Clever Kerry Doll

One Christmas morning in the early 70s I rushed downstairs and bumped into a beautiful big doll's crib. It really was one of the most lavish presents I can ever remember from my childhood Christmases. Lying inside was the most marvellous talking doll, Clever Kerry from Palitoy. This was a large doll, I'd have to guess a good eighteen inches tall, made from hard plastic and looking like a small toddler. She had beautiful platinum, curly hair, huge blue eyes which were permanently open and had incredibly long, curly lashes, a lovely smile and she wore a gorgeous pink and white chiffon and lace dress. What's more she talked, not just random phrases from a push button or pull string. You could ask her questions and if you did the right thing she would answer. "Which hand is this, Kerry?", you might say, pressing her left hand. "This is my left hand." she answers. "And this hand?" "This is my right hand!" "How many toes do you have on this foot?" "I have five little toes." When you got tired of that, and there were only a couple of questsions, you could give her a hug and she'd say: "Let's have a cuddle." tickle her tummy and she'd giggle. Give her a kiss, ok you had to kiss rather hard so her head went back, and you'd hear: "I love you, Mummy." Kerry's voice was rather low as I remember, not the sweet, silvery tones of many talking dolls. She may have looked like a toddler but she sounded quite grown up. I loved that doll to bits and kept her long after the batteries had gone and she'd stopped working when we put new ones in. I believe there were newer models of Clever Kerry than the one I had which could say many more phrases, but after the old pull cord dolls this one seemed like a miracle to me.