Memories of Barbie

[DaffyKD]

I had a brunette bubble hair cut Barbie. Most of her clothes were made by my grandmother. When my parents moved, they forgot to clean out a cupboard in the garage and my Barbie was among my childhood keepsakes that were left behindd.

DaffyKD

[chi-o_cat]

My favorite Barbie was Crystal Barbie. She had light purple eyes!

I also remember going through a phase towards the end of my Barbie days where I wanted some of them to be punk rockers, so I dyed their hair with food coloring.

And unfortunately, I never had the Barbie Dream House, but I did have the Colorforms version of it, so that's something, I guess?

@Kevin- I am assuming that you are talking about 1980's era GI Joe- the smaller action figures, not the original full sized doll? If so, the Headquarters/Command Center thing was pretty cool.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by chi-o_cat

@Kevin- I am assuming that you are talking about 1980's era GI Joe- the smaller action figures, not the original full sized doll? If so, the Headquarters/Command Center thing was pretty cool.

Yeah, my parents never would spring for those sorts of things. But now they have a grandchild and if there is a Barbie thing that exists, I probably have it in my living room.

Now that said, can anyone tell me more about these improvised clothing things? Y'all are talking about this as if it's all common knowledge. Explain it to me like I'm 5 (because I'll be explaining it to my 5 year old)

[honeychile]

This is my first Barbie. I had other ones throughout the years (I collected them for a while), but my heart remained true to that first love of my Barbie-loving heart!

My mama also made a lot of Barbie clothes, including a spectacular wedding dress/ball gown. She used an old ruffled petticoat, and let me tell you, my friends (who had the store bought wedding and evening gowns) were ALL jealous!

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by DaffyKD

When my parents moved, they forgot to clean out a cupboard in the garage and my Barbie was among my childhood keepsakes that were left behindd.
DaffyKD

Oh no! How awful!

[AnchorAlumna]

In 1961, I was 8, and we moved to a new town about an hour away from where we had been.
I quickly discovered the neighborhood girls were into Barbie. I was more into my new bicycle, which I could ride with no training wheels, but it became obvious that I needed a Barbie to connect with my new friends. I don't remember how I got her, but one appeared - blond pony tail, striped swimsuit, and two very simple outfits that I don't remember now. Later, my little brother snipped off her nose and some fingers and then threw her under his bed. So much for a valuable antique!
My mom must have been behind the Barbie appearing...as a little girl she grew up very poor during the Depression but only had one homemade doll.
We soon found out that Barbie was all about the CLOTHES!
We poured over those tiny catalogs that came with each Barbie item, dreaming about "Enchanted Evening," "Red Flare," "Solo in the Spotlight" and "Golden Girl."
I actually got most of those, which was a miracle because Mom really pinched pennies. She got the idea to make some clothes - beautiful evening gowns made out of scraps of turquoise satin and gold taffeta, a summer dress of white pique with a pink appliqued rose. Yes, made with tiny snaps and hand-sewn trim!
I didn't appreciate them-I wanted to make the other girls jealous with my wardrobe of official Barbie outfits. Of course now Mom's homemade garments are my most precious ones.
My second Barbie - blonde bubble cut - was the first purchase of $10 I got for a straight-A report card. She cost me $3.18.
Lots of houses were going up in our neighborhood, so we re-purposed bits and pieces we found at the building sites when the crews had gone home. Blocks of wood make coffee tables, trimming tiles made sofas.
My grandparents made a rare visit sometime around fall...probably 1963. I fixated on a Barbie ballerina outfit and literally pitched a tantrum over it. I finally calmed down and decided I could wait for it, but my uncle took up a collection so I could get the outfit. I was so ashamed!
I graduated from Barbie about the time Midge, Skipper and the rest came out, and I'm glad. Nobody could collect everything they made.
I wouldn't even let my own daughter play with my vintage Barbies, but did let my middle granddaughter play with them when she was 5. I regretted it - some of the tiny accessories (gloves, purses, a phone, outdoor grill utensils) were destroyed or lost. I put them back up. Maybe I'll leave them to her in my will.

[carnation]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

In 1961, I was 8, and we moved to a new town about an hour away from where we had been.
I quickly discovered the neighborhood girls were into Barbie. I was more into my new bicycle, which I could ride with no training wheels, but it became obvious that I needed a Barbie to connect with my new friends. I don't remember how I got her, but one appeared - blond pony tail, striped swimsuit, and two very simple outfits that I don't remember now. Later, my little brother snipped off her nose and some fingers and then threw her under his bed. So much for a valuable antique!
My mom must have been behind the Barbie appearing...as a little girl she grew up very poor during the Depression but only had one homemade doll.
We soon found out that Barbie was all about the CLOTHES!
We poured over those tiny catalogs that came with each Barbie item, dreaming about "Enchanted Evening," "Red Flare," "Solo in the Spotlight" and "Golden Girl."
I actually got most of those, which was a miracle because Mom really pinched pennies. She got the idea to make some clothes - beautiful evening gowns made out of scraps of turquoise satin and gold taffeta, a summer dress of white pique with a pink appliqued rose. Yes, made with tiny snaps and hand-sewn trim!
I didn't appreciate them-I wanted to make the other girls jealous with my wardrobe of official Barbie outfits. Of course now Mom's homemade garments are my most precious ones.
My second Barbie - blonde bubble cut - was the first purchase of $10 I got for a straight-A report card. She cost me $3.18.
Lots of houses were going up in our neighborhood, so we re-purposed bits and pieces we found at the building sites when the crews had gone home. Blocks of wood make coffee tables, trimming tiles made sofas.

All this! But about snipping of the nose: do you remember how tiny and pointy their noses were? My sister did the same thing. Must have been tempting.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

I wouldn't even let my own daughter play with my vintage Barbies, but did let my middle granddaughter play with them when she was 5. I regretted it - some of the tiny accessories (gloves, purses, a phone, outdoor grill utensils) were destroyed or lost. I put them back up. Maybe I'll leave them to her in my will.

Such fun memories! Our Barbie telephones were the 60s keychains made to resemble Trimline phones and distributed by the phone company.

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Cheerio

Such fun memories! Our Barbie telephones were the 60s keychains made to resemble Trimline phones and distributed by the phone company.

We had those, too!

Did anyone have a Tressy? I didn't, but I did have Tressy's Hat Shoppe.
My daddy would save the creamer containers for me to use for doll hats!

[honeychile]

I stand corrected: Tressy's MILLINERY SHOPPE!

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by honeychile

We had those, too!

Did anyone have a Tressy? I didn't, but I did have Tressy's Hat Shoppe.
My daddy would save the creamer containers for me to use for doll hats!

Our cousin Tammy had a TAMMY doll, whose original outfit was a blue one-piece gymsuit with white trim. Somehow that gymsuit permanently ended up at our house!

Slight sidetrack: Which of you remembers wearing a one-piece blue gymsuit in middle/high school? And was it required, as it was at my schools, that you embroider your FULL NAME in large, white letters across the back for all to read?