Silken Flame

Vintage Barbie illustrations, built environment, clones and more

  • Welcome!

    Thanks for swinging by my vintage Barbie fan site, where you’ll find articles on Barbie’s built environment, Barbie illustrations, vintage rival and clone dolls and playsets, and miscellaneous musings/deep dives. What are you looking for?

    Color illustrations of Barbie and Midge from little Mattel fashion booklets that came with the dolls. Shown are: Sheath Sensation, Red Flare, Dinner at Eight, Sweater Girl, Career Girl, Movie Date, and Senior Prom.

    Vintage Barbie Illustrations

    Plus the illustration “sidebars,” short entries on niche topics:

    Barbie Family Deluxe House exterior bearing illustration showing a yellow brick house with two pairs of doors: arched, louvered red doors with rectangular shutters to either side, and arched glass doors. Skipper, Tutti and cat cavort on a brick path leading to the red doors. Through the glass doors walks Barbie, holding a tray of drinks, onto a fieldstone pation on which Francie sits at a white circular table with umbrella and two wrought iron chairs. Greenery surrounds them. A dog sits close to Francie in the extreme foreground.

    Barbie’s Built Environment

    3 shots of doll penthouses. L: color catalog image with caption reading "Here's Tressy's modern penthouse apartment." C: Jamie stands inside her "Party Penthouse" case. R: Photograph from the front of Tuesday Taylor's pentouse packaging shows Tuesday seated inside her structure.

    Articles relating to clones, rivals, and off-brand Barbie-style products

    Four images of Sixties Sparkles nostalgic Black Barbie wearing: her original swimsuit; reproduction of the red swimsuit worn by vintage bubble cut and swirl ponytail Barbies; white pak playsuit; and the 12 Days of Christmas (2022) Belle dress).

    Miscellaneous Musings and Deep Dives

    There’s still more to come, but before you scroll away, here’s the first image ever posted to this blog back in 2022: some of my dolls, dressed in vintage or vintage reproduction, in front of backgrounds belonging to Bill Cotter:

    Four vintage or reproduction dolls in front of 1950s-1960s photographs of Disneyland. Counterclockwise from top left, vintage Walking Jamie in Studio Tour crosses in front of Tomorrowland, with the Clock of the World, Monsanto Hall of Chemistry, and Douglas rocket visible. Next, reproduction My Favorite 1981 Black Barbie in vintage Red Flare in front of Fantasyland, with the Matterhorn, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and the Sky Buckets visible. Third, vintage bubble cut Barbie in Crisp 'n' Cool stands in front of the Monorail and Autopia sign in Tomorrowland. Finally, reproduction blonde Stacey from the Nite Lightning set, wearing the Matinee Fashion dress from the reproduction 1965 My Favorite American Girl set, along with short white gloves and gold dimpled clutch.
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  • Who wore it best? Mary Quant edition
    L: Color photo of brunette Francie; R: B&W photo of model in similar dress by Mary Quant. Both dresses have waists just below the busts, large pointy collars, and skirts with wide vertical stripes. The Quant dress top has a checked pattern while Francie's is polka-dotted. Francie's has a bow at the waist and two buttons going down the bodice, while the Quant dress has two buttons at the waist. The Quant collar is the same fabric as the top, while Francie's has a white collar and cuffs. We can't see if the Quant dress has cuffs because the model's hands are behind her back.
    L: Francie wears It’s a Date (1966). Source: Theriault’s. R: Jean Shrimpton in Mary Quant, 1963.

    In her 1965 memoir Quant wrote, “When you break a rule, you automatically arrive at something different and this is fun. Take stripes, checks and polka dots. For years these were worn on their own or teamed with a plain colour. Nobody asked why. I believe in mixing patterns and colours wildly. So far as I’m concerned, spots go with stripes and checks.”

    Top: B/W photo of three models' legs in patterned tights, all crossing each other and each wearing two different shoes. At front are white or light tights with a diamond pattern, then black tights with large polka dots, then dark tights with a scale pattern. Bottom: Color photo. Light-haired Francie in It's a Date, including the light tights with dot pattern, lying on her back and kicking her legs in the air.
    Top: From a 1965 advertisement for Mary Quant patterned tights. Bottom: Francie in It’s a Date.
    L: B/W photo of Twiggy lying down, looking up at the camera, wearing shiny makeup, a metallic A-line minidress, glittery tights and ballet-style slippers with criss-cross ribbons over her ankles. R: Color image of Casey lying down in Silver Cage, a hot pink shift with silver net A-line overdress, pink and silver net tights, and pink bow shoes. Her silver purse sits next to her.
    L: Twiggy in 1966, wearing glitter tights by Mary Quant. R: Casey in The Silver Cage (1968)

    (The above is not meant to claim that Silver Cage is a Mary Quant design–neither is the frock Twiggy wears here–but in the mid-60s Quant made great innovations in womens’ tights; the glitter ones of ’66 were a particular success.)

    L: Color closeup of Francie in the dress from Concert in the Park, a similar silhouette to It's a Date with very high waist and straight skirt. The top is white with red dots, ruffled collar and ruffles at the wrists. R: B/W photo of model in Mary Quant. Her dress is a shift in white with black or dark-colored polka dots, ruffled collar and ruffles at the wrists.
    L: Francie in the Concert in the Park (1966) dress. R: Jean Shrimpton in Daddy’s Girl by Mary Quant for Ginger Group, 1964.
    L: Color photo of Francie in the Concert in the Park ensemble; R: B/W photo of model in Mary Quant. As in the previous image, Francie's top is white with red polka dots. The Quant ensemble includes a white top with polka dots. Both wear vests, Francie's in blue matching her skirt, and the model in an unknown shade that also matches the skirt. Both wear hats: Francie's in the polka-dotted fabric of her dress top with a blue bow, Celia Hammond's in black with a tie at neck. Francie carries a purse in the same polka dot fabric with red trim,
    L: Francie in Concert in the Park. R: Celia Hammond in Coal Heaver by Mary Quant, 1962.

    A 1965 New Yorker piece covering a Mary Quant “Youthquake” fashion promotion for the States quotes from a brochure titled, “Youthquake Lingo (For Salespeople Only)”: “‘Super’ is the British way of saying O.K. All these Youthquake fashions are very much super, meaning O.K. ‘Smashing’ is the English word for ‘great,’ meaning the most exciting. And it’s a great word to use for the entire Youthquake collection. A ‘flakeout’ is so bad it’s really awful…”

    When Francie hit the scene the following year, an article in Barbie Magazine titled “Say It In Mod” explained, “Mod is short for modern and it means new… Cool means anything that’s great… and so does fabby, and marvey and neat! In means anything that’s in style, out means anything that isn’t! Groovy and gear are the same as cool…” and so forth (as transcribed by BillyBoy* in Barbie: Her Life and Times).

    L: Color photo. Brunette Casey in low-waisted sleeveless dress with pleated skirt and buttons down the front. R: Mary Quant, with dark brown bobbed hair, in a pin-striped low-waisted sleeveless dress with pleated skirt. She wears dark hose and black flat or low-heeled shoes, and dances with a man in a suit. Casey's legs are bare and her feet are not visible.
    L: Casey in Pleat Neat (1967). R: Quant and husband/business partner Alexander Plunket Greene dance in New York City. Photographed for Life Magazine’s 1960 feature, “A British Couple’s Kooky Styles.”

    The preceding images of Quant, Shrimpton, Hammond, and unknown models in tights come from the Victoria and Albert Museum and its 2019 exhibition catalog, Mary Quant.

    L: B/W photo of Mary Quant in a low-waisted knee-length sailor dress with white sleeveless top, dark skirt, and ribbon trim. R: Color photo of brunette Casey in red sleeveless sailor minidress with teal buttons down the front, teal ribbon tie front and teal-trimmed red hat.
    L: Mary Quant in London, 1961. R: Casey in Land Ho! (1969).

    Quant also wrote in ’65 that “there was a time when every girl under twenty yearned to look an experienced, sophisticated thirty… when every girl dreamed of a slinky black dress worn with very high heels. All this is in reverse with a vengeance now… their ambition is to look like Patty Boyd rather than Marlene Dietrich.” (Twiggy would be discovered the following year.)

    I swear, that Pattie Boyd–herself a Teen-Age Fashion Model when she met future husband George Harrison in 1964, catapulting her to celebrity status–reminds me of someone I’ve seen…

    Black and white photo of Pattie Boyd and color photo of Francie in box, both from the shoulder up. They have strikingly similar facial features (though Francie's eyes are brown and we know from other sources that Pattie's are an intense shade of blue) and similar length flip hairdos with heavy fringes.
    Mid-Sixties Pattie, meet mid-Sixties Francie.
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  • Dell Comics (1962-1963)
    Color comic book page. On a full-page panel, Blonde ponytail Barbie swings by her knees from a trapeze high above a circus ring. Far below, a man in top hat and tails, brandishing a whip, announces her. The scene is peppered with colorful dots of different sizes, possibly balloons but more likely abstractions.
    Barbie and Ken #3, May-July 1963. via Three Palms Vintage on eBay.

