A Friend From My Childhood...
By twoey68
@twoey68 (13627)
United States
May 14, 2008 7:50am CST
When I was growing up one of my favorite toys was my Barbie’s. I had about 4-5 of them complete with clothes. I never had the dream house or the car but I didn’t care. I could play for hours with them fixing their hair, changing their clothes and creating all kinds of situations for them. I had a huge sandbox so I could stick their legs and feet in and make them stand on their own LOL As I got older I lost those dolls but I couldn’t resist buying more.
When I lived in Texas I met a woman that sewed Barbie clothes and I just had to have some which meant that I had to go buy 2-3 Barbie’s. I’ve added 1 or 2 more since then and they are now tucked away in my storage boxes. I’d love to dig them out and have a little play day with them again.
Barbie was a knockout…what every little girl dreamed she’d grow up to look like…or hoped she would. She was launched into the world in March 9,1959 (which is also her birthday) by Mattel. If she were a real woman she’d be 5’9 with her measurements being 36-18-33. She has over 40 pets including cats, dogs, horses, a zebra, a lion cub and a panda. She can pilot jumbo jets, drive cars and jeeps and has numerous career choices ranging from flight attendant to doctor to Nascar driver. She also had a male friend-b/f-husband named Ken. You could buy her house, stables, various business offices and stores. She’s considered a cultural icon and is available in several countries around the world.
Did you ever own a Barbie? Did you have all the accessories that you could buy for her? Do you still have one? Do your children? Do you think she is alright for young girls or do you think it gives them a bad outlook on their own bodies?
**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~
3 people like this
25 responses
@LouRhi (1502)
• Australia
14 May 08
I had a few Barbies when I was a child, and I am fairly sure that I still have one or two packed away in a box somewhere. I never had a house but I do recall a dream van which I just adored. Compared to my friends my Barbie was like the poor cousin though!
I don't really encourage my girls to play with Barbie now mainly because I am against commercialism and don't like to buy into any of the multi-million dollar companies (obviously though this is not always possible)
I do think that Barbie makes a much better role model than those awful Bratz. I can stand them, they should be banned
2 people like this
@sparkofinsanity (20471)
• Regina, Saskatchewan
14 May 08
I tear the arms off Barbie dolls. They annoy me no end.
When I was eleven I wanted a Barbie so bad I could taste it. All my friends had one. On my birthday - there it was. A shoe box shaped gift just perfect for holding a Barbie doll. I opened it, tore away the tissue lining it and found my first -----------BROWNIE CAMERA? Oh boo hoo, hoo! I cried for days and never did get a Barbie. I'm a right good photographer now, but Barbie's lose their arms because they annoy me no end! LOL
2 people like this
@drknlvly6781 (6246)
• United States
14 May 08
I had a barbie when I was younger, but I was never really into them. I played with her on occasion, but since I had no one to play with most of the time, it wasn't really fun. I guess I was more of a tomboy in those days lol.
I do know why she had so many jobs, and you know that she didn't always have them. Oprah was a big influence in Barbie getting so many careers. I forget when she said it, but she said that she didn't like Barbie. Little girls are patterning themselves after Barbie because she looks nice, has pretty houses and fancy cars; where is all this money coming from? Barbie is teaching little girls to live off of their husbands, because I have never heard of Barbie having a job.
Soon after is when Barbie became a Doctor, a Teacher, A Dentist, an Astronaut, etc. So that solved the problem of where the money was coming from. I still have one question though. Where is Barbie getting all these sisters, and Ken his brothers, and we have never seen the parents? Are these Barbie and Ken's kids, and they don't want to tell anybody lol?
2 people like this
@palonghorn (5479)
• United States
14 May 08
My sister and I had barbies, and one thing I learned is don't take their blonde ponytail out, LOL cause umm they're bald on top, and it took my mother forever to fix her ponytail. We were lucky, my mom and a friend of her's made barbie clothes, from fancy wedding dresses to evening gowns to business suits, and even though they sold them, we got our fair share. Most of them were made from high end material that my great-aunt had made a dress or gown out of for the rich ladies in Oakcliff, outside of Dallas. I still have about 4 of our barbies packed away. I don't think it has any bad effects on girls' self-esteem.
2 people like this
@ReoTwo (194)
•
14 May 08
Hi everyone. I should'nt have even replied to this post. I loved my Barbie dolls too. I am so sick at what collectors are paying for them now. Especially, ones from the late 60's and 70's which I had. Being a Army brat, sometimes old toys had to be sacrificed for space for relocation or for new ones. I was blessed to have a mother who would scrimp and save and work any kind of little part-time job so that I could have the latest Barbie and things for my birthdays and Xmases. I not only had Barbie, I had Skipper and Christie. I had to have Christie, because she was (don't quote me) the first African-American doll of this type. Of course, my brother had G.I. Joe and sometimes I would let my "girls" ride around in his jeep.(smile) I never asked for the Barbie car, a little too much pink for me. I would have liked to have had the dreamhouse, but that would have made me have to chose between another doll of some clothes. So I made my own with doll furniture from another source. Like you I could play with them by myself for hours. I think that when I get settled again in a large enough place, I want to start collecting the large beautifully dressed ones that some places sell now. I didn't want Ken, he was too stiff and boring for me. (smile) I never told anyone, but they really liked G.I. Joe better! (smile)
2 people like this
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
19 May 08
I use to have a lot of Barbies when I was a little girl and my children do as well. I can't say that I had all the accessories that went with her, but I had clothes and such as that. My girls have the cars and the scooter to go along with their barbies. Now, I collect some barbies. I have the millineum barbie, tatoo barbie (which was recalled and never put back on the shelf), and my birthstone barbie (August). I do plan on collecting more in the future, but those are all that I have now.
