonde. Her arms, legs and wrists are bendable unlike the Beauty Queen. Super Model Tuesday Taylor came in an African-American version but, this time, her name wasn't Taylor Jones. It stayed Tuesday Taylor. AGAIN LAME. 

Ideal designers expanded Tuesday's world with a convertible penthouse apartment that you can change from day to night with the backdrop (more chic than Barbie's Country Living home!), a two-level Summer/Winter Vacation Home (perhaps in Malibu?), a Skipper-like little sister, 9" Dodi, and a 12" tall yoked-out boyfriend, Eric. He has a pea-size head compared to his body, sooooo funny! Dodi and Eric didn't have any of their own fashions in addition to what they came dressed in. 

1978 Beauty Queen Tuesday Taylor

Now, Tiffany Taylor! In 1974, Ideal's Crissy doll was a bit dated and phased out. Ideal wanted to jump on the "dolls that do stuff" trend so created an equally large doll, Tiffany Taylor, from 1974 - 1976. At 19" Tiffany is much larger than Tuesday. Tiffany was the same size as Crissy doll but they are not part of the same family.

Tiffany has rooted hair and lashes, blue eyes, non-bendable arms and legs and was a competitor of Super Size Barbie of the same size. Tiffany's eyes are half-closed giving her a 70s "stoned" look (lol!) and her eye makeup is much heavier than Tuesday's. Tiffany also came in a black model. Initially, Tiffany was a great idea but since Barbie was the Queen Bee, Ideal reused Tiffany's gimmicks on a smaller doll, more like Barbie's size. That's how Tuesday was born! 

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Source: Collectible Doll Fashions: 1970, Carmen Varricchio (2003)