    From May of 1962 to August of ’63, Dell Comics released a 5-issue run of “Barbie and Ken” comic books. Contemporaneous with the Random House chapter books, the comics introduce a different vision of Barbie. Whereas the chapter books’ protagonist was a high school student, the comics’ Barbie is an adult with numerous careers: flight attendant, newspaper reporter, nurse, dental assistant, nightclub singer, circus performer, ballerina, meteorologist, and more. (Ken, meanwhile, is television producer, nightclub-owning songwriter/pianist, dentist, surgeon…)

    3 color comic book panels. Barbie assumes various poses in front of a vague map of the US, sometimes with TV cameras in frame. Word bubbles indicate that Barbie is the TV station's new weather girl. In one panel, Barbie points at a large blue arrow on the map and says, "This arrow shows that a lot of cold air is going to be here tonight." She wears a dress that looks like Movie Date but in green with darker stripes.

    Where the chapter books show her learning from her mistakes, sometimes prone to doubt and insecurity, in the comics she is assured, unerring and impossibly talented–though she accepts compliments very graciously.

    Color comic book panel titled "Barbie's Theatre Group." Blonde bubble cut Barbie sits in the foreground wearing a pak polka-dot sheath in red, directing a community theatre group, She tells the actors on stage to "try that scene again, and this time put a little more zip into it." On stage, the actors respond: "Anything you say, Barbie." "Gosh, Barbie, I wish you'd come up here and show me how to do it properly."
    Black-and-white comic book panel shows dark-hair bubble cut Barbie with "an exhibition of her work in a big art gallery." Facing what appears to be a sculpture of a dead tree, a man says "It's one of the best things I've ever seen, Barbie. I'd like to buy it!!" Barbie responds, "That's wonderful, Mr. Reed! You make me very proud!"

    Everywhere she goes she is praised, and nothing can function without her. When she covers the fashion beat for a local newspaper, assistant Midge comes by to have her check some illustrations–but Barbie also drew the illustrations. And aren’t they lovely?

    Two color comic book panels. Dark-haired Midge in Movie Date, dark-haired bubble cut Barbie in a red version of Sorority Meeting, and a Barbie Fan Club member, Gretchen, look at fashion sketches in an office setting. In the first panel Midge says "Barbie, I wanted you to see these illustrations for the new fashion advertisement..." and is introduced as Barbie's assistant/ In the second panel, Midge says, "Barbie drew these illustrations. Aren't they lovely? She's really as good a fashion artist as anyone around." Barbie demurs, but the Fan insists the sketches are "terrific." The sketches appear to be Career Girl and a full-skirted evening gown with wrap or wide collar a la Sophisticated Lady.

    Later, when she goes to report on a fashion show, the designer asks Barbie to model for her.

    Brunette bubble cut Barbie wears Senior Prom on a low stage with curtain backdrop and nearby full-length mirror, all resembling Barbie's Fashion Shop. In the foreground Midge, still in Movie Date, takes photographs. Barbie says she hopes she's worthy of the gown. The fashion designer character, Madame Carla, says, "It is Magnifique! Exactly as I pictured it! Barbie, you are a living angel! I do with you would come and model for me all the time!" The fan club member says, "Isn't she gorgeous, Midge? A pure dream!" and Midge agrees with about five exclamation points.

    Despite all her poise and accomplishments, she relies on strange children to choose her furniture.

    Color comic book panel. Brunette bubble cut Barbie in Sheath Sensation (hat included) sits with a fan club member on a couch in a showroom. Barbie says, "This is a terrific couch, Margie! It's so soft and comfortable! It will go beautifully in my new living room!" Margie responds, "I thought you'd like it, I just hope it isn't too expensive!"
    Color comic book panel. Yet another fan club member, Nancy, gestures to a desk, saying, "How do you like this desk, folks? I think it's even nicer than the other one! And I happen to know you can buy it very reasonably!" Blonde bubble cut Barbie in Let's Dance and Ken both agree enthusiastically.

    The children are all members of the Barbie Fan Club; each episode is set within a framing device of club members describing the time that they met Barbie. The best explanation for her reliance on the tastes of children, as well as her abundance of careers, is that the stories are all made up. In the first issue one of the children even admits her story was a dream; but does that admission strengthen or undermine the conclusion that the rest are fabrications, too?

    Anyway, let’s talk illustrations, which are in a standard midcentury comic style. Outside of the fashion booklets, the comics are probably unmatched in density of character renderings–even the coloring books did not need multiple Barbies per page. Perhaps it’s a consequence of the need for mass illustrations that their quality varies so much. At times Barbie looks lovely, as the text insists.

    Two color comic book panels. The first shows Barbie doing her weather report on a black-and-white TV screen. The caption says, "She looks just as lovely on TV as she does in person!" In the second panel, Blonde bubble cut Barbie, back in green Movie Date, greets her fan, Mavis, after the broadcast. In both frames the drawings of Barbie look pretty, her facial features symmettic.

    At other times her features are mismatched.

    Three color comic book panels depict how fan club member Lynn met Barbie (blonde ponytail in After Five) and Ken in England. Two close-up views of Barbie both misplace her face relative to her head. In the first her face is angled down more than her head, leaving a large area of forehead below the bands and compressing her mouth toward her chin. In the second her head is tilted up and to the side but her face is angled more toward the viewer. The plot-related note below the image refers to a panel in which Ken says, "We're travelling with Barbie's Aunt Sue."

    (A note on the story and Barbie’s virtue: as Ken is quick to clarify, the unwedded couple don’t just go gallivanting about Europe together; Barbie’s aunt, though absent from the action, chaperones them. In the episode where Barbie buys furniture for her new home it’s revealed that Barbie’s mother lives there with her. Dell’s Barbie is unquestionably a “nice” girl.)

    Sometimes the illustration quality even varies from frame to frame, as in these excerpts from “The Barbie Fashion Show,” a local TV broadcast:

    Four narrow color panels showing Barbie in Solo in the Spotlight, After Five, and Garden Party, and alternating from a pleasant and symmetric appearance to one image where her lops are overdrawn and a dark mark gives her eye a sort of evil look, leading to an overall Joker-ish quality; and another where she has two very different eyes and stands before a red curtain wearing After Five and saying, "This hat is a Mr. Bob creation."

    Making that face, before that curtain, while referencing Mr. Bob… it’s all a little too Twin Peaks!

    You may have noticed by now that the panels are also chock full of legit Mattel-designed Barbie fashions. We’ve glimpsed Senior Prom, Solo in the Spotlight, Sheath Sensation, After Five, Movie Date, and more. Since the whole series rolled out over approximately one year, there are a lot of fashion repeats: we were happy to see our namesake fashion, Silken Flame, worn by Barbie, Midge, and an unknown model at Madame Carla’s salon.

    Color color comic book panel at Madame Carla's salon. Models parade by in Silken Flame (in its original hues), Theatre Date (blue dress with white bolero), and Fashion Queen swimsuit and headscarf (in black and white stripes). The Silken Flame model's head is obscured by word bubbles.

    Midge dons Silken Flame to praise Barbie’s largely-unsung glory.

    Black-and-white comic book panel. Brunette bubble cut Barbie in a pak knit sheath says, "You'll be a knockout in that dress, Midge." Midge, in Silken Flame before a 3-pane mirror, says, "If I look half as pretty as you, Barbie, then I'll be satisfied!" The backdrop of the scene consists of floor-to-ceiling draperies and black-and-white tiled floor.

    Barbie is at her most human getting weak-kneed over piles of money in a Monte Carlo casino, wearing Silken Flame in a de Stijl-influenced color scheme.

    Color comic book panel. Caption indicates that the characters are visiting a casino at Monte Carlo. Blonde ponytail Barbie wears a Silken Flame version with black bodice, wide blue belt, and full red skirt. With a faroff expression on her face she says, "Look at all that money." Lynn's mother says, "By the end of the evening, there will be some new millionaires and some new poor people in this room. Ken responds, "But I won't be one of them. The say 'lucky in love, unlucky at gambling.' I'm satisfied just the way things are."

    Ken’s satisfied. Is Barbie?

    In issue #2 Barbie spends much of the first episode wearing a red-colored Cotton Casual version; then in the second episode she puts on her “new party dress,” which is Cotton Casual in blue!

    Color comic book panel. Blonde ponytail Barbie wears a strapless, full-skirted dress of narrow horizontal red and black stripes, and leans into a phone booth. Caption reads, "Then Barbie called Peggy... and Ken called Tommy. If only they would both accept the invitations!"
    Color comic book panel. Caption reads, "Ken went home and came back, wearing his new suit... and Barbie put on her new party dress. Now everything was ready for the guests to arrive..." Barbie stands at the front door of a suburban-looking home, wearing the same dress but in blue and black. Block letters say DING DONG over the door and Barbie's speech bubble reads, "And not a moment too soon."

    Despite our focus on hand-drawn illustration in this blog, our favorite images from this series are actually the doll photography used for the covers:

    Color comic book covers feature posed and photographed Barbie and Ken. L: Blonde bubblecut Barbie in Sweater Girl carries a red hatbox, while Ken carries the American Airlines travel bag, before a row of solid colored pictures reading Spain, Italy, France, and England in green, yellow, pink, and blue, with figures or architecture sketched for each nation. C: dark blonde or reddish Barbie in Tennis, Anyone? and Ken in his tennis duds stand on either side of a net, both facing forward with Barbie leaning back against the net and Ken. Ken holds two rackets and looks slightly down toward Barbie. R: Barbie in the dress from Sophisticated Lady and Ken in tuxedo stand at a microphone with a red curtain behind. Each cover is titled "Barbie and Ken."
    Dell Barbie and Ken issues 2, 4 and 5 covers via eBay.

