Elizabeth Cole - 1775... Again?!
- wingedmermaid
- Oct 29, 2024
- 7 min read
Updated: Feb 7
I've been a Samantha fangirl for many years, but I think it's safe to say that the baton has been passed to Elizabeth Cole...
Allow me to tell you the tale of Elizabeth IV and how she came to reside with me. 😅
I got my first Elizabeth doll earlier this year. She was a preowned doll I'd found on eBay who looked to be in fantastic condition except for a major haircut. Luckily for me, I only needed her head, and with a little cleaning and customizing, she became my Ariel.
After Ariel was complete, I couldn't stop thinking about how pretty Elizabeth was -- way nicer than her American Girl stock photos showed! I quickly decided I needed to add her to my collection. After hunting on eBay for awhile and finding a lot of overpriced, not-so-great condition Elizabeths, I found an unmarked doll (listed as "American Girl blonde blue eyes") for $25. From how she looked in photos, I wasn't very confident that I'd be able to restore her (she was very loved), but I knew that if she was beyond my skill level, I could always send her in to the Care Center and have her head and body replaced. Elizabeth #2 arrived, was indeed beyond my ability, and quickly made her way to the Care Center.
Elizabeth #3 arrived a few weeks later on April 1st, and I absolutely LOVE her to pieces. Lizzie is my sewing buddy. She's helped me try out tens of sewing projects at this point, patiently standing by and offering silent encouragement while I accidentally stab myself with a pin for the hundredth time or yell at my sewing machine, the fabric, or the thread to "OMG, PLEASE COOPERATE WITH ME!" Her hairstyle makes it easy for me to try things on her as I work, and there's something very nostalgic about having her in particular as my sewing buddy.
When I was a kid, I practiced sewing by making things for my Magic Attic Club Megan doll. At the same time, I was reading her books and noting all the ways I related to her character. I feel like I'm doing that again, now with Lizzie. Elizabeth doesn't have much "screen time" as a "best friend" character, but I feel like I can relate more closely to her personality than some of the other American Girl characters. I like that she can be quiet and shy at first, but more outgoing and fun around people she knows better. She's clever, patient, and likes to plan things out. Sometimes I wish I could be bolder like Felicity or Samantha, but I think I'm definitely an Elizabeth at heart.
After helping me with so many projects, Lizzie's hair began to look a little messy (probably from being snagged by pins and velcro so often). I tried to redo her original hairstyle, but it was surprisingly difficult! In theory, it should be a loose French braid that turns into a low ponytail, but her thick hair is harder to manage than you'd expect -- for me, anyway. Looking at Elizabeth doll listings on eBay, it seems I'm likely not alone. It's very rare to see a preowned doll with her meet hairstyle. Usually, her hair is down (often with her pincurls chopped off or blended in) or in a basic ponytail.
I began to jokingly think to myself that I should get a second Elizabeth and keep her hair perfectly intact, in the same way that AG collectors sometimes joke about having two Kirstens -- one with her difficult-to-replicate factory set braids forever preserved and one to create different hairstyles with (her flowing hair and flower crown a la Happy Birthday, Kirsten is my personal favorite).
One day, while I was adding more of the items I've been decluttering to eBay, I stumbled on a listing for a Pleasant Company marked head Elizabeth -- preowned, but her hair looked to be completely untouched. She didn't have her box or book, but it looked like she was wearing her complete meet outfit, including her shoes! Elizabeth's shoes, like some of the other pleather American Girl pieces, are prone to cracking and flaking -- badly. I began to wonder if my joke idea wouldn't be such a bad idea after all... At this point, I'd already sold one doll (McKenna) and was planning to let go of another doll (Talia), so technically, I'd have room for one more doll...
I decided to give it a few days. Maybe I would come to my senses. Or maybe someone else would snatch her up and that would be that. If it was meant to be, it was meant to be, right? But during that time, I found myself checking constantly to see if she was still available. It was getting harder to wait! Then, on the hundredth time checking the listing, I noticed the seller was open to best offers. I decided to try putting in a lower, but still reasonable offer. If they accepted, great! If not, I'd let that be the end of that. To my surprise, my offer was quickly accepted!
