I was reading a friend's blog, Ms Bees Knees, and she was telling a story about when she was a child and took some Barbie high heels that she wanted for her gal, Barbie, from a store, only for her mother to find out and insist that she return them.
Well...it got me to thinking about when I was young and obsessed with Barbie dolls. I started out playing w/ paper dolls. I loved them for a while but soon realized that they weren't any fun cuz their clothes fell off all the time. For anyone that's played w/ paper dolls, you know what I'm talkin bout! Yeah, there were tons of designs, lots of variety in clothing and such... but they just didn't stay on when walking, talking w/ friends and such! ;)
My next step was to Barbie herself. Oh man, how I loved Barbie. I also got the Ken doll, and so many others. I hate the fact that I can't remember all of their names. I'm sure my sister can and will show me just how well she remembers if she posts to this blog (but it's not really fair cuz she has a 6 yr. old girl)! ;) My dear younger sister.... my dear younger sister.... she got all of my Barbies and destroyed them!!! I don't know if I'll ever forgive her for it! ;) ;) I about died. I couldn't believe she did it. She was such a little heathen, altho she denies it, and she wonders why I was so mean to her! And... she wrote in all of my books - scribbled I should say... but that's another story for another time.
Anyway... where was I?!
Barbies... I loved them. I had a Barbie Corvette that was to die for... gosh, if I only had that now. I had a Barbie swimming pool and a house. I don't know how many of you remember the list I made months ago listing things about myself... but one thing that I mentioned on that list was how I used to believe that my barbies came to life after I went to sleep at night. I'd place them strategically in my room, memorizing where I'd left them and then jump up in the mornings to see if they had moved... always swearing to myself that they had. And... like I said, I didn't tell a soul about this. I was sure they came to life... just sure of it. I still wonder! ;) ;) (yes, i'm kidding or maybe I'm not!!)
I had all kinds of clothes, but my cousin, T, had the best clothes ever. I always loved to play Barbies w/ her because she'd let me borrow the clothes. I used to spend hours by myself playing w/ my Barbies. Ken and Barbie were always a couple.... I guess until I got my other male doll! ;) I played w/ Barbies for a long time.... way past the other girls in school.
Later, when I graduated past Barbie, my mom got me two dolls that were similar to Barbies, but much bigger - 19" matter of fact. One of them was called Tiffany Taylor - this is a pic of her. She was something else. She had blonde hair and brown hair and it would change depending on how you turned the top part of her head. So, if you were in a blonde mood, walah, she had blonde hair. There was another one as well, but I can't remember her name. She has dark brown hair. And... believe it or not, I STILL HAVE these two dolls. I have them in a box in my closet, hoping, waiting for the day I have a little girl. My luck, she won't like barbies!!! Some girls don't like them and insist on playing w/ baby dolls. I was NEVER a baby doll girl.
These two girls that I have, well, you couldn't find clothes easily for them... and all girls know you have to have several changes of outfits for your Barbie dolls. So, one Christmas, I opened a box under the tree and my mom had made me the best clothes ever for my two girls. They were fabulous. She made me go-go boots, skirts, blouses and everything. I still have these clothes, if you can believe it!! I took all of them out one day and showed my husband... I'm sure he expected, at any moment, for me to ask him to play Barbies.... but I didn't. He's lucky! ;)
I have such fond memories of my childhood days. It's too bad that I grew out of Barbies by the time my little sister started playing w/ them. It would have been fun to play together. But, like I said, she destroyed all of my Barbie dolls. But... she had tons of them. My mom and step-dad spoiled her rotten and she got tons of stuff.... yeah... I'm still slightly jealous! ;) But.. she loved it. I'm sure she has a lot of good memories too.
Her daughter, my niece, K, loves playing w/ Barbies. Altho, she's not as in to it as I was as a child. I must admit that me and the hubby bought her her first Barbie. She loved her!! She has some cool stuff too. I glanced thru her Barbie stuff when I was visiting Cali... and was rather impressed. I've always thought that if I didn't have a girl, I'd pass down my big girls to her. I wonder if she'd like them.