    Worth framing. But that’s probably enough on the vintage comics, given that there were only five issues and the art style was pretty consistent throughout. Before we go, I hope you’ll appreciate Barbie’s midcentury couch, coffee table and “cheese” dip:

    Three color comic book panels show blonde ponytail Barbie (in Friday Night date but with horizontal stripes), Ken, and fan club member Donna preparing for a party. The sofa is a massive blue, curved, wraparound style, while the table is a glass, amoeba-shaped top on 3 wooden legs with boomerang contours. In the last panel, Lynn says, "Is that the cheese dip you're making now, Barbie?" Barbie's speech bubble says, "Yes, but strangely enough, I don't use cheese. I use sour cream, and just add some of this dried onion soup mix... then just stir." The image is mostly of Barbie's hands pouring dried soup mix into a bowl with sour cream, and a bit of the back of the fan's head.

    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.

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  • Not Barbie on TV

    In an earlier post, we reviewed a handful of Barbie’s television appearances on early Barbie sets. But Barbie, her friends, and rivals watched other programs, too. Let’s view a few.

    Close up on chipboard TV on stand. The set is wood-look with gold-toned front. Smiling woman on front has short bouffant hair and high fur collar that merge together in the black-and-white color scheme.
    1963 Ideal Doll House television set. Source: 608samolly on eBay.

    First up is the 1963 Ideal house that was marketed for use by either Tammy or Barbie. This was a big house for its era, with kitchen, living room and bedroom in modern furnishings. On the black-and-white TV is a woman with Loretta Young looks and either a high fur collar or the most carefully-coiffured mullet on Earth.

    1963 Ideal Doll House prototype in the ’63 Sears Christmas catalog. Source: christmas.musetechnical.com.

    Midge reclines in a prototype of the same house in the 1963 Sears catalog, with a similar show airing on the small TV in the built-in shelving unit at back. What looks like a second set, facing Midge but lacking a screen, is in reality a bulky side table or storage unit.

    Actually, the prototype TV show looks like a cross between the production version above and Tammy’s second television set, below.

    Close up on another wood-look chipboard TV with gold front, this one on four splayed legs. In color on screen is a blonde woman smiling, wearing navy with collar standing up. Behind her are washes of red and green. Surrounding we can see a dotted tile floor, a pink bench along the wall with drawers beneath, a wood-look chair with yellow-and-green striped upholstery, and a wood-look white-topped side table.
    Tammy’s Ideal House / Tammy’s Playhouse television. Source: janetnmark2010 on eBay.

    Ideal also made a house especially for their own doll, Tammy, in ’63. Tammy’s Ideal House, sometimes Tammy’s Playhouse, has color TV, and she’s watching an unknown blonde performer.

    On a blue background, a folded piece of paper or cardboard says "T.V. Program" on a tV-screen-shaped blob with salmon background. Beside the TV program, a slightly ovoid plastic set in white plastic, with a handle and metal-look antenna on top, shows a girl or woman with a dirty blonde shot flip hairstyle and fringe, pearls, and a blue sleeveless top or dress.
    Tammy’s pak TV. Source: pfmink on eBay.

    Tammy, the girl next door, was less likely than Barbie to see herself on air; but a portable plastic television that came with some of her accessory paks did show a figure with Tammy’s trademark pout on screen.

    Purplish chipboard TV. On "screen" a dark-haired woman smiles brightly. She wears a tiara, a white gown with sweetheart neckline, and Elizabethan collar in red rising behind her head. She's shown to just below the bust, so we only assume that her garment is a gown; in a pageant scenario it could easily be a bathing suit.
    Littlechaps’ Living Room TV set. Source: 2bdebtfree on eBay.

    Over at the Littlechaps’ residence, still in ’63, the color TV shows a smiling brunette. This could be one of the Littlechap ladies, but we doubt it; like Tammy, they led private lives. This one looks a bit like a young Queen Elizabeth II, but for the lack of necklaces–maybe this is more of a homecoming queen, beauty queen or similar. The Bold Doll has an amazing article all about the Littlechaps, including images of the booklet advertising all their ephemera. Visible in the booklet (at the bottom of the article, but peruse the whole thing–it’s great) is a different (prototype) television, showing, in black and white, a possible newscaster or crooner before a microphone. The same version appeared on the Family Room’s packaging.

    Two catalog items, one in black-and-white and one in color, for a one-room "house" in similar proportions to Barbie's first. Floor has tile look in white, black and teal; other furnishings include a bed or daybed with roll pillow, chair and couch in red and teal in similar shaped to Barbie's, TV set and lamp. Built into the back wall are clothes storage, shelves, and vanity, with small vanity stool, all similar to Barbie's first dream house. The furniture shown in the earlier black-and-white image and that in color differ somewhat, with the later one appearing less carefully crafted and more similar to Barbie's designs; possibly the difference between prototype and mass-produced reality. A small inset in the earlier image also shows a fences "patio" with indistinct furniture extending out from one side. The second listing mentions but does not show it.
    1963 and ’64 Montgomery Ward catalog listings for a “Portable Doll House” or bungalow for Barbie and/or Tammy and/or Wendy and/or Tressy. Source: christmas.musetechnical.com

    There was a glut of chipboard houses in 1963, imitators of Barbie’s original. Here’s a “Portable Doll House” we’ve only seen in Montgomery Ward’s catalogs, above. It looks like there’s a TV, but what’s on? Enhance!

    Close up on the black-and-white catalog image bove, The TV is in the background but may show evergreen trees and a crescent moon. Also in frame are an armchair with modern lines and a couple of framed pictures--one of a man in a necktie, one indistinct--on the vanity. Barbie and Tammy are both shown standing "in" the space, but possibly collaged on. Barbie looks like Fashion Queen in blonde wig, wearing Fancy Free.

    We’ll venture that that’s a landscape at night–it could be anything, though.

    Close up on wood-look chipboard shelves, with drawn-on drawers and colorful book spines, next to fireplace with orange and green fieldstone. Black-and-white TV is illustrated into the shelving and shows Tressy in profile, her hair grown out, wearing what looks like her original red-and-white dress (but only hear and shoulders are shown).
    The telly in Tressy’s penthouse. Source: LaneyCummings on Flickr.

    In 1964 the housing market cooled, but we did get one new “clone” house, Tressy’s Penthouse. Tressy’s chic city lifestyle allowed for a modestly-sized, black-and-white television built into the shelves, and that does appear to be Tressy on screen.

    New Dream House chipboard living room. On blue "television" with insert screen, Illustrated Skipper's head floats on blue background next to Mattel logo. Alternate screens are propped against the table on which the TV sits. Both have white backgrounds; one shows a toy-looking lion and the other a little girl doll with blonde hair and pink frills. Also in frame are orange armchairs, yellow sofa, wood-look coffee table with marble-look top, and fieldstone fireplace with hanging greenery and cute framed cat picture.
    1964 Barbie and Skipper’s New Dream House television with alternate screens. Source: lovart on eBay.

    Barbie and Skipper got new digs in ’64 as well. For the first time, Barbie wasn’t on TV, but their color television offered a selection of different programs, some of which are shown above (there were more options on the backs of those cards, as well). This marks Skipper’s first television appearance.

    Very close up image of greenish chipboard set. Smiling blonde woman with wide reddish collar, red beaded necklace, and bouffant/flip hairstyle appears on "screen" surrounded by music notes and asterisks.
    1965 Skipper’s Dream Room television. Source: bigrackdaddy on eBay.

    Skipper got her own room, with its own TV, in 1965. Since this looks like no other Barbie illustration in that time period, including multiple pictures of Barbie that came with the room, we’re forced to conclude that this is, surprisingly, not Barbie on Skipper’s TV. It looks a little like what Tammy was watching two years ago, though.

    Large image of Francie seated on white plastic bed with pink sateen covering. On the head and baseboard are collaged photographic images including a pair of young people dancing, record covers, and records. From the top of the baseboard a thin, sinewy extension holds up a small, slightly rounded TV set. In an inset image the front of the TV is shown, and on its screen is a small version of the headboard art showing dances, record sleeves and records.
    Francie’s 1966 Mod-a-Go-Go bed with built-in television. Sources: Theriault’s; Barbie List Holland.

    Francie’s 1966 bedroom set by Susy Goose included a small TV built into the bedframe. As shown in the inset, the collage on her headboard is repeated in miniature on TV. The collage includes photographs of teens dancing, record sleeves, and two record albums. Were there shows that looked this way in ’66?

    Barbie and pals continued to own televisions after these years, but they were diminished in size, illustrated into the walls or shelving, and typically turned off. In the Seventies Barbie favored a more active lifestyle, which TV didn’t suit–except, of course, for her 1972 “busy” TV set, perfect for the girl on the go. That set was tuned, naturally, to a performance by Barbie.

    Smile, ladies!

    Row of images showing the fronts of 4 TVs featured in the post, from: the 63 Ideal house, the Littlechaps' Family Room, Tammy's Playhouse, and Skipper's Dream Room.

    Where to next? This post is about Barbie’s early built environment. The most recent post in this category is part three of the Barbie’s Seventies Travelogue series, and the most popular are those on Mattel Modern and Susy Goose furniture and on penthouse apartments. Otherwise, the overall most popular posts on this site are about Barbie shoes, 1959-67, and about Mattel fashion booklets. Or just head up to the Table of Contents to see more options.

