The World’s First (Successful) Talking Doll
She may not have been the first, but Mattel’s Chatty Cathy™ (originally produced from 1959–1965) was the world’s first successful talking doll; Cathy’s predecessor, produced by Thomas Edison in 1890, was simply too expensive and terrifying to catch on, proving to be one of Edison’s rare dismal failures.
The blonde, blue-eyed, and bucktoothed Cathy was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler, inventor of the Barbie™ doll, along with her husband and business partner Elliot who decided talking would help the large-sized doll stand apart from the overwhelming success of the much smaller — and silent — Barbie. Elliot asked Mattel’s R&D chief Jack Ryan to develop Cathy’s ‘voice box’.
The doll was originally capable of saying 11 random (and mostly gender stereotyping) phrases played by a mini-phonograph hidden in her abdomen, which was activated by pulling a string in the back of her neck — a technological improvement upon Edison’s original.
One of the primary reasons for the failure of Thomas Edison’s earlier attempt at making a talking doll that people would actually like was the terrifying voice recordings that were played by his dolls. Mattel not only needed to ensure their doll reproduced clear sound, but also that the vocal performance captured on the doll’s recording was warm and likeable. They hired illustrious voice actor June Foray to perform the voice of Cathy.
Foray is best known for her work as the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel in Bullwinkle cartoons, as well as the voice of Granny in the classic Warner Brothers cartoons featuring Sylvester and Tweety. Her lesser known work includes leading a United States consumer meat boycott in the 1970s which landed her on President Nixon’s official Enemies List.
Much like Cathy herself, production of the doll was heavily gender stereotyped. An assembly line made up exclusively of women handled combining the various outer components of the dolls, styling their hair, and sewing their clothes — while men were responsible for transferring the audio and producing the miniature phonographs stored inside the doll’s body.
The popularity of the doll spawned a sort of ‘Chatty Cathy Expanded Universe’ featuring comic books, pre-made outfits and accessories. A series of sewing patterns allowed Cathy owners to create their own fashions for their garrulous gals — simultaneously encouraging creativity while normalising the idea that sewing was a gendered activity solely to be performed by women and girls.
While the doll was originally only manufactured until 1965, it has remained hugely popular with collectors ever since. Original Cathys continue to be repaired and restored by people like amateur (but no less expert) conservator Martha Ayotte, the star of a short documentary produced in 2009.
High demand by collectors led to an official restoration project for Chatty Cathy’s 40th anniversary. In 1999, a Chatty Cathy ‘reboot’ doll was manufactured, packaged with replica original box art. There was one significant upgrade, though: the doll’s inner workings included a then “state of the art” updated voice box device.
We eagerly await the inevitable Mattel Metaverse® Edition Chatty Cathy™ for her 75th anniversary in 2034.
References
Mattel Chatty Cathy Documentary (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2nJz6aZK1c
Chatty Cathy Old to New — A Documentary By Laurie Ayotte
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxuU9M-WZq4
The Original Chatty Cathy Collectors Club official website
https://www.ttinet.com/chattycathy/
Time Note entry on designer Jack Ryan
https://timenote.info/en/Jack-Ryan-12.11.1926
June Foray at Behind the Voice Actors
https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/June-Foray/
‘Chatty Cathy Sewing Patterns’ on Google Images
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALiCzsYcQ3YazCVFxma0Xl2Z67hBYGYBgg:1658251139597&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=chatty+cathy+sewing+patterns
Paperless Archives entry on President Richard Nixon’s Enemies List
https://www.paperlessarchives.com/president-richard-nixons-enemi.html
A Look Back at Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Nine Marriages (Buzzfeed, 19 Dec 2016)
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mbvd/a-look-back-at-zsa-zsa-gabors-nine-marriages
‘1960 Mattel Chatty Cathy Doll’, Archive.org
https://archive.org/details/1960MattelChattyCathyDoll