This is where things took a turn for the crazy. The original shipping estimate was a few days out, which worked great because I was planning to visit my sister over the weekend and wouldn't be home to grab any packages. But the doll ended up moving much faster than expected and the schedule changed to show it was arriving on the exact day I'd be gone! One package intercept and an early run to the post office later and I'd successfully gotten my doll...
...My retired Pleasant Company head Elizabeth doll in her original outfit with delicate shoes, who had been shipped to me in nothing but a TrulyMe doll box closed up with a few strips of packing tape. I was pretty appalled.
When I pack the things I sell, I make sure they arrive to their new destination completely protected -- overprotected! I save packing supplies from packages I've received and reuse them to the fullest. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was slightly wrapped in a white trash bag, had a net over her hair, and was just flopping to and fro in the TrulyMe box that she was placed in (upside down at that).
My mom and I carefully opened her lid and stood her up, and immediately, the eyelashes in her left eye shot up almost completely into her eyeball! I was still so stunned at how she'd arrived, I didn't even notice! Thankfully, my mom (who is also an avid AG fan) acted quickly, grabbed her tweezers, and helped me catch the eyelashes before they were too far retracted to be saved. I double and triple checked the listing -- her eyelashes had been completely fine when she was listed, so I'm guessing the rough trip may have loosened the glue. We carefully pulled the lashes and taped them to her cheeks, and when I returned from my sister's, I set to work gluing two thin layers of tacky glue to join the eyelashes to the lid. To get a seamless look, you'd have to remove and open up the eyes, but my dolls are always standing upright with their eyes open, so gluing from the front where it wouldn't even be visible was an easy choice for me.
The next day, I set to work cleaning and restoring Elizabeth. I scrubbed her limbs and face, which were surprisingly very clean, and did a quick surface wipe-down of her cloth body (there were a couple small spots I wasn't sure about, so I thought it was better to be safe). I gave her outfit a quick clean (Elizabeth's dress fabric bleeds, so I did a very quick and careful clean of it), and I started working with her shoes.
Her slippers remind me of an ancient artifact in a movie -- one that someone barely touches and it begins to crumble to dust from age. I panicked as I watched more and more cracks form on her shoes and I stupidly tried to save them by slathering fabric medium all over them. Not fabric medium added to some kind of acrylic paint, just fabric medium. Needless to say, it didn't do much and I had to remove it with soap and water before trying a coat of Testors Model Master semi-gloss, which seems to be working well so far! I love that stuff. I've used it on a custom droid, I've sealed repainted doll lips with it; it's awesome. I'm not sure how well it'll hold the fragments of Elizabeth's shoes together, but we'll hope for the best.
Next, it was time to tackle Elizabeth's hair. I was so disheartened to see how much her hairstyle had fallen apart from her rough journey to me. I'd chosen this particular doll because of her hairstyle! It took five or six increasingly frustrating tries, but I think I got fairly close in the end. The thing that surprised me most with this Elizabeth's hair is just how long, thick, and soft it is compared to Lizzie's. You wouldn't expect an older doll to have better hair than a new head directly from American Girl. When I brushed it out, a few loose hairs came out, in the same way that happens with any new doll. I have a hunch this doll was never used or played with whatsoever -- which makes me really wonder where she came from. Was she owned by an adult collector? Was she forgotten in someone's closet? I'd ask the seller for more details, but after their horrible shipping job, I kinda just want to be done with them...
I'm pretty excited to finally have a "Pleasant Company" stamped doll. There's something about the PC mold heads -- their expressions are so sweet.
Yesterday, after her shoes were finally completely dry, I put her back together in her meet outfit and set her on her stand. I am so happy with how she turned out. She didn't take a major transformation, just a lot of minor tweaks and quick cleanings (and one tricky hairstyle), but each step did take some time. I'm really glad I now have my "to use" Lizzie and my display-only Elizabeth. I don't have to worry about Lizzie becoming disheveled and I can see Elizabeth's beautiful meet outfit whenever I want. I'm thinking of looking for or maybe even making her accessories, too.
And now, I think my collection of Elizabeth Coles is complete. I mean it this time! 🤣
Welcome, Elizabeth! ♥
