Barbie’s Keys to Fame

Illustrations from the Keys to Fame game. Source for all images in this post: statestpac2011 on eBay.

A funny little mid-Sixties board game, Barbie’s Keys to Fame illustrates a number of possible futures for the one-time Teen-Aged Fashion Model, each emblematic of a “key” to fame: the stamina of the Ballerina, the style of the Fashion Designer… Note: fashion model is not one of the possible callings.

Each of the eight vocations is depicted in six illustrations that we believe are entirely unique to this game–a total of 48 exclusive illustrations. Unlike a certain, more famous Barbie board game, Keys to Fame has never been reproduced, so these illustrations are rare.

The different versions of Barbie’s future are distinguished by unique combinations of hair style and color, with only the ballerina repping her original ponytail.

Most of the others have either a “flip” wig or an American Girl ‘do–the two can be difficult to distinguish in an illustration, but we’re tentatively classing Teacher and Mother as flip wigs, and three others (Nurse, Stewardess, and Astronaut) as American Girls.

As Barbie attains success along each of these life paths, she seizes the opportunity to model a number of recognizable fashions from the first half of the Sixties. The Nurse, Ballerina and Stewardess paths show her wearing exactly what you’d expect–Registered Nurse, Ballerina, and American Airlines Stewardess, respectively; all 1961–whereas on the Astronaut path she wears the 1965 Miss Astronaut ensemble right up to the end, then attires herself in 1962’s After Five for a ticker tape parade.

Sometimes Barbie deviates from the expected in her dress. As a teacher, Barbie wears Sorority Meeting (’62), Knitting Pretty (’63 version), Graduation (’63), and Country Fair (’64)–but never 1965’s Student Teacher. As a fashion designer she wears the pak Silk Sheath to design the Belle dress ( both ’62) and wears Career Girl (’63) to visit Paris, but eschews the fashion-designer-themed 1960 ensemble Busy Gal.

The movie star, who, along with the fashion designer, sports a bubble-on-bubble hairdo, has some of the more elegant costume changes: reading a script in Golden Girl (’59), walking a red carpet in Enchanted Evening (’60), signing autographs in a four-button sheath (’62), and receiving an award in Senior Prom (’63). Her garments aren’t visible in the remaining two images, but it’s fun to see her on the big screen after her many television appearances.

The award for most costume changes goes to Mother, who goes through Fancy Free (’63), Busy Morning (’63), pak cotton separates (’62), Knitting Pretty (’63), Friday Night Date (’60), and Nighty Negligee (’59) for her scenes.

Some of these occupations seem to lend themselves more readily to fame than others, but with a little mulling, we were able to think of women who’ve attained fame from all of these pursuits, except one: the stewardess. Do any famous flight attendants spring to mind?

Want to see more board games? Stick around. We’ll tackle that famous one–plus a mod game or two–in upcoming posts.

Where to next? This post is about vintage Barbieillustrations. Our most popular post in the category is on Mattel fashion booklets. The most recent post in the category is on the World of Fashion board game. Other popular posts on this site include the Many Abodes of Barbie series (currently covering 1962-1970) and our Chronicle of Barbie shoes, 1959-67. Or just head up to the Table of Contents to see more options.