ABSTRACT
In what follows, I offer a rather personal account of cuteness and consumption by focusing on one particularly cute Mattel doll from the 1960s that was promoted through a marketing strategy that proved, in my own experience, to be remarkably effective. More specifically, through this one example, I want to discuss some of the ways that cuteness interpellates children in general as consumers, and girls in particular, as gendered consumers. The pocket-sized doll in question is “Liddle Diddle Kiddle,” the baby doll of a much larger series called “Liddle Kiddles” (Figure 11.1). Many years ago my mother purchased one such tiny companion for me, most likely to keep me from fidgeting in church, given that the doll’s diminutive size made her amenable to being taken just about anywhere for quiet, intimate play. Thus, at age seven I developed a strong emotive attachment to this almost impossibly cute, constant companion, until my cousin absconded with her and Liddle Diddle-or Baby Diddle as she is also known-the doll would never be seen again, nor replaced during my childhood. More than three decades
later, however, I found myself googling “Mattel Kiddles” and, by clicking the images that appeared, I learned that the Kiddle series was introduced to North American toy markets in 1966, with the dolls selling apace until 1970 when the company decided that it had flooded the market and began developing other lines. My search soon also led to eBay where I discovered that the doll was on auction, so I immediately bid on and “won” (as purchasing is called in eBayspeak), my first vintage Liddle Diddle.
