Liddle Kiddles

Liddle Kiddles were dolls originally produced by toymakers Mattel Inc. in 1965. They were introduced at the 1966 New York Toy Fair and put on the market soon after. Initially about 3 inches tall, they were tiny by doll standards. The sensation they created in the toy world caused other toy companies to produce their own tiny dolls.

Mattel founder Elliot Handler oversaw the project. He told engineers and sculptors that he wanted the dolls to resemble little children in neighborhoods across America. Martha Armstrong-Hand, the famous doll sculptor at Mattel, made the first Kiddles in 1965. She explained that the first set of ten dolls used only three different head molds but had different hairstyles and face paint. Armstrong-Hand also sculpted other Mattel dolls, such as Drowsy (1965), Baby First Step (1965) and Cheerful Tearful (1966). A fun accessory introduced in 1968 was the Liddle Kiddle Talking Town House, this had one of the famous Mattel talking voice units inside. When the "chatty-ring" was pulled you would hear one of 8 different phrases, such as "This is where the Liddle Kiddles live!" The voice unit was the very same one that had been introduced in 1960 inside Mattel's Chatty Cathy doll, and used in all other Mattel talking dolls and toys.