You have probably noticed Barbie has received some extra attention this month. 50 years ago this month the first Barbie was introduced to the masses and the world has never been the same.I have to admit, earlier this month when I first saw pictures of celebrities attending Barbie birthday bashes, news columns devoted to her fabulous (and controversial) figure, and flashes of hot pink I poo-pooed it all in my head.
"It's just a DOLL", I dismissed in my most *I'm-not-a-girlie-girl* voice-in-my-head.
And then, today, as I was rumaging through boxes (in a pre-pre-pre-packing/organizing mood), I found this:
And this:
Double proof that Barbie has held her place in my heart.
The first photo is from an apparant Barbie photo shoot in my childhood bedroom, dated 1988.
Notice the *real* carpet, *real* wall paper, and Ken with his feet up in the living room. Hilarious.
I have special memories with my Barbie dolls, and insisted my brothers play with me with their respective (assigned-by-me) Ken dolls. My mother helped me design her two story "mansion" (no, I never had the big plastic pink one), and let me use some of HER Barbie's fancy clothes--which were handmade by my amazingly-talented Granny. I didn't have a mega-collection, but she had her place in *my favorites* at the time.
AND, I even had Barbie's little sis, Skipper (which I had to have before I could graduate to a Barbie doll)
The second photo is from my Sweet 16 Birthday Party*.
A little too old for Barbie, you say?
Indeed--it was a fun (and, dare I admit...girlie!) way to celebrate with my friends. It was complete with a Barbie banner, Barbie plates, Barbie napkins, Barbie cups, and Barbie party favors**.
We had a blast! It was one of the few *birthday parties* where I invited a bunch of friends over--we had homemade pizzas, Barbie pink galore, and we giggled the night away.
So, on this Thankful Thursday I am celebrating 50 years of Barbie, feeling a bit nostalgic, and THANKFUL for the memories Barbie & I share together.
Do you have any memories with Barbie?
If not, what was one of your favorites?
*Notice the hot styles I was sporting: baggy "Esprit" T-shirt & curled under bangs. Also the 'Frube' word is reference to a word my friend & I made up. I should post about that sometime...
**Lest you think that all our parties were adorned with such birthday accessory splendor, I will tell you that all of the Barbie paraphernalia was free. My Mom worked for Hallmark for awhile, and the extras got to come home with her! This was the real reason for the Barbie theme--we already had all of the pink-themed-details!
5 comments:
I loved, loved, LOVED Barbie growing up....I had the 3 story townhouse, the pink convertible, clothes and clothes and more clothes. And one day I was done with Barbie and I think Lauren took over my collection...and honestly, I have no idea what happened to them after that. Ari went through her Barbie phase but I think it was much shorter lived than mine since there are so many other dolls out there today.
jayson's grandma has the most amazing collection of barbie things. they were mostly all given to his mom whenever their dad had to go away on business. the outfits are fantastic, and i love to see them every time i go to portland.
my mom had a thing against barbie, and i never owned one in my life. i've never uncovered the real reason she didn't care for them.
Even IF your parties were "adorned with such birthday accessory splendor," THAT'S OKAY! It's your birthday! You DESERVE special stuff! (And no one should judge you if had it year after year after year!)
i never was a barbie fan, or any kind of dolls, really. and, the longer my daughter goes w/o the knowledge of barbies existing, the better!
My sister had desk in her room made from a door, some legs, and shelves with dowels to hold them up on each side. It was cool, really. And each of the shelf areas made great rooms of a Barbie House. I worked a very long time one day to get the house all ready for my cool 6th grade next door neighbor to come play Barbie with me. When she came she barely stayed to play. While I felt sad, I also realized how fun it is to decorate a house, in miniature. So really, I think that is what I liked best, making the houses and also dressing them in the clothes Granny made, which were really quite fancy, as she was a seamstress and had cool scraps from making clothes for rich ladies on the Nashville Scene.
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