These outfits are the same as the 3rd Cornsilk series . . . yet not!
I’m calling this the Homophone Set as they are the same as the 3rd Cornsilk series, but they are also different. These dresses are made of cotton, instead of the sateen and velveteen of the fancier dresses. They don’t come with a special birth certificate, tights, or any of the accessories the cornsilk kids did. However, structurally, they are the same. The only significant difference is outfit #730 . . . more on that later.
Right pic courtesy of Kat Perhouse.
This group of outfits (724 – 730) came out concurrent with the 3rd Cornsilk series (718-723) in 1987. Refer to that post for details on the timing debate. It was made exclusively by the KT factory. They had matching bloomers, socks, and Mary Jane shoes. So far, I have only seen white shoes.
Photos courtesy of Kat Perhouse and Sarah Kimmel.
Based on my research to this point, I believe that the outfit codes for this series work like this:
There were six patterns used for these dresses, and each pattern comes in one to three colour options. There are six versions of each dress, as each dress comes in all six patterns, but in only one option for each colour. Consequently, if an outfit comes in purple with buds, it will not come in mint green with buds.
The Big Yellow Flower pattern might come in two unofficial versions. Some outfits are made of vibrantly coloured fabric, and others are made from fabric that appears faded. I’m unsure if this is caused by photo manipulation, flashes, or if there are actual differences in the fabrics.
Save the Boys for Last!
The last outfit in this series, #730, is a boy’s outfit. It was the only boy outfit produced in this series, and there is no cornsilk equivalent as there were no boy cornsilk dolls produced. It makes me wonder if a ‘fancy’ version of this outfit was created for the prototype Cornsilk boys. What a find that would be!
Photos courtesy of Kat Perhouse.I’m not sure which version of B is correct. I need to see a kid who’s been MIB.
I apologize for my infrequent posting this week. I had an opportunity to finally complete a project that has been on my to-do list for months. I call it my Group Shots.
These are photographs of my kids in various groupings, themed and clothing by number. It’s an annual record of my collection, and really, just something I like to do. However, I do post them in a FB photo album. If you’d like to see them, go ahead!
As I mentioned in the 3rd series, I am unsure which came first, the 3rd series (720s) or the 4th series (760s). I do know that these outfits came out in 1987 and came in the same boxes, with the same accessories, as the 720s kids. To review this discussion, jump here: Cornsilk Series 3: Beautiful Dresses, pt. 2
This series was made by the P factory, and they are among the hardest Cornsilk outfits to find. It’s likely that they weren’t produced for very long, and there doesn’t appear to be more than two versions of each outfit. That means fewer to find overall.
I only have five outfits recorded, out of what I think is a possible series of eight, if not more. Based on my records to this point, each outfit appears to have 1 or 2 versions (A, B).
They all come with white underwear. Most come with socks, although #765 has tights. Most appear to have come with white Mary Janes, but a few came with white sneakers and solid-form boots.
Mary Jane ShoesWhite SneakersUnderwearSolid Form Boots
The Outfits
#762 -Double shirt and quilted skirt
A – Photo courtesy of Heather McCurdy MinixB – Photo courtesy of Julie Champman
#763 – Unknown Outfit
#764 – Unknown Outfit
#765 – Romper dress and blouse
A – Photo courtesy of Sarah GaltB
#766 – Double shirt and skort
Photo courtesy of Lisa March Graves Kuhn
#767 – Unknown Outfit
#768 – Windbreaker Outfit
Photo courtesy of Melissa Crick Gore
#769 – Terry cloth top and tied pants
Photo courtesy of Jen Nicol.
I believe that this outfit is part of this series, but I don’t know which of the three numbers it fills: 763, 764, or 767.
Photo courtesy of Jodi Issacs.
Similar Outfits
Outfit #765 is often mistaken for outfits #148, #402-8, and #332.
#765#402-8 Photo courtesy of Annie Mauboussi Johnston#332#148 Photo courtesy of Jodi Issacs.
Outfits #762 and #766 can be confused for each other, as the only difference is the skirt versus the skort.
Outfit #768 and the ruffled unknown outfit are often mistaken for each other and for outfits #516 and #512.
#768 Photo courtesy of Melissa Crick GoreUnknown outfit – Photo courtesy of Jodi Issacs#516 Photo courtesy of Lori Clark.#512 Photo courtesy of Jodi Issacs
Other Information
Prototype outfits can be seen in these pictures from the 1987 Coleco Catalogue, p. 7.
