Sears Karosel Kitchen, 1971-1976

I’ve seen this funny little kitchen listed as a Barbie playset a couple times and was curious about it. I began my investigation with the handy catalog search feature of christmas.musetechnical.com. Although Sears was not shy about letting you know what doll might use the set, it turns out it was actually not Mattel- or Barbie-branded.

According to the copy in 1971 (above), this kitchen set was based on one demonstrated at the 1970 World’s Fair. I didn’t find many resources about the World’s Fair kitchen prototype, but my searches did lead me to this amazingly detailed Google video about the toy:

In the video the presenter guesses that he has an early version of the toy because it has a hand-turned crank to rotate the kitchen, instead of the futuristic push-button convenience of other models. However, the 1971 version already has the push-button; we’ll actually encounter the crank later. The presenter also speculates that a device on the middle column (visible on the catalog page at top) might be a microwave, but we know from the catalog copy that it is in fact a video phone. The opposite side of the column features a “computer,” visible in the 1972 wishbook:

This year the accessory set mentioned in the video was also introduced.

While Walking Jamie advertised the kitchen in year one, this year we see Busy Barbie standing well back from the contraption–almost as if she knows which way that hot food on the range will go flying, should anyone press the “rotate” button.

Busy Barbie is put through her paces in the 1973 catalog, operating the washer and dryer and manipulating various dishes.

In 1974 the hand crank appears. This year the set is also produced in Singapore, rather than in Japan as in years previous.

The futuristic kitchen returned in 1975 and made its final appearance in 1976, demonstrated by Malibu Barbie. By 1970, adults were probably already aware that a spinning kitchen was not the way of the future; maybe by ’77 the kids were catching on, too.

Where to next? Explore refined living in Penthouse apartments, 1964-76; check out another off-brand kitchen: The Deluxe Reading Dream Kitchen; on the illustration front, browse Mod-Era Whitman Paper Dolls; or just go up to the Table of Contents.