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  • Who wore it best? Airborne edition
    Left is black-and-white image of the actress Jane Wyman posing in a blazer with straight bottom hem, skirt covering the knee, matching cap, and two-tone closed-toed shoes, carrying a black bag over her shoulder. A male actor walks past in the background and they exchange a glance. At right, color photo of bubble cut Barbie in American Airlines blue uniform including blue blazer with curved bottom hem, skirt covering the knee, matching cap, white blouse, black open-toed shoes, black shoulder bag, and blue American Airlines branded luggage in hand.
    L: Jane Wyman as an American Airlines stewardess in MGM’s “Three Guys Named Mike,” 1951. R: Barbie as the same from 1961; source: kyoto-jky74 on eBay.
    L: Row of human actors, two male and four female, walk toward the camera. Women wear powder blue suits with straight-hemmed jackets, skirts to the knee, matching caps, white blouses, white gloves, white hosiery, and dark closed-toed shoes. All carry a pice of small powder-blue luggage. Doll's outfit is mostly the same, lacking gloves, substituting copen-toed black shoes, wearing a black shoulder bag, with a little more green in the uniform color. She stands next to a stack of plastic doll-scale luggage with Pan Am logos, topped by the Pan Am bag that was sold with the ensemble.
    L: the cast of ABC’s “Pan Am,” set in 1963. R: Barbie as Pan Am stewardess (with extra luggage) from 1966; source: Theriault’s. The original Barbie Pan Am ensemble included white gloves and closed-toed black shoes.
    L: Four Barbies in Braniff uniforms surrounding a Ken dressed as pilot; R: line of seven women wearing Braniff uniforms standing before an orange plane. The Barbie-scaled uniforms are (quoting 1967 Montgomery Ward catalog), L-R: "chic A-line dress" in butter yellow with hot pink sleeves and top; "kicky stretch culottes and top" (described by Sarah Sink Eames as hostess pyjamas) in periwinkle, shown with raspberry flats; boarding outfit of coat, hat and boots in mint green with gold trim, plus print headscarf and "Bubble top" clear plastic helmet, and "raspberry suit" of wrap skirt, zippered top, red gloves, second print scarf, shown with black heels, for greeting passengers. Humans wear: the boarding suit in canteloupe; the raspberry suit, which appears to be a one-piece coat with side closure; the A-line dress in pink and blue; hostess pyjamas in periwinkle; another A-line dress in pink and a very light blue or white; A-line as described for Barbie; and the boarding suit in buttercream. Boarding suits shown with matching boots, others with coordinated flats or low heels.
    L: Barbie in Marx Braniff air hostess costumes from 1967, with Ken as pilot; source: Theriault’s. R: Braniff International Airlines uniforms designed by Emilio Pucci, 1965.
    Doll and line of humans in blue suits with knee-length skirts, matching caps, and white blouses. Humans carry black bags hooked over the elbow or held in the hand. The Delta flight attendants wear black closed-toes shoes. Barbie wears white sneakers or may be barefoot, but in previous catalogs was shown wearing black open-toed shoes. Bits of other outfit pieces are visible in the background but incomplete. The text (not shown) indicates these as a jumpsuit, apron, flight bag and handbag.
    L: Barbie in Air Hostess/Stewardess costume from 1973 JC Penney catalog (advertised there since ’70); source: christmas.musetechnical .com. R: Delta airlines stewardesses, 1960s.
    Doll and human wear long wrap skirt and matching top with mid-length sleeves. Garments are in deep blue with red and gold floral and nonrepresentational designs. Human wears strappy cris-cross sandals in the same colors as the sarong kebaya. Doll is barefoot but originally wore plastic navy strappy-look sandals.
    L: Barbie as Singapore Girl from 1993 (the gloves and pearls were added by the owner); source: fashionibly_favored on eBay. R: Model wearing sarong kebaya designed for Singapore Airlines by Pierre Balmain in 1972.
    Four panels. Three photos of humans in colorful flight attendant uniforms, one each with red, green and blue backgrounds, and outfits emphasizing that color. Apparel items included blue slacks, skirts in each color to just above the knees, red vest, long sleeved shirts with solid bodices and patterned sleeves, and patterned blouses. Dark panty hose and square-toed shoes are worn with all outfits. Finally, the photo of Barbies shows Julia standing next to the gold service cart that came with the 1973 Barbie Friend Ship, and Hair Fair sitting atop the cart, wearing outfits like those of the humans, without hose, and with Julia in blue boots. The Mattel ensemble came with only one pair of shoes but otherwise enough garments for two (although I am missing the navy slacks and show two of the red skirt instead). Behind the dolls and cart, a reproduction of the Barbie's Friend Ship paper dolls folder resembles the interior of a 1970s plane, with cloudy skies visible through windows, red upholstered seats, and a serving station visible. The backdrop and props in the shot have a yellowish hue to complement the red-, green-, and blue-forward vintage photographs, although there is no yellow in the costumes for this to play up.
    Left, right, and center right: 1973 United Airlines uniforms by Jean Louis. Center left: vintage Julia and repro Hair Fair in 1973 Get-Ups ‘N’ Go United Airlines ensembles (with pak boots for Julia–other historical shots of the flight attendant uniform show it styled that way).
    Human and doll wear navy suit of blazer with 4 brass-type buttons and navy skirt to the knee (human) or some distance above (doll). Both wear a white blouse, print scarf tied at the neck, and dark hose. Human wears black closed-toed shoes while doll wears none. Doll is shown boxed with some of her ephemera around her. The shoes are probably in there somewhere. Visible are a metal-look serving cart and service items, a garment (possible blouse) in the print from the scarf, an addition navy item with brass buttons, and a black shoulder bag.
    L: model wearing Japan Airlines’ flight attendant uniform designed by Yoshie Inaba, 1996. R: 1997 Barbie as Japan Airlines flight attendant; source: pioneer-land-japan on eBay.
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  • Sidebar: All the Barbie and friends illustrations on mod house exteriors
    One side of the case exterior is colorfully illustrated to show a blonde American Girl Barbie exiting the building through glass double doors, carrying a tray of lemonade and wearing Lunch on the Terrace (sans hat); Francie, in it's a date, seated at a cafe-style table; and Skipper and Tutti frolicking along the bricked walkway to a bright red louvered door. The bulk of the "building" is yellow brick.
    Tutti, Skipper, Barbie and Francie cavort on the exterior of the Barbie Family Deluxe House, available in 1966. Source: jll1966 on eBay.
    Francie is illustrated standing at a screen door wearing Party Date. Her form occupies the full height of the doorway. The bottom part of the door is a solid panel that says "francie house" in yellow on brown. In arched windows there is one blind with vertical red, orange and pink stripes, and one stained glass panel with stylized bird in birdcage beneath.
    1966 “francie house.” Source: Fallsavevintage on Etsy.
    Front and back of two House-Mates. On the fronts, Barbie and Casey stand on the sidewalk, with windows, doors, and well-groomed plants around them. The tops are pink shingled roofs. On the backs, Barbie sits reading next to a caged bird, with magazines strewn about, while Francie stands next to a record player, both in their gardens.
    Barbie and Francie+Casey 1967 House-Mates exteriors, front (top) and back. Source: misscarol on eBay.
    Brunette Casey in Iced Blue and blonde Francie in Tweed Somes stand on a red-and-orange tiled surface before a sparsely rendered, somewhat abstracted building with art-nouveau-style fleurs-de-lis and other flourishes with a stained glass appearance.
    Francie & Casey on their circa-1967 Studio House. Source: purplejojo on eBay.
    Front and back of yellow house structure. On what we're calling the front, Barbie, Francie and Casey in their swimsuits are shown approaching an in-ground pool. The house from this direction sports a pink-and-orange awning. On the back, Skipper stands on a magenta walkway, while Tutti, seated at a child-size piano, and Chris look out from a picture window with ruffled white curtains.
    A new yellow house. This one includes a brick flower bed in front and a pink and orange door with colorful stained glass window in front, where Barbie, Stacey and Francie pose. Both sides have red-and-blue or pink-and-blue awnings over windows. In the back yard, Skipper, Tutti and Chris figures pose before a window with pink-and-orange shutters and an arched doorway with stained glass pendant lamp within.
    Front (L) and back of the World of Barbie Family House, 1967 (above) showing Barbie, Francie, Casey, Skipper, Tutti, and Chris, and 1968, showing Barbie, Stacey, Francie, Tutti, and Chris. Sources: debonbay on eBay, moxie213 on eBay.

    Note: the character illustrations on the ’67 World of Barbie house above also appear in “World of Barbie Fashions” booklets from 1966-67, and the same illustrations and positioning are used on the exterior of the (otherwise differently designed) elusive German case home, Villa Barbie.

    Five views of Barbie and Francie illustrations. On three sides a figure stands below a stained glass Tiffany-esque lamp, and on the remaining two sides are pink-and-orange striped siding, maybe, surrounding rounded windows in which the characters are seen posing with closing or seated at the vanity. One of these views shows Francie in a Bloom Bursts Color Magic ensemble, which didn't really fit her--but that's what the dressing room is for!
    Exterior of the five-sided 1968 Dressing Room case. Source: the_old_vineyard on eBay.

