The Sweet e.Baby that I reviewed during the last Sunday Surprise had a secret gender and a secret name hidden with a CD...technology that was new enough in 1999 to feel magical. In 1990, about a decade before the Sweet e.Baby, Mattel came up with a doll whose gender was hidden within another seemingly-magical concoction: a dissolving hospital gown. Yes, that's right--a gown that completely disintegrates in water to reveal the gender announcement (and a new outfit). Mattel called these babies Magic Nursery dolls.
The idea might sound far-fetched, but it was wildly popular. My parents should thank their lucky stars that I was not a child of the 90s, because this kind of toy would have been completely irresistible to me. It's even irresistible to me now, almost thirty years later, when unopened Magic Nursery dolls--with all of their surprises still hidden--can cost a small fortune.
Magic Nursery Toddler doll by Mattel (1990). |