From as far back as I can remember, I’ve been a writer. Writing was a natural progression for me, from abc’s and learning to read. I never chose to be a writer, or thought about it consciously; it just was. It was like, I am, therefore I write.
By age six, I was making up stories and writing them down or acting them out with dolls such as the ones below.
The Honey Hill Bunch
I can’t believe I’ve kept these dolls all these years. I just turned 43 (on the birthday that I happen to share with Ernest Hemingway) and I started collecting these dolls at ages nine and ten. Many winter saucer and sledding afternoons were forsaken to shovel the neighbors’ driveways and walkways, saving up for the next doll.
When I found them this morning in an old wicker trunk filled with some of my (unedited) writing and poetry, I was transported back in time. Plus, they made me laugh. What a long, strange trip it’s been, from then to now. I would have to say they are one of my most prized possessions.
The hairstyles are a little smushed and the clothing is missing, having become hand-me-downs to other dolls over the years, like kids in a real family. However, overall, the dolls remain in good shape.
Cliffhanger.
Now that I think about it, I gave the littlest doll a haircut.
There are things that have remained constant throughout my life: I love to write, I love to read, and I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The Honey Hill Bunch is another. I’m so glad that, through all the life changes and moves in between, the dolls are still with me.
I tell myself, so what if you’re a writer on Query Road, plying your trade for free, unable to hook an agent to date but enjoying every word? Now I know who to blame – it was the dolls, I tell you! Blame it on the Honey Hill Bunch! Blame it on the adventures they took me upon!
I just found the time capsule — oops, I mean, site – below, and it gave me goosebumps!
Click here: Mattel’s Honey Hill Bunch
Much like Steph’s goosebumps from similar time travel episodes:
Click here: BEST. FIND. EVER. « In Other Words
And, I just realized that there are three Honey Hill Bunch dolls I didn’t have! I better start my list for Santa ASAP.
Oh, the stories these dolls could tell …
“We’re all neighborhood friends,
so we really stick together. See.
We can even hold hands! We meet in
our Clubhouse to plan fun things to
do … C’mon, there’s room for you!”
(From the back of the Honey Hill Bunch box. What’s not to love?)
LOL!! Too cute! I don’t remember these girls at all! I wonder if we had them in Canada. I never actually played with dolls though. My sisters had paper dolls and later on people gave them Cabbage Patch Kids, but as for me, all I ever wanted was books. I wasn’t good at playing by myself or with others!!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying this trip down memory lane. And thanks for the link!
Wait – now that I went on the site, they do look vaguely familiar…I’m not sure! We may have had them, too…
Hi Em,
That must have been so neat finding those dolls after so many years. They are so darn cute! I can literally see the happiness on your face. Your posts always make me feel joyful. Thank you for that.
This post also made me think of my own toys that I used to set stories to when I was a kid. You’ve just inspired me to write my own post about them. I think I will tomorrow. For now, it’s back to Novel Working Time.
Btw- from another peanut butter lover-ever have peanut butter/pickle sandwiches? Don’t laugh- they are to die for! (sliced dill are the best)
take care,
Tasha
Hey Steph!
These dolls are little things, more like figures than what I’d call doll-dolls.
Made me smile reading “playing with dolls”. It’s more like the dolls were the actors and actresses for the stories I made up in my head.
As for reading, I too was a bookworm, always with a book in my hand, reading everywhere I went. : ) I still am, really, although I don’t have as much time as I once did.
Books remain one of my all time favorite things in life.
Em
Hi Tasha. : )
It WAS pretty cool, finding those dolls. I was outside giggling as I posed them in a scene to take photographs for the blog. It was exactly what I would’ve done as a child, as a new adventure unfolded. : )
Hooray! I can’t wait to read your post on your toys. : )
I also hope your writing is going well!
The pickle and pb sandwich sounds interesting! I will definitely try it out.
I grew up with a grandmother who got us kids hooked on banana sandwiches — white bread, Hellman’s mayo and sliced banana — and I still love them.
Em : )
I did a search on these dolls (a fond memory of mine) and came across your blog. Thanks for sharing.
I used to love the Honeyhill club.. The clubhouse was awesome!
Hello to a fellow Honey Hill Buncher! : )
It’s a fond memory for me, too. I *loved* those dolls. I received one for Christmas at nine or so, and I actually remember reading the jingle on the back of the box.
They’re pretty cute dolls and would probably fare well even in 2009. So funny all these years later, to have a link with other Honey Hill fans.