    For more habitable case illustrations, see the Sleep-n-Keep section in our entry on carrying cases. Elsewhere in the mod section of that article you’ll also find examples of repeated character imagery from the ’68 World of Barbie house and the Francie & Casey Studio House,

    An orange building with black-and-white tile on the lower half, pink-and-orange shutters, and yellow windows. Barbie and family are illustrated in a new stylized fashion, with dark inked details, angularity, and lots of texture in their hair. Although not similar to the early Barbie illustrations, this style represents a regression from the photorealism that Barbie illustrations had earlier tended toward.
    In the lefthand panel an arched double door is shown. To one side a placard reads "Barbie Family House (Mattel)" and to the other side Barbie and Ken pose facing the viewer. This scene resembles a couple before their new home, along with the word "family," suggesting certain things about Barbie and Ken's relationship at this point in time. In the second panel, as above, is a scene of an orange wall with black-and-white tile on the lower half, a single window, and a figure standing before the window. The figure is likely Stacey, with her blonde side ponytail. She appears to be wearing the Fancy Dancy ensemble.
    Four views of the 1969 Barbie Family House, showing Barbie, Ken, Stacey and Skipper, and in which Barbie and Ken are implied to be cohabitating. Source: pickerscornerllc on eBay.
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  • The Many Abodes of Barbie, Part VI: 1969
    Color photo of vinyl case home exterior with flat pink plastic roof. On the side facing the camera, an arched double door is printed. To one side of the door a placard reads "Barbie Family House (Mattel)" and to the other side Barbie and Ken pose facing the viewer. This scene resembles a couple before their new home, along with the word "family," suggesting certain things about Barbie and Ken's relationship at this point in time.
    1969 Barbie New Family House exterior. Source: pickerscornerllc on eBay.

    When we last checked in on Barbie, she was living in a two-room “World of Barbie Family House,” her most sprawling home since her chipboard days. In 1969 life got better again for Barbie with the New Family House. At a glance the folded-up house, above, looks pretty similar to the old family house; but while that one compressed to a thin slab, the new house could only fold to an almost-cube; the extra space needed was due to its new third room.

    Color photograph of vinyl house interior consisting of 3 rooms. Walls are orange and yellow with some decor drawn on as described in the post. Floors in 3 segments are: blue with a white oval rug, orange with blue and red flowers, and in the center segment a hardwood pattern before a pair of arched black-and-white doors resembling an entryway (like the one in the previous image) but could stand in for a closet. Furniture is an orange molded bed, a black plastic sofa with blue vinyl "upholstery", two yellow plastic chairs with black seat and back, round yellow circular table with black top and red flower design on top. The walls between "rooms" are shallow and printed like black and white tile.
    1969 Barbie New Family House interior with furniture. Source: Theriault’s.

    Another luxurious touch: unlike previous years, the 1969 house’s furniture (bed, sofa, table and two chairs) could be freely rearranged. Above, we see but one of many possible layouts, this one with the bed pushed up close to those double doors. A strange choice, but also the arrangement shown in some of Mattel’s promotional images, including the one printed on the tag tied to the handle on the roof above. At least some of Mattel’s images, including some from fashion booklets, show the bed in the leftmost room, and the table and both chairs in the middle space.

    Other changes spoke less to luxury. Compared to earlier houses in the mod aesthetic, the New Family House’s walls are practically unadorned: a black-and-white sketch of Barbie with the wind in her hair, a wrought-iron-look chandelier, a flower-shaped clock and a street sign reading “Carnaby St.” are among the few eye-catching pieces lithographed to its vinyl walls (the area rugs and “hardwood” in the front room are nice touches, though). Maybe Barbie had started to grow tired of moving and decorating just to pack up and move again… or maybe her new “roommates” didn’t share her style sensibilities?

    Three panels show an orange building with black-and-white tile on the lower half, pink-and-orange shutters, yellow windows, and simple flower illustrations with five petals in blue, pink, yellow, or orange, and two green leaves apiece. Each panel shows one side of the house, with a single window and a female figure standing before it.
    1969 Barbie New Family House exterior. Source: pickerscornerllc on eBay.

    Perhaps the biggest change of all for Barbie is the suggestion that she and Ken had taken their relationship to the next level: shown at top, the pair pose like newlyweds in front of this new family house (though we know, of course, that they never officially married). On the other faces of the exterior, Barbie, Francie and Stacey creep through the flower beds and peer in at the windows. Like the interior, the exterior is otherwise lean on detail.

    The New Family House stayed around until 1972. The following year, the Barbie Country Living Home was architecturally similar enough that we include it here.

    Color photo of vinyl house interior. Same layout of 3 rooms but with full walls between. Left is a bedroom with pink-and-white walls, illustrated with pendant lamp, potted plant, white wicker chairs, green desk or vanity, floating shelves with piggy bank, alarm clock, and other knick-knacks, and framed landscape picture. Green headboard is lithographed on the wall, while the bed itself--white with green flower pattern, is a physical object. Center room is a kitchen with orange walls and, illustrated thereon, white and yellow wood cabinets, dark green oven, hanging potholders and spice rack, and the floor is tiled with circular rug. Orange round table and two high-back chairs sit in the space. Room at right is living room with blue floor, brick fireplace on one wall, wooden door with glass pane (illustrated) and bookshelves with gumball machine, TV, other knick-knacks on second wall, and white plastic sofa, armchair and low table in the room. Sofa and chair have blue "upholstery" stickers and table has mosaic tile-look top in orange, yellow and pink. The house has a flat orange plastic roof. At the front of the walls between rooms is a small section of yellow exterior wall; on one wise is a pink mailbox with "Barbie" in a familiar logo, and the other has a hexagonal-shaped porchlight.
    1973 Barbie Country Living Home interior. Source: janzy67 on eBay.

    The structure was largely unchanged from the New Family House. The method for folding and carrying was identical; outside, the roof was slightly altered, and a functioning door opened out from the rear of the living room, above right. On the interior, the big architectural change was that full walls had been erected between the three rooms, with functional saloon doors connecting living room to kitchen and dutch doors between kitchen and bedroom.

    Closeup of two rooms as in the above figure, at a slightly different angle. In the "bedroom" we can see the floor is purple with a pink-and-white flower border, and on the wall between bedroom and kitchen are green dutch doors (the top half is open) and a wall phone with a notepad beside. In the second panel we can see from the living room into the kitchen through a pair of yellow swinging saloon doors. Next to the doors is a mirror illustration, small potted tree, and grandfather clock against a pink wall.
    1973 Barbie Country Living Home details, including interior doors. Sources: itznthemail and embat_7, both on eBay.

    The furniture was all-new, too, other than the bed, which was only recolored. The kitchen table and two chairs, sofa, easy chair and tile-topped coffee table are all variations on the furnishings common to ’70s sets including Jamie’s Party Penthouse and the Lively Living/Surprise House.

    Unlike its predecessor, the Country Living Home’s rooms were indicated by the detailed illustrations on the walls: bookshelves, television and grandfather clock in the living room, cabinets and appliances in the kitchen, wicker chairs, headboard and wall phone (!) in the bedroom. The exterior was also rich with inviting and homey details in wood, brick, and greenery, but no characters–the characters’ appearances on the sides of structures ended with the mod period.

    Three views of vinyl house exterior. Details include brickwork halfway up the wall and some pinkish stucco type texture above, wood grain look louvered doors, porch lights, plaque reading Barbie Country Living Home, pink curtains seen through windows, white shutters, birdhouse with doves, white flowering bushes, rose plant climbing a lattice, rake and watering can, potted plants including flowerpots along the brick wall, flowerbed, white flowering shrub and other shrubs.
    1973 Barbie Country Living Home exterior. Source: kelfis11 on eBay.

    The New Family Home was the last of the mod abodes, but the Country Living Home wasn’t quite the first post-mod one. Next time, we’ll see what came between them.

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  • Who wore it best?
    L: Page from Barbie history/coffee table book; full color illustration of 3 dolls in in the Enchanted Evening floor-length gown: one in very pale punk, one in a slightly richer light pink, one that looks approximately cherry red but is describes as hot pink. Dolls wear a white stole over the shoulders and long white gloves. R: Marilyn Monroe before a multi-paneled mirror wearing a magenta or raspberry dress in shiny satiny fabric. The silhouette is the same as Enchanted Evening: square bodice, long straight skirt with train. Unlike Enchanted Evening, this dress has a single strap wrapping from close to Marilyn's right armpit, across over her left shoulder. It has no rose detail at the waist. She has accessorized with a glitter clutch in a similar shade.
    L: Side-part American Girl and Bubble Cut Barbies in Enchanted Evening (1960) variants, from Barbie in Japan by Keiko Kimura Shibano (the text describes the frontmost dress color as “hot pink”); R: Marilyn Monroe in “How to Marry a Millionaire,” 1953; costumes by William Travilla. Fox Studios.
    L: Betty Grable before the same mirror as Marilyn, above, in a white sleeveless beaded mermaid dress with flared tulle skirt beginning at and below the knee. She wears a white choker with rose attached. R: Barbie in a white Solo in the Spotlight of glitter fabric with flared tulle skirt below the knee and red rose detail atop the tulle. Both wear white open-toed shoes and very long white gloves. Both are blonde, and Barbie's curly bangs resemble Betty's hair volume and texture.
    L: Betty Grable in “How to Marry a Millionaire,” 1953; costumes by William Travilla. Fox Studios. R: Barbie in Solo in the Spotlight (1960) prototype. Credit: Theriault’s.
    L: Black and white photo of model in full-skirted, calf-length dress, apparently black, with either a sheer white shawl over her shoulders or a short black jacket with wide sheer white collar, long black gloves, closed-toed shoes, and wide-brimmed "picture" hat. R: color photo of Barbie in a dress whose skirt is of similar length and volume, with double-breasted bodice having small white buttons, wide collar in sheer material, and picture hat in the same white sheer with black ribbon accent. Shoes are black open-toed and she wears no gloves.
    L: Christian Dior’s New Look, 1950s; R: Bubble cut Barbie in After Five (1962) from a ’90s Mattel trading card.

