What is this? Two beautiful, sunny, relatively humidity-free days in a row?? I don’t know how to respond to this. I did do a lot of mowing yesterday with our very hard to maneuver lawnmower so I’m very sore today. I mowed the lilac side of the front lawn and then, because I was pumped up, I tackled the back forty, which , in retrospect, was too much. But we had been told that rain was on the way for Monday, so I was trying to finish off all the mowing before another deluge came. Later in the day, after I mowed, the forecast changed to no rain. Spoiler alert: we’re now back to scattered thunderstorms for Monday.
Anyway, I am very grateful for these two days so I won’t complain about possible rain tomorrow.
Favorite time of summer because everything – the hydrangeas, the balloon flowers, the rose of sharon, coneflowers, and brown-eyed susans – is in bloom. It’s really gorgeous out there.
On to something different: I recently bought a reproduction Barbie, Busy Gal Barbie.
Reader Vicki is a big collector of Barbies. Vicki, what do you think?
She comes with a hat as well, but I took it off for the time being, and a portfolio of fashion designer drawings.
With a Blythe IG account, I often come across the accounts of doll collectors who collect Barbies and other types of dolls. I’m fascinated by what people collect, always have been, so I read all of that with great interest. I’ve chatted with Vicki about it on this blog and I finally decided to search for a Barbie that looks like the Barbies that were around when I was a girl. I like their more sophisticated look.
I missed out on this particular style of Barbie when I was a kid. When Barbie first emerged on the scene I was a bit too young for her. Or course, every birthday or Christmas after that, I kept asking for one, and eventually received a platinum bubble-cut Barbie. I think I also had a Skipper and maybe a Midge? I wasn’t interested in Ken at all, perhaps because he didn’t look believable to me – I don’t think Mattel ever designed a Ken that really equalled Barbie. (But that was just my opinion.) I’ve written before about endless hours of playing with Barbies with my childhood friend, Kay – who reads this blog. (Her parents were my godparents and gave me my very first egg cup.) We decorated the inside of our Barbie cases, using wallpaper samples that Edith, my godmother, had on hand. We made hanging lights with a dixie cup and pipe cleaner.
Mom told me that she would listen to us playing in the basement and had to force herself not to intervene because I, being 3 years older than Kay, was always telling her what her Barbie had to do and say. (Ever the controlling director!) I know I have an old picture of Kay and I playing with our Barbies on our front porch. I’ll have to look for it again. My dad took it with his new Polaroid camera, so it’s in black and white.
I’m not about to collect Barbies, but I would like to get a reproduction bubble cut Barbie and I’ve got my eye on a brown-haired girl. But that’s it. I just like having her around because she was such a huge part of my childhood. Childhood things are comforting these days.
What happened to my doll? I have no idea but I suspect my sisters played with her and inherited the clothes our grandmother made for her. And, knowing my mother, I also suspect Barbie got tossed out at one point, when Mom had had her fill of our old toys filling up space in our very small house.
Did you have a Barbie?
Stay safe.
Happy Sunday.
great (along with that coveted vintage scotch tape display piece)!
yep, i had a barbie doll. so did my twin sister. my barbie had a blonde flip hairstyle (until i cut it … wanted her to have a pixie haircut like me) and came with a black and white swimsuit and pink ballgown dress. my mother made other clothes for them (along with clothes for my brother, sister and me to wear) and my sister and i used an empty oblong tissue box for a car. :) i accidentally left that doll in the sandbox one night and some animal (dog? raccoon? one of earl’s ancestors?) chewed on it to the point of it needing to be thrown away. that was a sad day in my young life.
thanks to my parents, i also had (over the years) no more tears, chatty cathy and raggedy ann dolls, some liddle kiddles and a troll doll, too. and we played with the betsy mccall paper dolls from back pages of my mother’s “mccall” magazines. those things are long gone. i still have a toy cat given to me by my maternal grandparents on my second birthday, fake fur all gone, but sewn-up stuffing repairs by my mother and maternal grandmother still happily evident. and a toy stand-up schnauzer that came with its own little “i love to jog” t-shirt (perfect … we had a schnauzer growing up and i loved to run). both treasures that i will not get rid of. my nieces or their children will have to do that someday (sorry, not sorry).
thanks for the question. it prompted for me a very sweet “trip down memory lane”. :)
glad you have sunshine and so many flowers blooming right now!
happy sunday to everyone. stay safe!
kathy
Yep. I had a troll doll, a tiny tears, a Patty Playpal (Very tall life-sized doll) and lots of paper dolls including Betsy McCall Dolls.
