Meet the Littlechaps, Remco’s Mid-Century Modern Doll Family from 1963

Meet the Littlechaps, Remco’s Mid-Century Modern Doll Family from 1963 Get to know this fashionable family. Turned out in the height of 1960s fashions, the Littlechaps simply can’t wait to meet you. Lanesville is the imaginary town that was home to the Littlechaps, Remco’s short-lived perfect family of dolls that was produced for only one year in 1963. The company created a back story for the dolls as well as an impressive array of outfits and accessories. Sadly, they didn’t capture the public imagination and the line was swiftly dropped. Various reasons have been put forward for this failure, despite the obvious quality of the clothing and the thought that had been put into the family. It’s possible that the sizes chosen for the dolls were a mistake, at a whopping 15 inches tall for the adults. This cut down the possibility of swapping outfits with dolls from other manufacturers and might have limited the Littlechaps appeal. Another hypothesis is that the line was centered too firmly on the adult dolls, whereas potential young doll-shoppers might have preferred to identify with dolls closer to their own age, such as Tammy or the teen fashion models. Anyway, enough speculation – let’s meet the family, as described by their makers. The Littlechaps are Dr John Littlechap, Lisa his wife, and their two daughters 17-year old Judy and 10-year old Libby. “Never before has a family of dolls been created that is so true to life”, according to Remco. These dolls were aspirational with more than a nod in the direction of Camelot and the Kennedy clan. Here’s a handy timeline, so you can go straight to you favorite family member! 0:00 Meet the Littlechap Family of Dolls 0:31 1963, launch of the Littlechaps 0:49 Littlechap Family overview 3:15 Remco’s Littlechap catalog 3:54 Littlechap Family Portraits by Ernesto Padró-Campos 5:58 Boxed outfits for the Littlechaps 6:14 Dr John Littlechap’s outfits 8:01 Lisa Littlechap’s outfits 10:49 Judy Littlechap’s outfits 14:08 Libby Littlechap’s outfits 15:31 The Littlechap Roomsets: Master Bedroom, Family Room, Dr John’s Office 16:56 On tour with the Littlechaps 19:42 Littlechap dolls size guide and comparison with Barbie etc 20:44 Terence Oldham: Ken as Mrs Kravitz 21:44 Closing credits