    Hat tip to BillyBoy*, who highlighted the above similarity in his 1987 book, Barbie: Her Life and Times.

    L: blonde bubble cut Barbie; R: model in Black-and-white photograph with short pageboy haircut. Both wear a form-fitting sheath to just below the knee. Over the sheath, Barbie wears a same-length tulle cape with bow at neckline and ribbon trim below hip level; model wears same-length tent-shaped chantilly lace overdress with bows at the straps and ruffles beginning below hip level. Barbie wears short black gloves and black open-toed shoes; model wears long black gloves and black closed-toed shoes. In addition, Barbie holds a gold dimpled clutch.
    L: Bubble cut Barbie in Black Magic (1964); R: unknown model in Balenciaga “Baby Doll” dress (1957); via Unique Vintage and Oh So Delightful.
    Brunette Barbie and actress (the latter in black-and-white photo) with shoulder-length flip hairstyles. Barbie's dress is almost to her knees while Powers' is a couple inches above. Both dresses have a low, belted waist and two different metallic fabrics above and below (Barbie has a gold mesh top and metallic skirt); the bodices are sleeveless with tall collars or turtlenecks. Powers wears glitter tights and low heels, while Barbie is barefoot and bare-legged. Behind Barbie on a mannequin is her jacket in the skirt material; Powers olds a gun with sight attached, pointed from her waist toward the ceiling.
    L: “Marlo Flip” Barbie in Intrigue (1967); R: Stefanie Powers as April Dancer in a promotional photo for ’60s spy TV show “The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.” Credit: Theriault’s, NBC.
    Color photos. L: Francie in stiff (wool?) sleeveless shift dress in pink with flat pink shoes, olive leggings or tights, and long-sleeve knit olive top with high collar. Dress has olive tie belt and trim. R: large group of models. The women wear wool shifts in various bright colors, with high-necked, long-sleeved black tops beneath, self-color belts, and cutouts showing black fabric beneath in a variety of shapes. All wear black tights or leggings, black low shoes, and rounded black hats.
    L: Francie in Quick Shift (1966); credit: Apple Tree Auctions. R: Pierre Cardin Cosmos collection; the line was introduced in 1964 but this photograph is from ’67. (via New York Times).
    Color photographs. L: Francie wears turquoise long-sleeved knit top and matching tights, A-line skirt above the knee in darker blue, yellow flat shoes, and thin yellow belt. R: model is sprawled in an armchair in a painter's studio; the painter, behind, stands with hands in pockets, looking uncertain. The model is dressed identically to Francie, except her top and tights are gold, her skirt is olive, and her shoes and tie belt are beige.
    L: Baggy Casey in Hip Knits (1966); credit: Theriault’s. R: Unknown model wearing ensemble by Christiane Bailly, photographed for Vogue Paris, 1966, with artist (possibly Claes Oldenburg) in his studio. Source: atoumagg60 on eBay.
    L: B/W photo. Model wears a horizontally-striped knit top with 3/4-length sleeves and short A-line skirt with belt, plus tights, low buckle shoes, and scarf or hood. R: Color photo, Francie wears horizontally-striped top in pink, red, yellow and aqua with elbow-length sleeves and pink pleated skirt above the knee. Red flats and yellow belt, possibly sewn into the skirt, complete the look. Both tops have stripes of varying width and saturation, though we can't see the colors of the one at left. One major difference is that the fabric on Francie's top runs from her chest to her arms with no seam, so that the stripes turn vertical with her arms hanging down; the model's top has the arm stripes at an angle to the bodice stripes at the sleevehole seam, so that the stripes continue horizontally down her arms.
    L: Unknown model in Yves Saint Laurent before his rive gauche boutique, with Yves in the background (1966). Source: Musee YSL Paris. R: Short flip Francie in Hi-Teen (1967). Credit: Theriault’s.

    Hat tip to Paris Refashioned: 1957-1968 by Colleen Hill for featuring the Yves Saint Laurent and Christiane Bailly designs above.

    R: black-and-white photo, models are distributed around a black background as if floating in space, probably photographed from unusual angles like from below while standing, or from above while lying down, and then collaged together. Outfits include short, horizontally striped skirt with solid white jacked, vertically-striped jacket with white skirt, and long white pants with single strip on side, worn with jacket lined in vertically-striped material. Two models wear brimmed hats, one tying below the chin, while two wear sunglasses instead. Most wear white "Courreges boots," low-heeled and square-toed; one wears Mary Jane flats in white.. L: in color. Two francie dolls are collaged to "float" sideways and upside down on black background. One wears Twiggy Turn-outs, minidress with silver skirt, vertically-striped top in pink, orange, silver and green, wide silver belt, and silver "Courreges boots"; second wears "Twiggy gear": long, straight white pants, horizontally-striped knit top in pink, white and blue, pink wide-brimmed hat with navy trim and below-chin tie, blue flats, dark belt, and camera (held in hand).
    L: Mattel’s Twiggy doll in Twiggy Turn-outs and Twiggy Gear (both 1968); credit: Theriault’s, composited by the author; R: Andre Courreges space age collection photographed by Peter Knapp for Elle, 1964. The magazine’s captions stated that the garments’ color schemes included pink, yellow, orange, and navy in addition to white (per Paris Refashioned: 1957-1968 by Colleen Hill).

    Where to next? Two further entries ask, “Who wore it best?”: one on designer Mary Quant, featuring Francie, and one on flight attendant uniforms; if you like comparative fashion analysis you might also enjoy our recent piece on Millennium Mod, comparing Barbie’s newer swingin’ fashions to classic ones; or see more options in the table of contents.

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  • Fireplaces, 1963-79

    Winter weather moved in last week and put me in the mood to huddle near pictures of mid-century toy fireplaces. Join me!