Aren’t they nice memories? (Except for your doll being chewed up – that’s not at all nice.)
Stay safe, Kathy.
dear Claudia/Don — you did alot of work on your lawn !! hope you can now relax a little/enjoy it. Never had a Barbie — poor, no money AND Myma thought Barbie was so o o ugly and would soon not be popular — 65 – 70 years later still going strong, haha!! our girls had beaucoup Barbies, accessories, houses, etc, so I got the “Barbie” experience times 2, LOL!! stay safel
Myma was wrong, wasn’t she???
You got to experience them through your girls – that’s even better, I think.
Stay safe, Linda.
I still have my Barbie, which has the same hair style as your reproduction. I have Midge, Ken, Allan, and Skipper as well. . I also have the pregnant Midge doll which was very controversial when it was released in 2002. Walmart pulled it from shelves citing complaints about a pregnant doll. I also had Barbie’s car and Ken’s hotrod. I have many fond memories from my childhood playing with my Barbie dolls and the cardboard Dreamhouse for hours on end.
I also had a Patty Playpal. I don’t remember how old I was when I got her for Christmas, but she and I were the same height that year.
I didn’t know about the pregnant Midge! Wow! Amazing how that could be offensive in any way!
Stay safe, Denise.
Happy Sunday, everyone. And a peaceful one for you and Don. No more mowing! Time to relax. Enjoyed hearing about you and Kay playing with Barbie. I was 13 when Barbie came out so I never had one. I do love the Blythe dolls, similar but different. Will you go see the movie? Good luck searching for the Barbies from your childhood. Hugs, Elaine
I won’t see the movie until it hits pay per view or Amazon Prime. Movies at the theater cost too much money and audience members are noisy.
Stay safe, Elaine.
I am glad you got your lawn mowed, it must have been a real pain. I just finished my back yard lawn, I do not have as much to do as you. I wanted to get it done before it got too hot.. I am always so happy when my dear Toro starts!!
Yes, I had a Barbie’s. I only have the head of one (crazy) and one is still in the box, Miko Island Fun Barbi, I think this may be my nieces..
Have a Nice Day,
Kaye
I love that you just have the head! That cracks me up!
Stay safe, Kaye.
I did have a Barbie and I think it might have been one of the first ones made. Mine was a brunette with the striped swimsuit and a ponytail. My sister sold our collection of Barbie stuff awhile back but I forget what she got for them. She had a Barbie, Ken, Midge, Barbie’s house (the cardboard one), Barbie case, and lots of Barbie outfits.
Yes, it probably was. The first ones had the black and white striped swimsuit.
I had a Barbie house at one point and the Barbie car, which was a convertible.
Stay safe, Ellen.
My sister and I had Fashion Queen Barbie. She came with three wigs in different colors. 1963-1965. My sister eventually got a Midge doll too. Do you remember those tiny troll dolls with the neon colored hair? They came in gum machines, I think. They were our Barbies’ babies.
I had a troll doll, it was about 4 inches tall.
Love that they were the babies of your Barbies!
Stay safe, Laura.
Is possible for adorn to get an estimate on how much it would cost to fix the lawnmower?
Maybe you could tighten the belt in other areas of the budget.
Just a thought.
We have all our daughters Barbie ‘s in the basement in bins
Guess we are free storage.
I never understood the fascination with them .I loved her Lady Alexandra dolls.
They are down there too.
I said before that we can’t get it fixed until it stops raining so much. We have a great guy who will work on it but that will involve it being in his shop for a while. Can’t do that with the weather the way it is.
The washer needs to be fixed before the lawnmower.
Do you mean Madame Alexander dolls, Linda?
Stay safe.
Oh yes Madame Alexander
Thanks for knowing what I mean
No problem, Linda!
I always wanted one when I was a kid, but I think they were too expensive for our budget. Beautiful dolls!
Hallmark Keepsake ornaments have a Madame Alexander doll ornament every year. I may have all of them. The latest was debuted this month when they have Christmas in July. (I have the ornaments because I never collected the [expensive] ‘real’ dolls!)
