Ho·mo·phone: the same . . . but different *

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!

This outfit comes with a dress shirt, cotton dress pants (slacks), a vest and a bowtie. These outfits came with regular lace-up shoes. It’s absolutely adorable!

I’m not sure which version of B is correct. I need to see a kid who’s been MIB.

Cornsilk Series 3: Beautiful Dresses Pt. 2

Double the fabrics; Double the outfits; Double the confusion!

Intro to the Cornsilk Kids Clothing Series
Cornsilk Clothes Series 1 – Beautiful Dresses Pt. 1 (160s)
Cornsilk Clothes Series 2 – Wacky and Layered Pt. 1 (718-730)
Cornsilk Clothes Series 4– Wacky and Layered Pt. 2 (760s)

Timing

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.

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! I also need more information on their undergarments. I think they came with the white underpants, but I’m not sure. Do you know?

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 Series as 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.

Confused yet? It gets better!

The Cotton Matching Series

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 *

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.

Picture of a wheat haired popcorn girl wearing a purple velveteen outfit #721, in box.
Courtesy of Gia Levato.

A Match Made in . . . the Factory (Matching Pt. 1)

How do you know if an outfit originally came with the doll? Here’s the first step to finding out!

There is no way to know what outfit originally came on a doll. The choices were made randomly. However, you can match the production year of the doll to the production year of the outfits, and in some cases, the factory information.

1983 – 1985ish: A Match!

Coleco dolls produced from 1983 to 1984 (and some stuff in 1985) generally came with clothing made at the same factory. So, if the doll was OK factory, the outfit and shoes were also OK factory.


            KT Boy                      OK Girl

Dolls wearing 500s outfits which came out in 1985 also matched factories.

The 500 series outfits on dolls, sitting on stairs, to display the outfits.

However, I know of at least one collector who admits to taking kids out and switching clothes AT THE STORE, so even if you bought a kid from the store and it didn’t match, that doesn’t mean it didn’t originally come with the correct outfit!

Series Specific Pairs . . .

Some lines of kids had specific clothing created just for them. In many of these cases, the dolls and the outfits always match. There may be two factories producing them, but there is always a match.

Talking KidsOK 
Circus KidsP, KT 
World Travelers
WT White shirts
OK, PMI
CC, SS
Designer LineP 
1st Cornsilk Series (160s)OK, KT 
300s Cornsilk SeriesOK, KT, P
Baby outfits (BBB)SS, WS Exceptions: #1, #2
PJ Series (689-694)KT 
720s series Cornsilk and
regular kid outfits
KT
760s Cornsilk seriesP
Growing Hair KidsP, KT 
ToddlersOK 
KoosasOK, KT 

Continued in: Part 2: A Perfect Mismatch!