    Chipboard living room. On the back wall, a fireplace in white brick with black hood dominates. Next to it, a TV stand with black-and-white TV showing a smiling woman's head; she looks like a dark-haired Betty Grable. Beneath the TV in the stand is a record player. Closer to the camera, a "fish tank" (printed onto chipboard), wood-look armchair, and upholstered-look orange chair with matching ottoman are arranged. One wall has plaid wallpaper and a few indistinct framed pieces illustrated.
    1963 Ideal House for Tammy or Barbie. Source: sunset4813 on eBay.
    Chipboard interior including fieldstone wall and fireplace (no fire) with potted plant hanging above and two stylized cat drawings hanging alongside. Atop a "marble"-topped coffee table, Skipper is shown on TV. A yellow chipboard armchair peeks in at the edge of the frame.
    1964 Barbie’s New Dream House. Source: jbak4493 on eBay.
    Open floor plan set; at center, a narrow piece of orange wall with a fieldstone fireplace in orange and green stone, with bright fire illustrated inside. Also on this wall are a clock, a wall sconce and some framed art pieces. To either side are a room divider and wood-look shelves with books and TV. Before these are a pink two-seat sofa, coffee table with tall-shaded lamp, teal patterned chair and matching ottoman.
    1964 Tressy’s Penthouse. Source: Theriault’s.
    Two side-by-side images. The first shows a dining room with a classical looking style; white moulding surrounds the fireplace and a mirror with candle holders sits above. Plastic table and chairs in wood color with pink cloth seats, and turquoise dishes, sit before the wall. At right, wall includes red brick fireplace, framed still life, and potted plant. Plastic sofa with grey-stiped cushions sits in the foreground.
    1964 Mattel Go Together Rooms. Source: Theriault’s (L), messejoshu on eBay (R).
    Chipboard dinette scene. On the back wall are illustrated windows with real cloth curtains; between them is illustrated a somewhat conical, teal fireplace in freestanding style, with bright fire. the fireplace has a little dimensionality (chipboard protrudes slightly from the wall) and sits on thin legs. to either side are small framed pieces. In the foreground, two chairs and round table with real cloth table cloth, teal dishes, white Corningware-style baking dishes. To one side the pass-through into the kitchen in visible; beyond it, illustrated shelves full of dishes.
    1965 Barbie Dream Kitchen and Dinette. Source: hues999 on eBay.
    Low plastic fireplace in blue stone, with warm fire illustrated. Before in on an illustrated round, woven rug sits a light purple barrel chair, and table lamp on barrel-shaped table sits to the other side.
    1966 Barbie Family Deluxe House. Source: retrowasteland81 on eBay.
    Living room scene in vinyl house. The back wall is fluorescent orange with various illustrated wallhangings in bright colors, including an oversized key, candelabra, eagle, several framed pieces. Beneath these is a yellow plastic couch with two cushions, and before it a vinyl floor piece with deep pile carpet illustrated by rounded scribbles. Left of the orange wall is a narrow section on white brick with, from the height of the couch back down almost to the floor, a nose-shaped protrusion in white plastic. On the underside and beneath are a fire illustrated. In the extreme foreground is a pink barrel chair and yellow-topped table.
    1967 World of Barbie house. Source: debonbay on eBay.
    Vinyl case room image. On one white wall are framed and autographed headshots of Chris, Skipper, Casey and Francie (Tutti got cropped out) and a floating shelf with books, vases and jars. Below them are a bench-shaped red sofa and red-brick-framed fireplace illustration with roaring fire. To the other side of the fire is a bookshelf with books, vases, and a bowl, and a bottom shelf for firewood (all in illustration. Past these a vanity scene leads to the bedroom section of the case room.
    circa 1967 German Villa Barbie. Source: barbielistholland.
    Two images of chipboard wall with white brick section including fireplace, framed landscape and hanging potted plant illustration. To one side is a shelving unit with duck, lion statuette, books, potted flowers; to the other is vertically-striped blue, green and white wallpaper with grandfather clock illustration. In the product photo (box art) blue snap-together plastic sofa, chair and checkerboard table sit at front with mod Barbie seated. Fireplace is additionally decorated with screen and fireplace tool chipboard accessories.
    1970 Barbie Lively Livin’Room, product photo with furnishings (L) and backdrop (R). Source: wonderwoman13 on eBay.
    Vinyl hexagonal case room; two walls have windows from the ceiling almost to the floor showing city skyline outside; beneath them is a single shelf with books and TV (turned off). Next to the windows, one wall has bright-colored fieldstone in rainbow colors, roaring fire, and small semicircular rug; the next wall illustrates passage into another, non-physical room with yellow upholstery and enormous chandelier.
    1970 Jamie’s Party Penthouse (Mattel). Source: beanieblazer on eBay.
    Vinyl house illustration. On one wall, rainbow-colored brick fireplace with red or orange hood, owl fireplace accessory, and warm fire. On the other wall, front double doors with bright stained glass, as well as windows shaded with red and pink vertically striped pattern. Between these, the walls are hot pink, Other wall hangings are a metal-look letter "B" and four butterflies in a frame. In the foreground are a drop-leaf table and two chairs in plastic, with place settings and wicker seats represented by stickers. (In product photos, this room has living room furniture).
    1970 Barbie Lively Livin’ House/1972 Surprise House. Source: aur_2547 on eBay.
    Vinyl case room. On one wall is stone fireplace in muted tones, with colorful brick wall above and shelf with clock, fruit bowl, and framed pictures of fruit. Above these are closed wood-look vinyl cabinets. To the left a tall closet unit with skis illustrated, and to the right narrow bunkbeds with mountain scene shown through a window with yellow and orange polka dot curtains. A woven area rug in pink, orange and yellow, and wood-look vinyl table, complete the scene.
    1972 Barbie Mountain Ski Cabin. Source: cegossett on eBay.
    Vinyl home with red/orange/pink brick wall section and tall fire, wood-look back door with window to sky and trees, and shelves including books, potted plants, TV, bubblegum machine. In the foreground, plastic snap-together couch, armchair, and low table in white with blue cushion design.
    1973 Barbie’s Country Living Home. Source: janzy67 on eBay.
    White or off-white plastic A-frame cabin with wood-look accents and open front and back. Wood-look plastic seating with green "cushions", yellow tulip table, and red conical free-standing fireplace sit within and before the house.
    1973 Omlie Industries A-Frame Ski Cabin. Source: saltyladybird on eBay.
    Chipboard wall with brick in realistic colors and illustrated gold-colored fireplace in the style of a freestanding conical fireplace. Also illustrated is a globe wall light, poster with pink-hued rainbow and heard, credenza with basket of flowers and other knickknacks. In the foreground, plastic furniture with real cloth stuffed cushions: orange or reddish stuffed table, brown plastic circular table, brown plastic bench-style sofa with built-in end tables and blue fabric cushions.
    1975 Barbie Room-Fulls Firelight Living Room. Source: motown-girl on eBay.
    Chipboard two-panel backdrop, green plastic armchair and matching ottoman, on a wood-plank-look floor with yellow railing surrounding. On one panel of the backdrop are illustrated a wooden bench with cushions and alpine flower detailing, hanging house plant and pendant lamp. On the other are grey stone fireplace with bright fire, and on the wooden mantel a jar of flowers, cat and mouse (statuettes? animals that are friends?) all beneath a "Barbie Olympic Ski Village" poster. The resat of the wall is yellow with wood-like lithographed texture.
    1975 Barbie’s Olympic Ski Village. Source: metaltree on eBay.
    Chipboard house interior. On two walls are windows illustrating rural scene, and between them, a conical fireplace in freestanding style, with roaring fire inside. Nearby are a patterned chipboard chair and desk or sideboard with radio atop. The walls and floor are wood-panel look, with a bearskin rug illustrated on the floor.
    1976 Empire Rustic Lakehouse. Source: fabcitytoys on eBay.
    Photograph from product packaging shows Tuesday Taylor doll on a white plastic stool, sitting near a freestanding fireplace in the round, with circular lower half and detached, cone-shaped hood hanging from the ceiling. Behind them, the back wall consists of floor-to-ceiling windows showing city skyline (photograph) at dusk. In the foreground is more molded plastic furniture in red and photographed shag carpet for the floor.
    1976 Ideal Tuesday Taylor penthouse. Source: Savacool and Sons.
    Clear plastic inflatable house with white trim. At left, a green plastic freestanding fireplace sits in the center of the dome, and the floor beneath is a hexagonal pattern in green, yellow, and pink. At right, catalog image shows the dome in the background, and in the foreground the hexagonal floor, the green fireplace, and two lounge chairs or beach chairs with Bionic dolls posed.
    1976 Kenner Bionic Woman Dome House. Source: Worthpoint (L); ’76 Sears Christmas Catalog via Wishbook Web (R).
    House interior with red brick wall section including semicircular opening and blazing fire within. In front of this, a square table and two chairs in while and blue plastic. To one side hangs an egg-shaped orange plastic chair and a blue spiral staircase leads to the upper level (not shown).
    1977 Kenner Bionic Woman’s Carriage House. Source: Savacool and Sons.
    1979 Marx Sindy’s Scenesetter. Source: Awesome Treasures 4 U on eBay.

    Where to next? This post is about Barbie’s early built environment. The most recent post in this category is part three of the Barbie’s Seventies Travelogue series, and the most popular are those on Mattel Modern and Susy Goose furniture and on penthouse apartments. Otherwise, the overall most popular posts on this site are about Barbie shoes, 1959-67, and about Mattel fashion booklets. Or just head up to the Table of Contents to see more options.

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  • Queen of the Prom, AKA the Barbie game
    Teal lid for the board game, reading "the Barbie game; Queen of the Prom; A fun game with real life appeal for all girls." A large image of Barbie in profile, as she appeared on the first fashion booklets but with a gold crown added atop her head, dominates the image. Additional details are described below.
    1961 Queen of the Prom board game box lid. Source: Theriault’s.

    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.”

    The lower lid of the game holds money, cards for boyfriends (Bob, Tom, Poindexter, and Ken), school clubs (Athletic, Scholarship, Music, and Dance), and fashions: Enchanted Evening, $65; Silken Flame, $35; Let's Dance, $40; and Solo in the Spotlight, $50. The cards are held in place by a teal cardboard piece that also lists the rules for gameplay.
    Source: hello-good-buys on eBay.

    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:

    Detail of the game's top lid shows characters, in line ink and marker, shopping (looking at dresses on a rack); dating (escorted by a tuxedoed male holding a corsage), and school activities (two female figures stand holding books under one arm). A blonde ponytailed female figure appears in each scene, and her outfit in the "dating" image is similar to Enchanted Evening, with a fuller skirt and red sash.
    Detail from the 1961 Queen of the Prom board game box lid. Source: Theriault’s.

    as well as illustrations of Barbie cavorting, dancing, and approaching a sweeping suburban home on the corners of the game board:

    Game board detail showing 3 of the board's corners. On the HOME square, a female figure approaches a large, single-story home surrounded by trees and other greenery. At the CLASS PARTY, two couples, represented in minimal style, dance. Balloons surround them, and text reads "Your boyfriend asks you to go steady." At the BEACH PARTY, a male and female figure throw a beach ball next to a large umbrella, with the sea and sand represented by solid color blocks in the background. Text reads "If you have no boyfriend, go to Introductions."
    Details of 1961 Queen of the Prom game board. Sources: dcamma on eBay; csg675 on eBay.

    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:

    Rows of tuxedoed gents and full-skirted gals in a simple, slightly abstracted style, Each dress is colored with a single, bright shade, while the men's tuxes are strictly black. One female figure holds a balloon on a string, wile different colored dots are interspersed among their figures at head level--maybe more balloons.
    Detail of 1960 Queen of the Prom game board. Sources as above.

    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:

    The reproduction game box looks like the original with a gold banner across the top right corner indicating it as a reproduction. The board has dominant pink and orange colors along with gold, green, blue and purple. Also shown are game money in yellow, pink and blue and cards: "Surprise," "Formal Dress," "I.O.U.," "Boyfriend," "Club President" in pink, purple, teal and gold, and the box lower lid with instructions and (unillustrated) sections for holding various cards.
    35th anniversary release. Source: buzz-dealzz on eBay.

    in miniature as a Barbie-scaled box sold with the nostalgic Cool Collecting Barbie, and a playable keychain game, both 1999:

    L: Cool Collecting Barbie prototype photographed by Mattel for the box art or other promotional purposes. In this image the doll, with an early 60s Barbie face, shirt with printed boomerang pattern, and capri pants, has a side part American Girl hairstyle (that changed before the doll went into production). She is surrounded by scaled-down Viewmaster, magic 8 Ball, and Queen of the Prom game box. She holds white cats eye sunglasses and a vinyl or patent leather look handbag. R: Keychain that looks like the reproduction game box, plus tiny dice, player pieces and cards showing the fashions and boyfriends shown emerging from a little drawer in the side of the keychain. Not shown, the keychain unfolded to form a mini game board.
    L: Mattel product image of Cool Collecting Barbie and accessories. R: Queen of the Prom keychain, source: jenniferc1961 on eBay.

    and in a convention-exclusive set of notecards for the 2001 Barbie convention, which was itself Queen-of-the-Prom-themed:

    Notecards depicting the fashions of Queen of the Prom, the game board, the four suitors, one showing Barbie in her crown as on the box lid, and one portrait of Ken. The last two look autographed by the characters. The portrait of Ken is different from the one that appears with the other boyfriends, and may not actually be from the Queen of the Prom game.
    Source: shoppingwithmarnie on eBay.

