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Jo 1965	Jo 1965	Beth 1961

The Lissy-faced Little Women dolls were produced from 1957 through 1968 representing the characters of the four March girls - Jo, Meg, Beth, Amy - and their mother Marmee from the book by Louisa May Alcott. Laurie (the boy next door) joined the group starting in 1967. Beginning in 1968, Little Women were produced using the Nancy Drew face mold, but in the catalogs, Laurie is still shown with the Lissy mold until 1972, when they started picturing him with the Nancy Drew mold as well. In 1993 there was a reissue of the four girls without Marmee or Laurie using the Lissy face.

Body Construction
In 1957 and '58 the dolls had jointed knees and elbows; later versions had straight arms and legs. All were jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips, and made entirely of hard plastic with glued-on synthetic wigs. They have sleep eyes with molded lashes and are 11.5" to 12" tall. The dolls differ from the regular Lissy line in that they have flat feet. Beth, Jo, Marmee and Laurie are brunettes, while Meg has dark blonde hair and Amy a lighter blonde.

Markings
The Jo doll shown above has no apparent markings, unless they are under her wig.

Clothing The clothing can be identified by the tag at the back of the neck. The outfits changed several times during the years the dolls were sold, and can be dated by the outfit. Not every outfit changed every year. For example, in 1961 Meg, Beth and Amy's outfits were different from the year before, while Jo and Marmee's remained the same. Study the catalog photos to date your particular doll.

• 1957
• 1958
• 1959
• 1960
• 1961
• 1962
• 1963-64
• 1965
• Not pictured in 1966 catalog
• 1967
• 1968
Note: the 8" dolls are shown in the catalog described as 12"

Thanks to Peggy for help with this page.

Additional sources for this page include:

• "Madame Alexander Catalog Reprints, 1942-1962, Vol. 1" published by Barbara Jo McKeon
• "Madame Alexander Collector's Dolls Price Guide" by Linda Crowsey

Copyright 2005-2006 by Zendelle Bouchard.