| Buddy Lee meets John Deere Denim-clad doll a rare collectible Buddy Lee. Young people know him by the Lee Dungarees commercials on
today’s TV. Older ones remember his role as an advertising icon for Lee jeans prior to 1960. Did you know there’s a John Deere version of a Buddy Lee composition doll? Denim dude Unlike the denim dungarees and flannel shirt outfit of today’s Buddy Lee, the Buddy of yesteryear is a miniature model man usually dressed in work clothing for a major company. According to the Lee Company’s history, Buddy Lee’s first gig was in the early 1920s, when he starred as miniature model in the window of the Dayton Company Department Store (now Dayton Hudson) on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1923, the company began selling composition dolls in his likeness.
Historically, dolls were made for Coca-Cola, Shell, Texaco, Phillips 66, the railroad and other major industries. Today, both originals and replicas of these denim-clad dolls are being sold across the country. In fact, eBay has about 25 Buddy Lee dolls listed, ranging in value from $5 to $500.
Your John Deere buddy The John Deere version of the doll wears a dark blue denim shirt and pant set with matching cap.
Both shirt and cap sport a "John Deere Quality Farm Equipment" patch (yellow with red trim and green lettering). The dolls also have black boots and a belt to complete the uniform. This pair of pals (at right), having a friendly discussion about Deere collecting, no doubt, represents a rare occurrence in John Deere memorabilia. These scarce Buddy Lee-type dolls are not easy to find, especially in mint condition as shown here. And to get two of them together for a photograph is next to impossible! Still, this denim-clad duo defies the odds to strut their stuff. This little tyke has a precocious pursed-lip grin and a gleam in his eye. You can just tell he’s only minutes away from getting into trouble! His 13-inch tall hard-plastic body features moveable arms and legs allowing for multiple positions and poses. Unfortunately, Buddy does show wear and damage with age. Common challenges in finding a mint Buddy include missing clothing, broken limbs, cracked skulls, or other injuries.
Text © 2000 Brenda Kruse; photos submitted. |
Around 1960, Buddy was relieved of his
company spokesmodel duties until he recently resurfaced as the tough little star of 
As the story goes, the Lee Company supposedly created these
uniform-wearing dolls in order to get the contract to manufacture a line of employee
clothing for the particular company. Others say the dolls were developed as a promotional
item only, marketed to dealers for customer purchases.