Series 3 came out in 1987. Honestly, I’m not sure which came first, Series 3 or Series 4. Some reference sources indicate that Series 4 (760s) came out before Series 3. (Ref#2, p. 79; Ref#3, p. 150) However, there is also evidence for Series 3 coming out before Series 4.
4 then 3: Outfits in Series 4 are very similar to those in Series 2 (300s).
4 then 3: Series 4 kids seem to come with the earlier ‘flowered’ birth certificate more then Series 3. Most of Series 3 comes with the ‘non-flowered’ birth certificate.
3 then 4:Outfits in Series 4 are much harder to find than those in Series 3. Generally, this means the series was produced for a short length of time. This would have occurred if they had started selling them later in 1987 and then quickly switched to a newer group of outfits in 1988/98.
3 then 4:The codes in Series 3 are numerically lower than those of Series 4. From this, I assume that they planned Series 4 after Series 3. However, this does not tell us what order they came out in. Also, by the time these outfits were produced, Coleco was not always numbering outfits in order anymore.
Same time: The 3rd Series was made by the KT factory and the 760s by the P factory. Did they come out at the same time, but were made by different factories?
Description
This series (3rd) consists of six very pretty dress styles. I believe they initially came in the same boxes and with the same birth certificates as the 2nd series, but when those ran out, they changed. The newer boxes looked the same, but the ribbons were in plastic sleeves attached to the box liner, and the hand tag and birth certificate changed to have a modern look.
Courtesy of Doreen Russell
The dresses generally came with matching bloomers, lacy white tights, and white Mary Jane shoes. However, I have seen one example that came with socks, and a few of them came with black Mary Jane shoes. I don’t have enough information at this time to list which came with which. I need more information!
The Outfits
There are 6 outfits in this series and they were made entirely by the KT factory. I believe that there are six or seven versions of each outfit: 3 sateen (A, B, C), 3 – 4 velveteen (E, F,?). Using the Cotton Version Seriesas a reference, it appears that they did not create a D.
Sateen version and velveteen version.
Photos courtesy of Jodi’s Punk Patch, Callie Cabbies, and Cassidi Carroll.
There are 6 to 7 colour options for each fabric (6 sateen, 7 velveteen). As there are only three to four versions of each dress, only three colours were used for each one. There doesn’t appear to be a pattern for which colours they chose for which outfits.
For every dress in the ‘fancy’ series that came on Cornsilk Kids, there is a ‘less fancy’ cotton version that came on regular kids. (#724-729) They came out at the same time. For more information, jump to: Ho·mo·phone: the same . . . but different *
RegularCornsilkRegular (from Kat Perhouse)Cornsilk
Breaking the Rules
Some of these Cornsilk outfits were later found on ‘regular’ kids. I believe they did this when they were getting rid of extra stock in late 1987 or 1988.
Pop up topic: Who or what is Elkay? What are these tags for? That was the mystery, but we found the answer.
The other day Jodi Punki Patch asked me if I knew where these tags might have come from and or what they were for. I had no idea.
Looking closely, they’re from a company called ELKAY and have Made in USA in the top left corner, where the silk square labels used on CPK doll clothes don’t.
Regular CPK clothing tag
By doing some online research, I found a US company with the name ELKAY, which made children’s clothing in the 1980s. I did not find direct evidence that they produced CPK clothing; however, I could not find another company with that name that was doing anything even tangentially related to toys or children.
While discussing it with Jodi, I had a thought. Softies were often dressed in child-sized clothing.
BINGO!
Sure enough, the original outfit of one of my softies has this label in the neck. It appears that this company made at least some of the clothing used to dress softies in the mid-1980s.
This discovery leads to the following questions:
When exactly did they make CPK related clothing?
What softie lines did they making clothes for?
Did they produce human kid clothing?
However, these questions will need to be looked into by Softie collectors and those at the Soft Face Place. It does not fit my blogs mandate.
About Elkay
The company was incorporated in 1965 in New York, New York. They manufactured clothing, specializing in children’s clothing. They had multiple clothing factories located in South Carolina. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1990, and the majority of the manufacturing machines were auctioned off and sold in 1991. They continued attempting to register trademarks until 1996, but none appear to have been successful.
