1964 Marx, Marlene and Vanity Set in Original BoxÂ
Wonderful Marlene Vanity playset produced by Louis Marx & Company. Outstanding near mint condition complete with articulated doll, vanity, cushioned seat, all of its teeny-weeny accessories, and original box with inserts. Obvious early 1960's Barbie look alike, Marlene I could find almost no information about the doll except for the name. Louis Marx' business partner since the inception of the company was his brother David. David's wife' name was Charlene. Louis and David Marx would mix and match family member names to use as company spin-off names. Using the first syllable, Charlmar was created during the early 1950's. Ten years later they went back and used the last syllable of Charlene's name to create Marlene. The set consists of a soft vinyl head doll with platinum tinted hair. The body and limbs are hard plastic. There are three articles of clothing and she's wearing all of them. She's articulated at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees. The Marx logo and copyright date are embossed on the back of the neck. The soles of her feet are solid. The kidney shaped vanity is white plastic trimmed in gold. It has a lift-up chrome mirror and two pull out drawers. The legs are detachable. Marlene's seat is a white, barrel shaped plastic drum with red flocked fur seat. The seat lifts off to store the accessories which is probably why they're still with the set. There are 33 boudoir accessories in all. That includes seven pairs of matching shoes and an eighth pair of cloth slippers. Make-up, bottles, hand mirrors, combs, talc, talc puff, telephone, purple vanity feather, and even a framed photo of Marlene's boyfriend are included. The box features a full panel color illustration of a leggy Marlene seated at her vanity. The accessories, even the boyfriend, are shown. Her flirting glance to the left was accurately duplicated on the toy. The bottom side panel has a sticker reading "PLATINUM" indicating that the toy and box match up. Also included is the 1960's Marxie Marx character logo. The set was originally "Made in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong". It has a 1964 copyright date. It also includes all four matching pink cardboard inserts. Size: Doll 11½". Sold: Oct. 2005
Price Sold: $ 96