1 person likes this
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
18 May 08
No I do not ever remember owning a barbie doll. I had a chatty cathy once, and I loved that doll but that is all that I can remember. I really wasn't a child that like playing with dolls all that much.
1 person likes this
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
17 May 08
had many many barbies. I also had Ken and Skipper too! I loved Barbie- and I played for hours on end with them. I had the convertible, jeep and the barbie Horse- I also had Barbie houses and my dad built me a big Barbie house- and of course we got all the furnishings for it. barbie was Huge when I was a kid. My grandma would crochet barbie clothes for the dolls-- and we;d buy more clothes and shoes. I don't have any Barbies from my childhood. They were all passed down to my little cousin.
My daughter played with barbies for a while- then she switched to Bratz. Now neither as she is too old she says :)
@carolscash (9491)
• United States
17 May 08
I LOVE BARBIE!!! My daughter loves Barbie and we have a lot of them. I still have a lot of the ones that I had when I was younger and I still have them tucked away and won't let the kids play with them.
I had Barbie,Ken and a lot of accessories. I had a camper,convertible, horse, furniture, etc. I had wigs,shoes,purses,clothes,cases,and several other things to go along with Barbie. I made sure that I had Skipper and Kelly do when they were available.
Barbie has nothing to do with a girls self esteem as they see models and stars who affect them a lot more than we will ever understand.
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
17 May 08
I had them and my daughter had them..I don't have mine anymore, but my youngest daughter still has hers along with this cheap doll house we found for her at a garage sale..I think there is nothing wrong with them as long as there is communication with them and tell them the truth, she is only a doll, not something to role model after, but a play toy.
1 person likes this
@luvstochat (6907)
• United States
14 May 08
I loved playing with Barbie dolls I had a few and I had the pink convertible and I had a swimming pool you could really put water in plus some clothes I didn't had the dream house though.
The only barbie I have now is one that was my grandmothers when she was a child it is put up as I think it might be a collectors item.
My little girl doesn't seem to really like barbies she has a few but dosen't pay that much attention to them.
2 people like this
@nova1945 (1612)
• United States
14 May 08
I bought all those accessories for my daughter when she was a child. But she never liked Barbie. I used to play with paper dolls and their cutout clothes.
I decided in my 50's that I wanted to be Barbie. She has more stuff than I ever would have and a figure to die for. But changed my mind later and now she's 49 years old. So what's next...Menopausal Barbie? Bankrupt Barbie? She never really did learn the value of money management you know. And I think Ken left her for a younger girl...Skipper maybe?
Too much like real life.
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
15 May 08
I think that Barbie can give anyone an inferiority complex.. No one is this perfect and no one can ever be.. I never owned a Barbie as we were very poor growing up and the only toys or things that we had to play with were our imagination and a few paper dolls, which if I had them now, they would be worth a fortune.. In 1959, I was 12 years old and I think too old to play with a Barbie.. My mother couldn't afford them anyway as she would have had to buy 8 of them for her 8 girls.. I had never been posed this question and therefore never thought of it one way or the other, but I never did have a Barbie of my own.. I do a lot of flea marketing and find Barbies that are in need of a bit of TLC, so I give it to them and resell them, but have never really had the desire to own one..
1 person likes this
@DonnaLawson (4032)
• United States
15 May 08
Incidentally, I only had one child, a boy, or I would have gone the complete Barbie route for a daughter.. Oh well, maybe a girl grandbaby will be in the future for me.. Hope before I get too old to play Barbie with her..
1 person likes this
@lingli_78 (12821)
• Australia
15 May 08
i don't really own a barbie when i am still a small girl... i just find that i don't like it... which is kind of weird because most of the girls love barbie... so i never have it and play with it when i am small... but i do have other toys that i love better than barbie... take care and have a nice day...
1 person likes this
@Angelwhispers (8978)
• United States
16 May 08
I loved my barbies as well Twoey, in fact if I see a special one some place I buy it. But I put the special ones up for my grand daughter to save and buy her cheaper ones to play with. I get in the floor and play with her too, help her dress them and she will make up stories for us to put our barbies into play. We have great fun. We probably have about 50 vintage and newer collectibles between her house and mine.
1 person likes this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
15 May 08
I think they send young girls all of the wrong messages. I never had a Barbie doll as a child, but received several as gifts later in life. I was touched by the gesture, but had absolutely no use for such a thing, so I kept them for a while until I found a youngster whom I thought might enjoy having such a thing, and then passed them on. I think one of them was a collectors item and probably valuable by now, but I just don't have room in my homes or my life to carry something like that around.
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