This, the second Cornsilk series, came out in mid-1986. It is characterized by bold colours, wacky looks, and layering. It came in a rectangular box with a window arrangement at the top and no ‘vanity’ or other details inside. (Ref#3, p. 150) They still came with the flowery birth certificate, bag of hair ties, brush, hairstyle guide, and were handhold kids.
1st photo courtesy of Nicole Snow.
I’m not sure how many outfits are in this series. It starts around #320 and goes to at least #333, but could go higher. I am missing #331, if it exists. I do not know how many versions of each outfit were made, but I think it’s around six (A-F). The highest letter I have is F. For more information on the outfit codes, jump to What are Clothing Tag Codes.
They were manufactured by the OK, P, and KT factories. However, instead of each factory making a code LETTER, in this series (so far), they made specific outfit NUMBERS and all the letters in those outfits. This holds true for all the outfits except #332 for which I have two factories recorded., P & KT.
These outfits came with brightly coloured socks that were larger and structurally different than the original socks, had underpants not diapers, and either solid-form boots or ballet flats. For more information on shoes, visit Shoes: Overview and Summary Links.
BootsBallet Flats
#321 (OK) – Boots
#322 (KT) – Boots
#323 (P) – Boots
#324 (OK) – Boots
#325 (P) – Ballet Flats
#326 (KT) – Boots
#327 (KT) – Ballet Flats
#328 (OK) – Boots
#329 (P) – White Ballet Flats or Boots
#330 (OK) – Ballet Flats
#331 – outfit unidentified
#332 (KT, P) – White Boots
#333 (OK) – Boots
The Outfits
#321 – Sweatsuit
#322 – Knit top with Skirt and Leggings
Courtesy of Christine Marie.Courtesy of Callie Anne.
#323 – X Sweater and Skirt
#324 – Pocketed jacket and tracksuit
Photos courtesyof Susana Isabel Torres.
#325 – Aerobics Dress
#326 – Double shirt with matching waist tie
Courtesy of Dani Bryant Nelson.Coutesy of Carey Reiss Jarchow.
#327 – Knit sweater vest with skort and jacket
#328 – Double sweater with a jacket
Courtesy of Jonelle Geathers.
#329 – Pocket sweater outfit
#330 – Double sweater outfit
#332 – Romper Dress
Courtesy of Chris Hansing Tallman
#333 – Sweater and pants outfit
If you would like to send pictures, if at all possible, please include a ‘pieces’ picture like the one below. The layers in these outfits make it difficult to see individual pieces. This makes it difficult when trying to determine which outfit a single piece goes with. The first time I saw the sleeveless shirts, I was very surprised! However, if the kid is MIB or NRFB, a picture of the doll wearing the outfit is fine. For additional instructions, visit Taking Tag Pictures.
Other Information
Some of the outfits can be more easily identified using sweater patterns.
#324#330#330, #333#328#324#330
These outfits would continue to be found on MIB kids until 1987.
Some of these kids came in the older Cornsilk boxes. This was probably done during the transition from the older styles to the newer style.
Similar Outfits
Almost all the outfits in this series are similar to those in Cornsilk Series 4.
These Cornsilk kids came out in 1986. They came in a box with a curved top and a cardboard vanity inside. They came with a bag of hair ties, a brush, and a hairstyling guide. In order to hold the brush, these kids were hand-hold kids. Their birth certificates were flowery in design.
There are nine outfits in this series, #160 – #168. Each outfit appears to have somewhere between 6 to 12 versions (denoted by the letters). For information on clothing codes, jump to: Clothing Tag Codes.
Photos courtesy of Jamie Osterbuhr, Jodi’s Punki Patch, and other unknown sources.
These outfits were made by the KT and OK factories. KT is the primary factory for outfits A, B, C, and OK is the primary factory for outfits H, J, and K. I believe that some of the outfits were made by both factories, although not all. I am missing many KT outfits in my record, as many of the KT tags do not come with a letter code for unknown reasons.
All these outfits came with either black or white Mary Jane style shoes and wore regular diapers.
