Friday, February 5, 2016

Be a Doll

Here I am with Dolly. Apparently she was a favorite friend back in the day. But after those very early years, I was not infatuated with dolls or remember playing with them much. I was certainly not a collector.

I remember Thumbelina. She had a wind-up key and from the commercials she should have been kicking her legs and practically rolling over and standing up. False advertising and major disappointment when mine on Christmas morning barely stirred.

Most of my dolls ended up with bad haircuts. I was not handy with scissors anyway. I cut what I knew. Looking in the mirror, all I saw were crooked bangs. I cut 'em, as I saw 'em. My mother wasn't pleased.

As for Barbie, I probably owned one, but it's not memorable. She did not influence my life. Thus I read the 2/8/16 issue of Time Magazine with curiosity. Barbie is on the cover and there's a whole discussion about American beauty, culture attitudes (now there's curvy, tall, and petite sizes), and the message being sent to impressionable brains by a doll.

But, face it  - Barbie means bucks for Mattel Corp. If she ain't pulling in the dough, she has to be put out to pasture or reinvented.

And for kids today...do they care about the tangible product or.....is there an app for that?

So - what are your thoughts on Barbie? Were you a doll (or action figure) connoisseur?  Any favorites?  And how many of you flung your toy from a catapult or had it careening in a toy car off a ramp you created?

11 comments:

  1. Dolly was dolly for me - way before Barbie time. I can't remember what I did with Dolly - but I certainly loved her for years .. til she was rejected .. probably by the kitten arriving .. cheers Hilary

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  2. I think my brother pulled her head off. Very sad

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  3. We loved putting our sister's Barbie doll on the Christmas tree revolving light and shooting darts at it.
    Good times, good times.

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  4. We loved putting our sister's Barbie doll on the Christmas tree revolving light and shooting darts at it.
    Good times, good times.

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  5. I played with dolls some, but not a lot. I do remember playing with Troll dolls and making clothes and furniture (like beds and chairs out of little boxes and thread spools and such) for them.

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  6. Love the picture of you by the way! :-)

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  7. I wasn't keen on baby dolls - I once put one of them down the toilet and my mum certainly wasn't pleased about that! However, when Barbie came along I thought she was wonderful (I only ever owned one & I still have her with all of her very fashionable 1970s clothes!!) Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace

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    1. now she's a collector item. Very retro with 1970s. Cool!

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  8. Due to Barbie's curvy figure I am an excellent Barbie Fashionista Seamstress. Made lots and lots of Barbie clothes for my sisters and granddaughters. Barbie herself was after my time, but I spent hours playing with paper dolls. Loved cutting out their clothes. My favorite doll was a 25" Walking Doll Santa brought me when I was 10. I named her Sarah...she sits in my Sewing Studio...I still make her clothes with 1950's Reproduction patterns. Yes, it's another collection.
    Sue at CollectInTexas Gal

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