Mattel Corporation first produced the the vintage Chatty Cathy doll 1959 and first advertised on television in 1960. What made this doll very revolutionary for her time is that it spoke eleven phrases by pulling the string in the center of her upper back. Seven more random phrases were added in 1963

In the 1960s, the vintage Chatty Cathy doll was the second most popular next to another Mattel sensation, Barbie Dolls. It was on the market for six years and extended in different characters including Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Baby, Tiny Chatty Brother, Charmin' Chatty, and last but not least Singin' Chatty.

Today, the vintage Chatty Cathy doll is one of the most sought after collection around the globe. Thanks to the Internet, there are now lots of resources full of information about the doll's history, value, where to find one, etc. on various websites dedicated to Chatty Cathy.

Here's some interesting Chatty Cathy trivia you may have not been aware of:

• Maureen McCormick and Eve Plumb of the Brady Bunch were in some of the original black and white TV commercials, and Maureen McCormick was the voice of the new Chatty Cathy dolls that were reissued in 1970.
• The original voice circa 1959 is June Foray, who also did the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.
• Chattys had three hair colors including blonde, brunette, and redhead, and two eye colors, blue and brown; the most commonly seen doll has blonde hair, blue eyes, a soft face, and a cloth covered speaker. This version usually costs between $300-400, but unfortunately it may be mute.
• The African American versions are the most difficult to find, and the pig-tailed doll is the hardest to find of all Chattys. Rare Chattys include mint dolls, Black dolls, Canadian dolls, and Chattys with no marks that often for over $1000. Mint Chattys still in their original box can sell for $600-900.

You can go online to find more little-known Chatty facts presented by the original Chatty Cathy Collectors Club.

The vintage Chatty Cathy doll was the first talking doll to capture the hearts of an entire generation of little girls, and then went on to capture more as the doll was reissued twice in 1969 and again in 1998 and 1999 for collectors.

To find more general information about the dolls, including doll profiles, characteristics, care guides, prices, how to become a collector, buy/sell/trade Chattys etc., visit any one of the following great sites: www.chattycathydolls.com, www.chatty-cathy.net, or www.chattycathytalks.com, all good online sources for beautiful Chatty Cathy dolls and vintage accessories, and anything else you need.

Now after reading all this, you wish you would have kept that vintage Chatty Cathy doll you had when you were little. Whatever happened to it anyway? I guess it's already broken J