Strawberry Shortcake, Take Two

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After I graduated college, my parents passed on several bins of my childhood toys. Unsure of what to do with so many grody action figures, I stashed them in a corner of my basement. Until now.

If you were a girl-child of the eighties, I’m sure you’ll share my delight in the idea of unearthing a handful of vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Not that sassy, wannabe reboot, but the real deal, a product of Cincinnati’s own Kenner Products. An hour’s soak in a sink full of off-brand delicate laundry detergent restored Apple Dumplin’, Butter Cookie, Apricot, and Cherry Cuddler a modicum of their former glory, but alas, none of their original, tantalizing scents. Which, let’s be real, was half their charm.

Still, my parents’ sentimentality paid off. My toddler daughter fixated on them immediately, one already in each hand even as my husband looked at me with some concern and asked, “Can she play with your dolls?”

“Yeah, they’re hers now.”

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