I wonder how many women are still alive who remember the Sparkle Plenty baby and the doll that was made of her back in the 1940s.
I was seven years old and I was writing a letter to my two girl cousins in Baltimore City. I was so excited about my new doll, Sparkle Plenty, and I wanted cousins Tootsie and Carolyn Via to know. The two cousins were the same age as I was; Carolyn, the younger cousin, has been dead now for eleven years. My cousins’ mother, Aunt Gertie, saved the letter and more than fifty years later sent it to me one Christmas. What a surprise it was. The paper is extremely thin and brittle, but fortunately I can preserve it for posterity with my digital camera and a scanner.
The ultimate question remains; is there any posterity who would ever be interested in these “vanishing memories” and long ago, faded scriblings of a little girl growing up on the shores of tidewater Maryland.
The image, Letter to Tootsie, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Barneykin’s 
account.
Visit Neddy’s Archives for more of Edna’s writings.
Neddy, I certainly remember your excitement with your Sparkle Plenty doll. I did manage to get a used one a few years back. Recently I made the mistake of leaving her on the bed and the dog decided she made a wonderful chewing toy. Now I have a Sparkle Plenty entirely bandage up like a mummy with PJ’s on and a head on top. I must admit however, every time I look at her first, I smile. Have a picture of myself at four looking at her and smiling. Would not trade my “mummy” for nothing.
I too had a doll and loved her so, i waited three xmas for her as i was in an orphanage and it took that long before santa bought her to me. I know how you feel and the letter was great. What memories we have of sparkle plenty. thanks for the smile you gave me reading this. Dee