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information I would like to hear from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details, visit Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
“They came with” Information
#160: Came with lacy tights and white Mary Jane shoes. #161: Came with solid white tights and black Mary Jane shoes. #162: Came with matching bloomers and white Mary Janes shoes. #163: It generally came with solid white tights, although a few may have been lacy, and white Mary Jane shoes. #164: Came with white bloomers and most likely black Mary Jane shoes. #165: Came with matching bloomers and white Mary Jane shoes. #166: Came with lacy tights and white Mary Janes shoes. #167: This outfit came with solid colour tights, but they may have been colour coordinated with the dress. I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure they came with white Mary Jane shoes. #168: Came with matching bloomers and either regular shoes or Mary Janes, I’m not sure yet. This may be the exception to the Mary Jane shoe rule. I have also seen this outfit packaged.
Outfit Specific Notes
— #162: These dresses come in two fabrics, sateen and non-sateen. 162H has such a big ‘surprise’ that is explained in a separate post – Mystery Fancy Frock.
— #163: They used two fabric patterns for this outfit; one has purple flowers, and one has yellow flowers.
— #166 & #168 seem to be the most difficult to find.
—#167: This outfit is called the Cornsilk Country Dress. This distinction is made because #502, which came out a year earlier, is also called theCountry Dress. The easiest ways to distinguish between them are the number of flower patches and the curved name logo patch.
#502 Country Dress#167 Cornsilk Country Dress, Courtesy of Jamie Osterbuhr
Other Information
— These outfits came out in early 1986 but could still be found on new kids coming out in 1987. Some may even have come on regular yarn hair kids. They were most likely getting rid of old stock. (Ref# 3, p. 152)
— There is a second set of outfits with numbers in the 160s. They are Sipping Kids outfits. I have no idea why they duplicated the numbers.
I apologize for the double post. This post was created as part of my editing process.
FYI: This series of posts refers only to those kids sold as Cornsilk Kids. This post does not refer to Growing Hair Kids, Sipping Kids, Talkers, Designer Line Kids, Splashing Kids, or later kids manufactured by other companies. Only girl Cornsilk Kids were produced.
There are four known series of outfits that were used exclusively on Cornsilk Kids (to a point). They came out in 1986 and 1987. Each series has easily identifiable characteristics; however, they can also be VERY confusing.
This is the first of five posts in which I will attempt to demystify these beautiful, wacky, and confusing outfits.
Series 2:Wacky and Layered Outfits – A set of wacky coloured/patterned mod-styled outfits. Many have a lot of pieces and layers. Launched mid-1986. (Ref #2, p. 79)
Series 3: Beautiful Dresses Part 2, Dresses made of sateen, velveteen, and other fancy fabrics. Launched late 1986/early 1987. (Ref #2, p. 79) This series acted as a template for the ‘regular kid’ versions, jump to: Ho·mo·phone: Series.
Series 4: Wacky and Layered Part 2 – A slightly toned-down version of Series 2. Launched mid to late 1987. These are harder to find.
Suggested reading: An explanation of the 1983 series of outfits that the swing dress belongs to. Jump to: 1983 Series – The 1st CPK Clothes
Description: Legless romper with short sleeves made from cotton twill fabric. It has a sailor collar with trim and a fabric necktie. There is a pocket with an anchor patch on the right breast pocket and button accents at the waist. Decorative features are enhanced with contrasting trim. It came with sneakers and socks.
Outfit 20B KT
This outfit is not technically a part of the 1983 series as it did not come out on kids until 1984. (Ref #4, Vol. 3 Iss. 8, p.5) However, based on the numbering convention, it is just easier to include it in the 1983 series. It was used/manufactured until at least 1985, but probably later.
Version Information
My goal is to find every version of every outfit that was produced. Below is a record of each version of this outfit that I have, up to the date indicated. To understand clothing codes, factories and variations, please refer to the suggested readings below.
If you have an outfit that is not recorded here or does not match my information, (e.g. you have a 20A OK that has green accents, not red) I would appreciate hearing from you. Information is best sent in the form of pictures. For details on the pictures required, jump to Taking Clothing Tag Pics.
This outfit does not appear to have been manufactured by the primary factories CC and SS.
Variations
> The following are observable differences between outfits produced at various factories.
tie fabric
anchor colour
colour/shade
one vs. two accent colours
> Mimic outfits: The 25th Anniversary version is blue with white accents. It only came on boys.
> There were many variations made by foreign factories. For information on identifying a Jesmar version, jump to Identifying Jesmar Clothing. They came in a rainbow of wonderful colours.
Jesmar sailor suit outfits (Photo courtesy of Monica Sehovic)
