In 1960 Mattel developed a gorgeous board game for its brand new character, Barbie, and her boyfriend Ken. Titled “the Barbie game” upon its 1961 release, it’s better known by its subtitle, “Queen of the Prom.”
Never mind that the Barbie close-up on the box lid and the fashion illustrations–of Enchanted Evening, Silken Flame, Let’s Dance and Solo in the Spotlight–both on the board and on the cards, above, were reused from the fashion booklets. The game was a candy-colored masterpiece whose design is still celebrated today.
Beyond the reused booklet art, there were some fresh little sketches of Barbie and friends, such as the illustrations of shopping, dating and school activities on the box lid:
as well as illustrations of Barbie cavorting, dancing, and approaching a sweeping suburban home on the corners of the game board:
and little renderings of not Barbie, we assume, but all of her friends, lining the approach to the winning square, where Barbie is crowned Queen of the Prom:
These last remind us of the Busy Gal fashion sketches.
But Queen of the Prom was so much more than the sum of its sketches. The appeal of its broader aesthetic has led the game to be revived and honored in many ways over the years, including in high quality reproductions, starting with the 35th anniversary re-release:
in miniature as a Barbie-scaled box sold with the nostalgic Cool Collecting Barbie, and a playable keychain game, both 1999:
and in a convention-exclusive set of notecards for the 2001 Barbie convention, which was itself Queen-of-the-Prom-themed:
In 1963 the board game was revamped with all-new art that has not been reused or reproduced, and was formally renamed, eliminating “the Barbie game” from its title (by now it coexisted with Barbie’s Keys to Fame, a second board game).
On the cover stands Barbie, radiant in white, surrounded by maid of honor Midge, flower girl Skipper, and groom–wait, this isn’t a wedding, it’s prom! Then what’s Skipper doing there? The ’63 Queen of the Prom box lid could easily stand in for the wedding gift set packaging of the same period. However, game play still revolved around getting a date–and dress–for the dance.
This iteration’s ensemble options were Enchanted Evening (again), Sophisticated Lady, Senior Prom, and Party Date–which was still labeled “Silken Flame.”
Midge pitched in to model Senior Prom, a favorite look for her.
Alongside the four formal ensembles, Barbie is shown wearing a number of familiar outfits for school and extracurricular activities (including playing “mother” to Midge and Skipper, seemingly, in the “Home” tile shown below right).
The updated version of the game came with more gadgets, like the club pins above, as well as rings for going steady and custom-molded game pieces, unlike the mostly generic components used for the original version. The added expense of all these custom pieces may be part of the reason we haven’t seen this version, with its unique and beautiful art, reproduced.
Queen of the Prom was refreshed one more time, in 1991, with contemporary art and costumes, and the Sixties originals almost certainly also provided inspiration for the off-brand Campus Queen lunchbox a couple years later. But neither of these compares to the original game, with its rich mid-century color palette, or the first revamp with its glamorous illustrations.
Most of Mattel’s nostalgic looks back at the board game came within a few years of each other in the Nineties to the early Aughts. Will there be further tributes, or is that ground now well-trodden? We’d love to see a 1963 reboot, or even a Queen-of-the-Prom-themed doll gift set, though most of the ensembles have been reproduced separately already.
Bye for now, from us and all of Barbie’s beaux:
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.
Silken Flame 
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