You were so lucky to have the clubhouse!
Thank you so much for stopping by and for your comment. : ) I hope your holidays were wonderful,
Em
Hello there.
Your post made me grin with pride and understanding. Normally, I refrain from commenting on blogs; however, I just had to say hello to you because you are such a kindred spirit. I too LOVE the Honey Hill Bunch dolls, and I too am a writer. These dolls were inspirational in so many ways. Like you, I wrote stories from the first moment I could talk. I wrote them even before I could read–my mom transcribed them for me. Isn’t that funny. Imagine my sweet mom taking dictation from a two-year-old child. I owe so much to the Honey Hill Bunch girls. They became the actors for my tales. I loved them because they were children and because they were all so different–representing diverse cultural backgrounds and interests. Recently, I found my dolls (Slugger was my alter ego), and I am constructing a diorama / shadowbox art piece in which to display the–sort of a tribute to the Honey Hill Bunch girls. Anyway, I found your blog when I was researching their history. Thanks for posting this. It is so good to know that someone else out there benefited from these lovely girls. Happy writing!
Kelly
Thank you, Kelly, for your comment and for visiting my blog!
It made my day. : )
I’m sorry I didn’t answer sooner, but I’ve had some pressing deadlines and have been editing night and day.
It made me smile to think I wasn’t the only one who had the dolls acting out stories. I, too, liked the Honey Hill Bunch because they were children. I was never a Barbie fan for that reason, unless you counted Skipper.
And you’re a writer, too. : )
Good luck with all your writing endeavors. And thank you so much for leaving a comment, when you normally don’t. I loved it. : )
Em
I too owned the honey hill bunch and their club house. They were some of my favorite dolls. I don’t know what happened to them over the years, but I think I still have lil kid’s dog and slugger’s bat lying around somewhere in my jewelry box. I am in the process now of trying to find some again ..they are some of my most precious memories from childhood.
What is it with Honey Hills and writers? Someone (not me) should conduct a correlation study. Anyway, I was never a girly-girl and not too much a fan of the dolls back in the formative years. Dolls sat around in ridiculous clothes; the high point of their day was eating green goop and pooping it out again. The Honey Hills, on the other hand, were burning up the road in the Ricketty Rig. They got locked in the mall overnight and set up a water slide in the coin fountain. They were masters of disguise, ever outwitting adults who wanted to put L’il Kid in an orphanage. I.Q. devised a machine that COULD TURN ANY DRINK INTO CHERRY KOOL-AID! The Bunch laughed in the face of lima beans and packed up the clubhouse and moved to California when they had a fight with their best friend. They NEVER had to wear lime-green cullottes with red-yellow-blue rickrack trim. They are my favorite toys ever and they have the dirt and grime of countless adventures. All hail the Honey Hills. (Except Sweetlee. Sweetlee really got on my nerves.)
Thank you, Amy, and thank you, BrownEyedRedheadGirl, for stopping by and for your comments. : )
When I look at my stats, I’m continuously surprised at just how many people are actually googling the Honey Hill Bunch dolls. Who knew! There wasn’t even an internet when the dolls first came out, and yet, so many people have a soft spot for the dolls and are looking them up on the internet.
And yes, many seem to be writers! Very interesting.
Em
I’m here to join the fan fare – After all of these years, I still hear the theme song in my head. “I’ve got a hunch, it’s the Honey Hill Bunch. The Honey Hill Bunch and the Rickety Rig!” Last week I dug through my parents house, after a night celebrating my 40th birthday, and found mine. I can’t believe the gingerbread and dog attachments are still around. And I’m even more thrilled to find so many people have the same warm memories of creating adventures for our velcro friends.
PS> For the survey’s sake, I’m not another writer, but I am an artist.
Welcome to the Honey Hill party, Jackie!
I know! — I couldn’t believe I still had the frog and dog attachments, myself. However, I have a theory: I think I used to put the attachments aside, so the dolls could better hold hands. That’s also why they’re so clean.
Thank you for reading, stopping by and commenting. : )
Since you’ve joined the discussion, I think we have to expand “writers” who had the Honey Hill Bunch, to ARTISTS, to encompass us all.
Just last week I clicked the link in the post that leads to the H. H. Bunch’s doll page, and went to the webpage’s home and the list of dolls through the years, from the twenties or thirties and on, and saw more blasts from the past — the Droopy doll, and Liddle Kiddles gave me instant recognition — and Holly Hobby, which my little sister loved.
Em