I must admit that I don’t keep track of Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. I’ll have to check them out!
xoxo
So hard to predict the weather! But it’s nice you got a lot of mowing in… sorry about the sore muscles! It’s always fun to wander down memory lane! My sisters and I had Barbie dolls. A talented neighbor made some beautiful clothes for them, but I don’t really remember playing with them much. I recently found one, dated 1959, and gave it to my niece for her daughter’s bedroom….for looking, not playing! Fun memories!
WOW! So cool to find one with that date, Barrie.
Stay safe!
I still have my platinum bubble cut Barbie, my Skipper and my Midge dolls. My Ken doll had fuzzy hair but my little brother managed to scrape it all off. I guess at some point Ken was thrown away. My mother made clothes for my Barbie. I still have those too along with my daughter’s many Barbies and the clothes I made for her Barbies. I still love to play with dolls and make clothes for them and the dolls I had before the Barbies. I don’t do as much playing as I would like. Maybe in the winter when the weeds stop growing as much.
I wish I still had mine, Beverly! Good for you!
Stay safe.
My friend and I played barbies for hours and hours in her small bedroom. She had a car, Ken, Skipper (I loved her), a horse, all kinds of stuff. I had to make things at home. My little sister cut my barbie’s hair and I was ever so upset!!
On another note, our air conditioner is not working properly and I have So many worries about money right now. My dog is sick and isn’t wanting to eat. It’s back to the vet. Our car is making an odd sound. My life is not the same without my daughter, and then Mom gone.
sorry, this is bad.
Wish I had a third Bythe.
I’m just love your photos and your writing. You are a gift to the blog internet thingy.
irene …
i am sorry that you have troubles, worry, sadness. will keep praying for you, your pup and the rest of your family as well as your air conditioner. may you all have quick solutions, needs and wants met and have comfort and peace.
that’s one of my prayers for everyone here.
sending a hug (if okay),
kathy
I understand completely about money worries, Irene. We have them right now, too, and I try to do several things during the day to distract myself.
I know how much you miss your mother. I don’t know about what happened to your daughter, nor is it any of my business – I just want to send you love and support. Feel free to share your worries here.
Stay safe, Irene,
Thank you Kathy and Claudia. At least my husband will be working for the next number of years. Our doggie is feeling better and our a/c is on again. I don’t know how I could sleep with 2 fans blowing in my face. Does that mean I had a hair blowout while I slept? And that was free
Glad to hear your dog is feeing better and the a/c is working, Irene.
xo
I had Madame Alexander dolls, and a collection of Ginny dolls, Tiny Tears, and tons of stuffed animals….music boxes and ….Barbie…..I think she was in uniform…..a stewardess? My favorites were the Ginny doll and I loved paper dolls…..Had Elizabeth Taylor and also the McCalls magazine paper dolls…. Wow….haven’t thought about this for many years. I also had Fort Apache and lincoln logs and a Davy Crockett hat. We could go on and on couldn’t we?
Thanks for bringing back some great memories Claudia.
I never had a Ginny doll. Though I read about people who had them, I honestly can’t remember even knowing of her! Isn’t that crazy?
I had an Annie Oakley toy guy – I guess to play the 50s version of Cowboys and Indians with my brother.
Glad to help evoke some good memories, Maria.
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia,
When Barbie came out, I was nine so exiting my doll playing years. Don’t remember doing much with her although she did have an affair with a male Harlequin-type doll in the house. Hot stuff for nine. After that she went to one of my much younger cousins. I preferred paper dolls and drawing what I thought at the time was sophisticated wardrobes for them.
We do, however, still have Dean’s GI Joe doll in a shoebox in the basement. Neither of our boys were ever interested in him, LOL. They preferred Batman and Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles action figures, all of which had just as many accessories to cripple bare feet in the middle of the night as Barbie.
Take care,
Kay
That WAS hot stuff! Your husband’s GI Joe and your Barbie would be a match made in heaven!
Stay safe, Kay.
Well, Claudia; Busy Gal was a great choice; the brunette Barbies are second only to the redheads when it comes to collecting. Gotta love her fashion spectacles. I have her, too. Can’t wait to display her as she deserves (packed away a little too good in my house at the moment).
Who also didn’t take off was Midge’s boyfriend, Allan. I never had a Ken as a child. As an adult collector, I do have a few Kens to go with the Barbies, though.
