1967 Prototype of “Francie Grows,” a doll that goes from young girl to “blossoming” teenager. Her hair style is really something as well, and highly reminiscent of the first Talking Barbie doll. Important to note that this particular Francie does not feature her traditional head mold but instead utilizes the “Casey” (Francie’s best friend) head mold, which premiered this year as well.
As such, “Francie Gows” marks Mattel’s first attempt in transitioning/phasing Francie into the Casey head mold. They would ultimately solidify this transition with the release of “Malibu Francie” in 1971, which officially borrows Casey’s face.
While “Francie Grows” never made it past this prototype stage, the concept was recycled seven years later in 1974 through the release of “Growing Up Skipper.”
The controversial “Growing Up Skipper” follows the same gimmick as “Francie Grows.” The child consumer enables the doll to “grow” by turning a specific part of the dolls body. In Skipper’s case, it’s her left arm that enables her to “grow” a few inches and even sprout breasts (as seen in this picture below):
The torso portion is made out of a soft and stretchy vinyl (like that of the Living/ Live Action/Busy Hands Barbie doll arms), that conceals a built in mechanism that pushes and indents the breasts when the torso is lengthened. The idea behind “Francie Grows” was that you would have to squeeze her waist in order to make her “grow,” a notion that ultimately proved to be too difficult at the time for Mattel designers to execute.