Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A little red Barbie fun


It is Wednesday is Rednesday and time to party with our hostess Sue over at It's a Very Cherry World. Today I decided to show a little red, Barbie style so I am also joining Twyla and Lindsey, a mother and daughter blog at Two Crazy Crafters for a little Barbie Wednesday.

As a young girl, I loved playing with my Barbies. I never was one for baby dolls and dish sets. I liked that everything would fit in my Barbie Doll case, all the dolls, clothing, and accessories, and be ready to be taken on a road trip, visit to my favorite Aunt, or to a friend's house.

On my little Singer sewing machine, I would sew outfits that at the time I thought were oh so lovely, but am a little embarrassed to show them now. I got my first pony tailed Barbie when I was 5 (please see the story of the naked Barbie in the Family Christmas Photo here). That was in 1965.

My next Barbie was handed down to me from a neighbor. She had no hair and came with 3 wigs, blonde bubble cut, long black hair with a flip and a red wig, which had been lost before being handed down to me. My last 2 dolls were both for my birthday in 1970. I was thrilled to finally receive a Ken doll. My brother's GI Joe doll just didn't cut it being Barbie's date. It was hard to pretend that they were at the prom, Barbie in a gorgeous gown and Joe in his fatigues.

The other birthday doll was Julia from the TV show starring Diahann Carroll. She played a widowed single mother whose fighter pilot husband had been shot down in Vietnam. The show ran from 1968-1971 and was one of the first weekly tv series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role.

The blonde doll is marked Mattel and is dated 1966 and was a lawn sale find for my daughter to play with. The reddish tint of my Julia doll's hair happened over time and I'm not sure why. Both dolls are wearing actual Barbie fashions.

Here is my Barbie with the black wig along with Ken, resplendent in his red tuxedo. This is the Talking Ken and he is buff, unlike the earlier version of the Ken doll that was skinny, pasty and the one-to-have-sand-kicked-in-his-face-at-the-beach-doll.

Barbie without her wig.

This is an actual 1970 catalog of Barbie fashions. This page shows "Francie Fashion Flings", but there are also fashions for Skipper, Barbie, Ken, Tutti, P.J., Brad, Christie, Stacey, Julia, and Casey.

Tops for Ken. The one on the right is the beach jacket that came with the original, dare I say, wimpy, Ken doll. Why is it that the Barbie doll had unrealistic proportions of bust and waist that no real woman could ever achieve and that the male counterpart being the original Ken doll looked like he just graduated from Junior High.

These are homemade Red fashions. The one on the right was made by my Aunt in the 60's. Unlike the official Barbie label fashions, this wouldn't sell on eBay; however, it is the most valuable one to me.

Please be sure to say Hi to Sue at It's a Very Cherry World and Twyla and Lindsey at Two Crazy Crafters. I am going to go play with my Barbies. Have a great day.

I got it at Goodwill
Sherrie

26 comments:

Linda @ A La Carte said...

Oh I loved my Barbies growing up!

Sally Annie Magundy said...

Oh! I love this post - I loved my Barbies so much! Thank you for all of the memories and the smiles.

Happy Barbie Rednesday!
Sally

Twyla and Lindsey said...

Thank you for joining me today!
Your Barbie with the wigs is called "Fashion Queen" Barbie. She didn't last long on the market but I love her! I think her face is so lovely! Even though the doll you got for your daughter says 1966 on the bottom that doesn't mean it's the date she was made. It is her patent date only. That doll looks to be early 80's to me.
I think you should be proud of your handmade fashions! To be able to create them yourself is awesome!
I will look it up again in my books to see what causes Julia's hair to turn red but I know it is fairly common with the dolls.
Lindsey

Sally Annie Magundy said...

Hi again Sherrie!
Thank you so much for visiting my little blog and commenting. :)
I ran over to see your vintage patterns you mentioned, so much fun. And I LOVE your Sally book ... ahem ... since it reminds me of me, teehee. I've always wanted to collect books with "Sally" in the title.
Happy week to you!
Sally
P.S. Your banner is one of my favorites. I love green.

craftyles said...