Claudia, what should we think about the new Barbie movie? (Directed and written by the talented Greta Gerwig.)
There’s some sort of design challenge on TV … is it HGTV? … and they’ve interviewed Barbie design people at Mattel, like someone I mentioned before named Robert Best who, in my opinion, designed the best repro Barbie dolls and clothing over the past 20-plus years. Loved hearing him speak in the first episode of this TV show which is a limited run apparently. He’s some kind of VP now but he helped design some of the Barbie Movie dolls out there for purchase currently. You can see them on the Barbie Signature/Mattel site; offered for sale at Amazon, too; probably also from Walmart. Of course they’re not the vintage face sculpt.
On this design show on TV, they’re designing a real-life Barbie dream house somewhere in L.A. I guess when it’s completed, a Barbie fan or two will get to stay overnight in the house. One fan said her mom threw out her Barbie Dream House in a garage sale. I think this happened to a lot of us (not blaming the moms; as young gals we’d of course outgrown the dolls by our teens).
I believe your Busy Gal repro is of a 1960 Barbie; I thought the repro was offered earlier than 2019, but I’m finding 2019 as the archived date online. Bill Greening is the designer and he’s been around at Mattel for many years. Ah, but see, I thought they’d done an earlier repro and they did, in 1995, even earlier than was in my brain. I wonder now if I have the ’95 or the 2019 in my collection; can’t remember; I’ll have to look thru my notes. You can see how popular the original ’60 doll was, that she’s been reproduced TWICE in Mattel’s history with her.
And I still want to send you a Midge and a Skipper, Claudia; I will eventually find them in my decluttering project; I don’t want this to be an empty promise but instead a thank you for everything you do with your blog and for us, your readers.
All of my dolls are new in the box and have been always stored inside my home with temperature control (after all, it’s plastic; you don’t want to store the dolls in a basement or attic); I haven’t removed any of them from the original packaging (yet). I guess you found with your Busy Gal that it can take some patience to remove a collectible Barbie from her box!
Mine was advertised as a 2018 reproduction. I fell in love with her glasses and her smart looking suit!
I really want to see the new movie, it’s getting rave reviews. (Except from conservative men who are terrified by the idea of a strong woman – such ridiculous man/boys!) I might try to find a matinee with a senior discount!
Stay safe, Vicki.
I had two Barbie’s — bubble cut and the first version — blonde pony tail and striped suit. I still have her (although none of the clothes except maybe the suit and a dress and the hair is a mess.) Sometimes I stick her in the Christmas tree. No interest in seeing the movie, though. We didn’t have “dream houses” — we built our own out of the encyclopedias and books and it was fine.
Missed commenting on the previous post(s) but so glad Don had a gig and it went well. Hopefully enough people saw him doing it to offer another — and another!
I actually do want to see the movie. There’s supposed to be much more to it than you would imagine. Social commentary, all sorts of things.
Thanks so much, Jeanie.
Stay safe.
No, I didn’t have a Barbie. Never asked for one.
But later “thanks” to all the advertisment on tv before Christmas, I bought a Barbie for my son. :-) I made her clothes but couldn’t prevent her from a hair cut and make-up. Hahaha!
Today they talked about Barbie on the radio due to the movie. Are you planning on watching it?
Have fun with the new girl!
Regula
Good for you for getting a Barbie for your son!
I plan on seeing the movie but will most likely wait until I can watch it at home.
Stay safe, Regula.
I am very surprised you bought a Barbie. The older style is the one I prefer too. You were a bit bossy but obviously I loved being with you. You were my idol. Older, musician, actor and so sophisticated.
All the Barbie hype has me thinking about my Midge doll. She is still in the box and never played with. My brother found her in the attic where my mother hid the Christmas presents. Long forgotten present.
I didn’t think anyone collected them anymore. I intend to see if a toy museum will take her. Guess I better start researching toy museums.
Ps Bossy in a good way. I maybe learned that important skill from you and it served me well.
I was darned bossy!
xo
Well, my mom got rid of my Barbie and I felt the need to have one from my Barbie era.
I was more than a bit bossy!! I still am – ask Don.
If you have a Midge in the box you could get a nice amount of money for her! Older dolls that are mint, still in box, fetch a good price.
Stay safe, Kay.