The other day we were in a store and I saw, for the first time, a Muslim Barbie. She wasn't called Barbie though... it was something else. She had on a hijab and everything. When I saw her, I thought "wow, she looks a lot like Barbie" and then my husband laughed and pointed her out to me. We both had a good chuckle. Now... I think going back there and taking a snapshot would be cool... then all of you could see her.
Anyway... if any of you know about Tiffany Taylor and this other brown headed doll I have, I'd love to hear from you. If you remember the one's name, I'd love to know. I never played w/ these two dolls as much as I played w/ my Barbies... but I know several girls that had these dolls. Me and one of my friends used to walk to each other's houses carrying these lovelies proudly thru the streets of Madison.... and you know, I was in the 4th grade then. Gosh, how times have changed!! I sit and wonder how many 4th grade girls play w/ Barbies nowadays... I would bet not many.
18 comments:
Having worked at Toys R Us during Christmas season, Barbie will have a special place in my heart forever...
Luckily, none of my daughter's dolls have wound up on the sacrificial altar just yet, but I can't maintain control forever....wlghlllblblbl...
tooners: I wish I could email you because it's something concerning Saba and our site. My email is: enigman81@hotmail.com. Please, please email me so that I can let you know what's going on. I'd also like to just get to know you and your way of life. I think we have a lot in common. We're both tolerant and can't stand racism. I think it's time for dialogue:)
FYI - I did not destroy your barbies! Most of them were in bad shape before I got them... so there!
I wish I had saved them. I have so many memories of playing with them. I remember my barbie dream house and the cars and bus... I remember making furniture out of kleenex boxes or anything I had in my room. My neice, P, was my barbie doll play mate. We would play for hours. I wonder if she saved any? I miss her.
I will make my daughter save hers and gosh darn it, I am going home today to play barbies with her!
I always liked playing GI Joe and my army men, with the tanks/choppers and stuff, good times. :P
LOL!
Growing up here, I used to play with Sindy, a sort of frumpy flat-chested version of Barbie:
80s Sindy
I also had the pink-haired Space Fantasy Sindy.
Then I went on holiday to Texas and on my birthday some of the kids I got to know gave me a Rock Star Barbie.
From then on, Sindy, who had short blonde hair, had to play the husband to my Barbie. I'd set them up in various domestic tableaux and then go off and play vroom vroom with my cars or fiddle with my electronics set. And then next day I'd change the domestic tableau again. Barbie even got pregnant once, with a wadded up tissue.
LOL
Thanks for making me remember the days of innocence!
olivia, OMG... you make me laugh!!!! i can't get over that sindy played the male doll... you sound like me!! :) gawwwwd, that's funny. i can just imagine this doll... she sounds very british! ;) ;) and you made your barbie pregnant... now girl, you have imagination!
jahooni, my barbies were NOT in bad shape... i remember! you had a lot more stuff than me... makes me wonder what you did w/ my barbie corvette!? gosh, what happened to all of that stuff?!! i guess w/ moving over the years, it just disappears. :(
moody, the Toys R Us here in Bahrain could be sooo much better. they have some good stuff but i so miss the ones in the states. i'd love, when we have kids, to get an Easy Bake Oven and all the toys/variety of things that i remember from my childhood.
techz, my nephew loved GI Joe. he had so many things to go w/ him. he used to also play w/ these little action figures that had real parachutes... very cool stuff. :)
greg, i hope everything is ok w/ saba. i've wondered about her.
I've been wondering, too...especially since Bahrain and Beyond suddenly turned into a mute wedding cake and then Hope turned into a pumpkin. Now I'm getting seriously worried. Greg, I don't suppose you'd care to let me in on what's going on, would you?
i've aslo seen that veiled doll--- called "fulla" or sth.
OMG tooners, I was a Barbie Maniac. Her best friend's name was Midge. She had long reddish hair and freckles. Her little sister was Skipper. I had a blonde and a brunette Barbie. No Ken, so I borrowed my brother's GI Joe. Was your corvette pink? Did you have the cardboard one-floor Dream House or the multi-level one with the elevator? Mine was a "suit case" deal shaped like a house that opened up and had a floor and one wall with a kitchenette, living room with wrap-around couch, tv, end tables and a big picture window above a bookcase with a built-in tv. I would cut pictures out of magazines and replace what was on the tv screen. The bedroom had a twin bed, vanity with mirror and a closet with a shelf underneath that opened to store shoes. I found one a couple of years ago in a Thrift Store and looking at it brought back such a flood of memories! I almost bought it for that reason.
