Still Playing with Dolls

I had a few dolls that I loved growing up in the 1950s--Chatty Cathy and Barbie were two of my favorites. I still have both of them, even though my mom gave away my Barbie dolls (plus suitcase AND wardrobe, can you imagine?) to my nieces when I was in college. I didn't really care at the time, but one day when I was a little older and visiting my sister's home I saw one of MY precious Barbies and her clothes strewn all over the playroom floor. The girls obviously didn't care about them because they were considered "old"-- from 1960 or so--and not like the cool "Malibu" Barbies. I quickly got a bag and threw whatever I could find that used to be mine into it and right then and there "reclaimed" my childhood. I was able to salvage one good blonde bubblecut Barbie and a few outfits. So glad I did. After my daughter turned 3 or so I would occasionally bring out my dolls and show her what mommy played with when she was little. Ponytail Barbie, my first, was lost forever.

Barbie turned 50 (!) last year and I was feeling nostalgic so I treated myself--I bought an old Barbie catalog and the suitcase I used to have from eBay (Oh, the memories!). 

Every now and then I try to see if I can find something else to add to my growing collection while I'm browsing the flea markets or antique malls. Buying them on eBay can get expensive. My daughter gets a really big kick out of this--I guess it's fun to see her "old" mom excited about toys and it gives her a glimpse into my own childhood.

Do you know that the original dolls are so collectible now that they can go for hundreds on eBay?? Don't laugh but I've been on a mission to find all of the outfits and accessories I had as a child and replace the ones that are missing. I'm also tempted to buy some I really really wanted but couldn't afford back then. My allowance in 1960: maybe 50 cents a week? Some of that went toward necessities--penny candy, gum, or comic books, so I had to wait for birthdays or Christmas to acquire more outfits.  Between me and Audrey McGee, my best friend when I was nine, we had just about every Barbie outfit Mattel ever sold.

Apparently I'm not alone in this nostalgic Barbie collecting business, because the prices for these things have become ridiculous, through the roof. All the antiques dealers know what Baby Boomers will pay for the dolls and their clothing, so they get to the flea markets first and buy up all the good stuff and then mark it up 500%. But sometimes you can get lucky and the flea market is fun for stuff like that--I found 2 Barbie outfits in not-bad condition for $5.00 each last summer. That keeps me going.

I'm really not into antique dolls much, just Barbies, and I'll bet that surprises some of you, considering my penchant for antique quilts. Quilts yes, dolls not so much. There are always quite a few old dolls at the flea market. They're fun to look at but I don't want to buy any.

I guess I never cared much for the real antique ones  because they weren't from my own childhood; I didn't play with them and so there aren't any memories attached. The dolls on the covers of my books are not mine--they were all just props my publisher used and I have no real attachment to them either, although I do love the cloth dolls designed by Gail Wilson in my first two books and have one myself that was given to me. I couldn't offer up my own dolls for props in my books--you can't use Barbie with antique-looking quilts, can you? She's much too cool for that. And, besides, look at that eyeliner--imagine what that would to do a quilt, LOL.

I think we should collect what we love and what makes us feel good and captures our hearts. As far as dolls go, for me that was always Barbie, the original Barbie. But she came under a lot of criticism after the '60s--that she was way too sexy for little girls to play with and a poor role model. I never really bought into the idea that playing with her somehow damaged my self-esteem, forced me to grow up too fast or caused me to have unrealistic "body" issues when I grew up. Honestly, my self esteem never came from dolls and anyway, who really wanted to look like her? Yikes! Playing with Barbie was just plain fun and it was MAKE BELIEVE. Like Harry Potter, she's not REAL, people. And it was fun because I coveted her clothes--they were so meticulously designed. Classy and sophisticated, with real working zippers and tiny accessories.

I read that Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, said she thought that girls projected themselves into their imaginary play with dolls. When they play, little girls often want to be older girls or grown up. They could project who they wanted to be someday onto the adult dolls they played with. So, in some ways, Barbie may have actually helped girls begin practicing other roles, besides being a mother, early on. Barbie could do anything and she may have empowered girls to travel or work at a time when the only role available to them may have been the role of mother, for instance, when they played with baby dolls in the '50s. Not that there was anything wrong with wanting to be a mother. I wanted to be a mother too. With great clothes! It's just nice to see girls have choices.

Barbie the career girl

Barbie the astronaut

Mostly, I just craved her contemporary wardrobe and had a lot of fun collecting the clothes and accessories. My older sisters wore "cool" clothes and makeup and I wanted to be like my sisters when I grew up. They did NOT look like Barbie, by the way.

So yeah, I was a Barbie girl in 1960 and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. And now that I think about it, Barbie probably did affect my self esteem, but in a good way--I learned to have a fashion sense at an early age and even now I know a good outfit when I see one.