“Best pals” Kathy and Janet Lennon—the youngest of the beloved Lennon Sisters--had a big booth at last month’s American International Toy Fair trade show in New York, where they displayed a few new items in their Best Pals rag doll line—and related merchandise.
The Best Pals Tin Tea Set was the big ticket, made up of a teapot, serving tray, four cups, four saucers and four plates—and carrying case. Also noteworthy was the new Janet Lennon Paper Doll—a reproduction of an original Janet Lennon paper doll set introduced in 1962 and containing one Janet doll and 47 punchout wardrobe pieces. It fits in with reproductions of several larger Lennon Sisters paper doll sets that were first produced in 1957.
“We’ve been at the Welk Theater in Branson for 17 seasons [the singing sisters were staples of The Lawrence Welk Show], and noticed how people would come up for autographs after the shows and say how they played with our paper dolls,” says Kathy. “So we reproduced them, and now when we perform or do toy shows, people get teary-eyed and emotional and say how it brings back memories of their parents and grandparents--and watching us on TV with their families and not being offended by other shows or commercials. They’re huge sellers—and very special and honoring to us because we have the most loyal fans in the world!”
Janet notes that all of the 11 Lennon kids were close, but that she and older sister Kathy were always “best pals”—now the name of their KatJan, Inc. company’s premiere product line.
“Our favorite thing to do was to play dolls, and our favorites were the rag dolls made for us by Mom and Nana and stuffed in our Christmas stockings when I was three and Kathy was six,” says Janet. “We both decided there was a hole in the industry for toys representing simpler times and something to allow children to stay younger a little longer, and we loved our rag dolls so much--and continue to love them so much—that we reproduced them for a younger generation of children.”
She notes that the Best Pals dolls are exact replicas “right down to vintage fabric. Like we say, they can go with you from the cradle to the rest home!” Adds Kathy: “They don’t do anything but create imagination. They don’t need batteries, they don’t talk back. They’re just about loving something and having it soft--and a simpler time.”
Following the initial Kathy and Janet Best Pals dolls--which were introduced in 2006--the sisters expanded the line to include “multicultural” doll characters of color.
“They’re really popular with parents of adopted children,” says Janet. “Whether brown or black or dark-haired with white skin, they bought the doll and it was the first thing they handed to their babies when they got off the plane and are wonderful bonding tools.”
They also introduced a Danny Boy boy doll, named after their own baby brother Dan.
But the Lennons also showcased the original music side of their career at Toy Fair. They promoted their new album Best Pals Sing Together—Creative Child Magazine’s CD of the Year and the third award-winning CD the two have recorded in the last 10 years.
“The first one was songs and lullabies that we remember our parents and grandparents and older sisters singing, and the second was traditional Christmas songs,” says Kathy. “The new one has Janet’s three young grandchildren singing with us, which they’ve been doing since they were little babies."
She adds that since older sisters Dianne and Peggy retired, they also record and perform with younger sister Mimi.
Meanwhile, the four original Lennon Sisters are represented in the recent three-disc box set The Lennon Sisters 50th Anniversary Anthology, which includes 66 songs and a picture booklet.
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