My sister had a Tressy doll with hair that grew and a Tammy doll which was bigger than Barbie or Tressy. I'm not sure about the dark haired bigger doll you have. I will try to find a website I came across once that was devoted to Baby Boomer's toys. It's awesome. Thanks for the memories!
moody, i checked the Hope blog today and it seems to have disappeared. what happened to saba!!? i miss hearing from her.
still breathing, yes, i think that's the name of this doll. when i have the chance, i'll run back to this store and snap a pic of her. she looks remarkably like barbie.
one wink, oh i LOVE your knowledge and how well you remember. yes, those are the names. i loved midge w/ all the freckles. what a nice way to make girls w/ freckles feel good :) my barbie corvette was red and a two seater. it was a really hard plastic w/ really big wheels. not like the corvettes that they came out w/ later. the house i had sounds VERY similar to yours... and i think it was a suitcase kind, i think. you're very creative in cutting out mag pics and putting them on the TV!!! great idea!! :) you know, they don't have all the good houses here in bahrain at the Toys R Us... and i honestly feel the older things we had to play w/ were a lot better. i so wish i still had that stuff. i love those memories. once, i went walking thru a Toys R Us in Texas and just loved looking at all the stuff i had when i was little and showing my husband. i wanted to bad to buy an easy bake oven, but didn't. and then i had this coffee pot that looked like it poured coffee. the coffee would disappear when you tilted it. i was always so amazed at that thing. and i'd LOVE to get a Simon Says. i adored that thing when i was young. i didn't have a Tressy doll but i *think* my sister did. i remember her though and remember being able to pull her hair out from inside her scalp... i always thought that was great because it allowed you to experiment and cut it! ;) i looked on a website for the friend to Tiffany Taylor, but couldn't find it. if you do, plz do let me know. :) you have great memories too :)
oh yeah, olivia, i was thinking about your sindy doll and she sounds very appropriate actually w/ the flat chest. in thinking about it, what little girl had a figure like barbie!!!! and i like the short hair part of it. sounds really cute!
I can't remember if I ever owned a Barbie. I owned many other dolls that I used to put to sleep close to my bed and carry everywhere. I even made them an oven once out of a box.I will never forget the day I went to my mom's friend and saw her daughter's room, she had about 10 Barbies, a Barbie house, and the thing that took my breath away at the time was the Barbie swimming pool :)
leilouta, you know, i had that barbie swimming pool and didn't much care for it. i got so bored when playing w/ that, so they only went swimming occasionally! ;) their hair was such a mess afterwards! ;)
hehehehe..
DId yo click the Sindy link in my first comment?
I realise now she looks very 60s.
Simon was a great toy, I was older when it came out. Did you have ColorForms? My favorite was
___________'s Kitchen. I can't remember her name. But the box had a kitchen scene with all cupboards and countertops and you could open the doors and put in the contents. It may have been "Cookie's" Kitchen... I never had an Easy Bake Oven. I hate to bake now and evidently I did then! Although I LOVE to cook. And eat baked goods ;-)
olivia, yes, i looked at Sindy. she was quite the dresser! very european, i think. not as curvy as barbie, but more true to life, i think. i love the short hair w/ curls! i don't think she looks necessarily 60s... but she looks sorta retro.
one wink, now... i'm not sure about this __________ kitchen. not heard of it or it passed me by. i wasn't a big cooker either but i did love me some easy bake oven, but you know, i cooked everything the first day and ate it... so my mom only bought me stuff sometimes to cook. ;) yes, i was older w/ simon myself. i loved it though and wish i could get ahold of one of those. i think i could prob still play it for hours. what is ColorForms? i don't remember it. the other day we were in Mother Care and they had play dough and my husband had never heard of it. gosh, i loved that as a child. i think it will be an adventure when we have kids. :)
I collect halloween barbies. I prefer the African American ones because they are prettier to me!
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