I’ve mentioned green ear, so it seems no surprise that I should bring up another toy side that’s easy to despise… The smell of teeny-tiny scented plastic dolls. Charmkins, to be precise.

Charmkins were made by Hasbro, Inc. in the 80’s, and like the original Polly Pocket made by Bluebird Toys (made at the end of the decade), the dolls were very small (at or under an inch). Unlike the Polly Pocket dolls, Charmkins were designed to be worn — and to smell. Sold as “scented jewelry playmates” each piece had a loop at the top of the head & a hole in the bottom so that it could be attached to a piece of jewelry (a necklace, hair ribbon, ring etc.), thus creating an endless array of accessories — or, in many cases, an endless array of plastic bits lost at home and in public places.

And they were scented.

I can only imagine the number of dogs who ate these little bits of scented plastic, unceremoniously dumping them in backyards throughout America.

Being too old to play with Charmkins when they debuted, I discovered them at a rummage sale last weekend. In a play case, properly known as the Charmkins Jewelry Carrying Case. I was intrigued enough to buy them. As predicted, not all the dolls or charms are with their original jewelry accessory, but I was able to identify each piece.

Brown-Eyed Susan (the first one) & her Ribbon Choker
Flower Godmother ChrysantheMum
Blossom
Petal Pusher
Half-An-Inchworm (no ID tag, but wears the pink key chain from Petal Pusher)
Sweet Bea and Honey Bee (no necklace)
Petal Pink Puppy & Ring
Morning Glory & her Bow-tie Barrette
Lily Belle
2 Lady Slippers
My Pixie Pony (who looks too much like Hasbro’s My Little Pony to be accidental)
Dragonweed Mail Order Charmkin
a pink picnic table (likely from the Whippoorwill Flower Mill play set)
and a pink chord with pendant clip

The Charmkins enjoyed the sweet smell of success, inspiring stickers, games, bedding, etc. — and, of course, The Charmkins Sniffy Adventure, a scratch-n-sniff book. They were even popular enough to spawn an animated Charmkins cartoon; just one episode.

Did I mention they were scented?

Having been stored together the past two decades, the scents are no longer distinguishable from one another, but each had it’s own scent.

The past two decades have not diminished their scent much. I think. Up until now I have had no experience with Charmkins. But thanks to my dedication to readers of this blog, my hands now smell of Charmkins.

And it’s not as charming as you might think, or, to you 20-somethings reading this, as you remember. In fact, I’ll go on record as saying the scent might be toxic; I have an enormous headache that I cannot get rid of. And I have to wonder just how smelly you were as a kid.

Ooh, ooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell?
Ooh, ooh that smell
The smell of Charmkins surrounds you.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 5:14 am and is filed under Uncategorized, flea market finds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.