Temple Tuesday: Shirley in the Clubhouse

On Halloween of 1969, the sixth episode of season 1 of “The Brady Bunch” aired on ABC-TV. Titled, “A Clubhouse Is Not a Home,” it dealt with the common theme of the boys vs. the girls. In a classic battle of the sexes, the Brady boys do not want their sisters to have access to their clubhouse. In this overhead shot of the Brady girls’ bedroom, I noticed something on the bed near Jan.



Could the soft brown curls of that doll be those of an Ideal Shirley Temple doll?



Mike talks things over with the boys and tries to get them to understand the situation. He doesn’t do a very good job, and his heart is obviously not in it.



The girls redecorate the boys’ sacred space, and this makeover does not go over well!



The doll hanging on the wall is the same one from the bedroom. Note the Raggedy Andy doll next to it.



Yup! That’s a 1950’s Shirley Temple vinyl doll. At the time this episode was shot, the doll itself would have been about ten years old, as the most recent release of Shirley dolls occurred in the late 1950s to coincide with the actress’ TV series, “Shirley Temple’s Storybook” and “The Shirley Temple Show.”



Here’s how that 17" doll looks today:



She had what were called “flirty eyes,” and they would roll from side to side, giving shade and attitude depending upon the angle the head was tilted. Unfortunately, all these years later, they don’t always work in coordination, giving Shirley a bit of a wonky-eye. A simple slap to the side of the head can remedy this situation! Long enough for a picture, that is.



The curls on the back of the 1950’s vinyl doll were much looser and softer than those of the 1930’s dolls that Ideal released. While the vinyl of these dolls was much more play-friendly than the brittle composition used in the previous incarnation, these dolls often discolor over time.



Back to the Brady episode: the final solution was that the boys helped build a beautiful pink clubhouse for the girls so that each of them had their own retreat in the astro-turfed backyard.



It was definitely not one of the stronger episodes, and if I recall correctly, neither clubhouse was viewed again.

See more classic Movie & TV photos at my main website.