The "Doll" of Ed McBain's "Doll"

In our last episode, Morgan teased at some research he’d done relevant to the story, but which we decided not to share in case of spoilers. We also didn’t do what we suggested and put it in the bonus episode (out soon) so here, for those curious to know, is that information pertaining to the twentieth of the 87^th Precinct novels, “Doll”.

The title of the book is the key giveaway here. Obviously the doll in question is, literally, the doll being played with by Anna, the child of the victim, Tinka Sachs, as she overhears the murder of her mother. ‘Doll’ is used figuratively throughout as well, with the obvious implications of fashion models as dolls but even our embattled hero, Steve Carella, becomes a plaything himself.

But we think the root of the story is found in the Macguffin of the literal doll of the title. Whilst there certainly was a doll called “Chatterbox” on the market in the early/mid-sixties, made by the Madam Alexander doll company, this didn’t have the capabilities of the toy described in the book. They were 23” tall dolls with a battery compartment in the back that also concealed a small vinyl record that would play a series of stock phrases such as “Do you love me?” and “Let’s go to the park!” and “Take Daddy’s Wallet. Burn the car. Leave no traces!” – stuff like that. Anyway, it seems that McBain took the name Chatterbox, which suits the narrative of the story, and applied it to a different doll model.

The American Doll Company, most famous for their Tiny Tears doll, produced “Little Miss Echo” between 1962-64 and it was on sale until at least 1965, which nicely matches the writing and release period of the book. 

The toy in the book is described as:

“The doll measured thirty inches… There were two D-size flashlight batteries and one 9-volt transistor battery in a recess in the doll’s plastic belly… there was a flesh-colored, open plastic grid that concealed the miniature electronic device in the doll’s chest… The device was a tiny recorder. The brooch below the doll’s collar was a knob that activated the recording mechanism.”

The description matches the real-world Little Miss Echo almost exactly, save that the mechanism of the real world doll (essentially a simple tape loop) could only record 30 seconds where the recording in the book is described as lasting a minute and a half. It’s lucky that when Meyer Meyer and Kling retrieved the doll, they didn’t turn the brooch the wrong way and erase the recorded evidence of Tinka Sachs' murder.

Witness the full horror of Little Miss Echo’s blank unmoving face and relentless repetition of those around here, in this contemporary advert.