Love the Barbie clothes in fact I love doll clothes in general. So cute!

Kathy said...

Well, being your older sister who ALSO loved playing Barbies with you, sister Nancy and ALL the neighbor girls every summer day - on the blanket, spread under the huge oak tree - I must say I enjoyed your Barbie article very much! You also know I have collected about 100 Barbies over the years, but mostly still lust over the beautiful holiday barbies with gowns of red, gold and green lame.....aah, to go back just one day and play Barbies with everyone! Love you, Big sis

Mary Helen-Art Saves Lives said...

I am sorry to say...I never had a Barbie doll... Tiny Tears baby that I played with just a tiny bit. I know your shop is going to excel and if you were closer I would be happy to join in on the economic safari. Thank you for visiting my small blog...Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

Simply Shelley said...

Love all your red Barbie clothes...the dolls are wonderful themselves...thanks for sharing

★Carol★ said...

Oh what a fun walk down memory lane! I loved my Barbies so much, and my Mom made alot of clothes for them. I had no idea that there was a Julia doll. I remember that show! And I know I passed my love of Barbie on to my daughter, because she loved hers and had ALOT of them. Actually she still has all of them. Thanks for sharing all of your Barbies, Sherrie!
Happy REDnesday!
Carol

Anonymous said...

Oh boy, did that bring back memories ;) My mom and sis and I used to love watching "Julia" with Diahann Carol (sp?). And we loved making dresses and outfits for our Barbies, too. Happy REDnesday~

Kim, USA said...

Oh that is so beautiful. I love those tiny dresses! Happy Wednesday!

Red Slides

Unknown said...

I loved the Barbie fashions,

Sarah said...

SO fun! I loved Barbies when I was a little girl, I was sad when it was time to stop playing with them. :-)

SueLovesCherries said...

Unfortunately, I was not a Barbie fan growing up - I was a tomboy! But I sure do love Barbie now!

Shelley said...

Like Sue, I wasn't into Barbie or dolls of any kind for that matter. So, you wouldn't be competing with me at the auctions. I can appreciate the red outfits, though! I think you should show the ones you've sewn!

Joy @ Joy Of Desserts said...

We think alike. I had a Barbie and Skipper post for last week's Rednesday. :-) It's all pink these days, but there was lots of red in previous decades. My Barbie had red sparkly pants.

AWJ said...

I had NO idea there were hairless Barbies! Ya learn something every day. By the way, glad you liked my latest batch of dolls. :) How do you think your Barbies would react to them? ;)

Charlotte said...

I only had one Barbie doll during my childhood. She had the bubble hair-do.

Unknown said...

Hi Sherrie,
When they first started this museum in 1971 I thought the same thing. As I got older I realized that the interpreters had to be in full authentic vintage garb.
no exceptions...winter-summer.....
rain-shine. Winter great, but imagine lugging water and mud in layers of fabric in 90 degree heat with humidity. I rather like the behind the scenes in my jeans.

Ann said...

Hi Sherrie~I really like the "buff" Ken in his tuxedo.:) He sure is looking snazzy!!
Great collection-
Ann
@
The Tattered Tassel

Johanna said...

Sherrie, those outfits are too cute! Though I wasn't a big doll fan growing up like some other ladies here, I occasionally played with Barbie. I like the homemade outfits the best and I agree they are the most valuable!!!:)
Blessings,
Jo

❀~Myrna~❀ said...

This brought back many childhood memories . But all my Barbie stuff is long gone .I wish I had kept it.
Great Rednesday Post !
Blessings,
~Myrna

Rose said...

loved barbie dolls. i often what ever happened to them rose

Marigene said...

No Barbie's for me, but my daughter had a couple!

Diann said...

Those are awesome Barbies! I loved Barbie as a kid (okay, I still love them!). My mom made all my Barbie clothes and I had the best dressed Barbie dolls in town!!

Nishant said...

Oh! I love this post
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