    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).

    Lid of the 1963 Barbie Queen of the Prom board game, as described in the post. Text reads Barbie Queen of the Prom Game by Mattel; share Barbie's most glamorous moments!"
    1963 Barbie Queen of the Prom board game box lid. Source: rmac2 on eBay.

    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.

    Inside the lower lid of the game box, a detail showing four characters against a pink curtained backdrop interspersed with candelabras and columns. The characters are Midge in Senior Prom, Barbie in Party Date, both with short white gloves; and Barbie in Enchanted Evening and Sophisticated Lady, both with long white gloves.

    This iteration’s ensemble options were Enchanted Evening (again), Sophisticated Lady, Senior Prom, and Party Date–which was still labeled “Silken Flame.”

    Game board detail shows Barbie babysitting in Barbie Baby Sits/pak items in a sequence labeled "A Change to Earn"; two "Stop and Shop" options of "Silken Flame" (but Party Date is illustrated), $35, and Senior Prom, $50, and in an "In School" sequence in Fancy Free.

    Midge pitched in to model Senior Prom, a favorite look for her.

    Game board detail shows Barbie in Sorority Meeting illustrating a School Club Sequence; two "Stop and Shop" options of Enchanted Evening, $40, and Sophisticated Lady, $65; and Barbie in Busy Morning sharing a shake with Ken in an "On a Date" sequence.

    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).

    3 corners of the 1963 game board show Barbie in Student Teacher at a football game; in Masquerade at a masquerade party; and on the HOME square, in Sheath Sensation. In the last image, she and Ken are centered in the space, Ken in a suit and she with bubble cut hairdo; Skipper and Midge stand to either side, Midge in Lunch Date, and Barbie touches Midge's upper arm in a gesture that appears caring and protective.
    Details from the 1963 game board corners. This and above three images: woodycrew on eBay.
    Four metal-look pins for "Music Club," "Scholarship Club," "Athletic Club," and "Drama Club," accompanied by illustrations of Barbie in Busy Morning, playing guitar, in Knitting Pretty, reading, Midge in Tennis Anyone, cradling a racket, and Barbie in Arabian Nights, reading a script.
    Detail from the 1963 game box interior. Source: rmac2 on eBay.

    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:

    L-R: game board details showing illustrations of "boy friends" from 1961 and 1963 games, plus cards showing the boyfriends available in 1991.

    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.

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  • Basic and dressed doll boxes
    L: Top portion of a dressed Ken box shows Tuxedoed Ken escorting Enchanted Evening Barbie with blonde ponytail, behind the words "You can tell it's Mattel... it's Swell!" M: Top portion of a Barbie dressed doll box shows ponytail Barbie in Mood for Music and bubble cuts in Red Flare, Silken Flame and Enchanted Evening. R: Top side portion of a Midge box shows Midge in Red Flare, identical to Barbie besides her hair and face.

    Basic Barbie boxes

    The first boxes in which Barbies were sold came decorated with illustrations that were simultaneously more detailed and softer in style than the fashion booklets of the time; where the booklet sketches employed heavy lines, the illustrations on the first dolls’ packaging were mostly without lines, except where needed, as in their stylized facial features.

    The lid of the basic doll box, front and long sides, features 3 rows of doll sketches, mostly in fashions that were available for Barbie in the first couple years, including Peachy Fleecy, Gay Parisienne, Easter Parade, Evening Slpenour, Ballerina, Winter Holiday, and Picnic Set. There are two views of the looks: front and back, with or without jacket, the two looks in the Ballerina set, seemingly randomly scattered. Three looks are not recognizable as early Barbie ensembles, as discussed in the text.
    Basic Barbie doll box used from about 1959-1961. Source: handmadeandvintage1 on eBay.

    This first box is festooned with images of some of Barbie’s earliest fashions, like Easter Parade, Evening Splendour and Gay Parisienne (Ballerina, 1961, is one of the later arrivals shown). Three of the depicted fashions, however, were not released at all around that time: a peach-colored, drop-waisted chemise; a bright blue sheath with white trim, once shown with a loose-fitting jacket; and a strapless swimsuit with vertical red and white stripes. These outfits were finally produced, for Barbie’s 50th anniversary, as convention exclusives: Voyage in Vintage and Red, White and Beautiful.

    Two past convention offerings. Left, the Red, White & Beautiful gift set includes a brunette ponytail doll dressed in a suit that looks like the vertical red-and-white striped suit depicted on the early basic doll box; around her are the blue sheath, loose white jacket, and accessories including shores and a white envelope clutch; the box cover echoes the style of early carrying cases with three figures from the first basic box--two in the sheath, with and without jacket, and one in the swimsuit--before skewed rectangles in red, white and blue. Right: The "Voyage in Vintage" design is based on the peach chemise from the basic box. A blonde ponytail doll is shown, also with a hatbox, white gloves, sunglasses, and purse. The box lid also shows a figure from the first basic doll box before a slightly angular, solid-colored shape.
    Nostalgic dolls based on the Ponytail doll box; their packaging reproduced the original box art, enlarged. Source: joeslist.com.

    The box itself has been reproduced a few times, including as part of the 35th anniversary reproduction doll offerings, in miniature in a 50th anniversary 2009 Hallmark ornament, and even more in miniature to contain a Barbie-scaled Barbie included with the 40th anniversary doll.

    Boxed mini Barbie wearing zebra swimsuit. A circa-1960 booklet repro, in miniature, peeks out behind her in the box. The box lid looks just like the box above, perhaps in a richer shade. To either side lie a quarter and a clothespin for scale--the box is longer but thinner than the quarter, shorter than the clothespin but about as wide--about 2" long.
    40th anniversary mini Barbie and box; quarter and clothespin for scale.
    Box top and long sides all contain 3 rows of sketches of ponytail and bubble cut Barbies wearing classic fashions including Friday Nite Date, Solo in the Spotlight, After Five, Enchanted Evening, Red Flare and Silken Flame.
    Source: booksandschmitt on eBay; Theriaults

    The next iteration, above, included sketches of the bubble cut and updated the selection of fashions from Barbie’s wardrobe. The artistic style had grown closer to that used in the fashion booklets starting in about 1963.

    Box front is American Girl Barbie photographed in her original swimsuit, shown bending a leg. On the long sides of the box top are 3 rows of fashion sketches from the Mattel booklets, all showing American Girls.
    American Girl Barbie packaging. Source: laj821 on eBay.

    The third basic box, starting in 1964, was for the bendable-leg American Girl doll. Its front was a full-size photograph of the doll, but the box sides still featured small illustrations. These came straight from the fashion booklets. The next iteration, for Twist ‘n’ Turn Barbie, featured only photographs: a full-sized photograph on front, and small ones illustrating the doll’s poseability on the sides.

    Dressed Barbie boxes

    L: Ponytail Barbie in Sweater Girl displayed in a box whose exterior is pale pink, covered with rows of light and dark Barbie silhouettes that match the outlines of the drawings on the first Barbie box. R: Titian bubble cut wearing Black Magic, displayed in the second dressed doll box. The box consists of 3 rows of sketched ponytail and bubble cut Barbies as in the second basic box, but rearranged. Horizontal light blue stripes between rows contain text reading "Barbie Genuine Teen-Age Fashion Model by Mattel."
    1960 and 1962 dressed doll boxes. Source: Theriaults.

    The early dressed doll boxes were lined with silhouettes, in which the sketches from the basic boxes can be recognized. The second version used the sketches from the bubble cut-era basic doll box, but rearranged.

    Midge and Ken boxes

    Two Midge boxes. Left, the earlier box has overlapping illustrations of Barbie in Garden Party and Midge in her original swimsuit, while the sides have three rows of Midge wearing many of the same outfits shown on the bubble cut box, and in the same poses--except with Midge's head. At right, her second box has a photo of the doll on the front and the 3 rows down the sides are all Midge dolls from fashion booklets.
    1963-64 Midge boxes. Sources: kst7714, lynette195209 on eBay

    Midge’s first box featured a large illustration of herself and Barbie in the “Travel Pals” pose on the front. The sides reuse many of the same drawings as Barbie’s second box, just with new (Midge) heads. Her second box had bend-leg Midge illustrations from the fashion booklets running down the sides and a full-size photograph on the front, just like Barbie’s box from that time.

    Each box front has 3 rows of illustrations, each including one of Barbie and one Ken. At the top, tuxedoed Ken escorts Enchanted Evening; middle, Barbie in a plain blue dress with the Friday Nite Date silhouette carries a tray of drinks or milkshakes away from Ken; bottom, Ken in his swim attire with Barbie, holding a beach ball, in an unknown strapless, waisted swimsuit or playsuit. Differences in the two boxes are minor, but the "dressed" box has tan horizontal bars under lines of writing both share, "He's Barbie's boyfriend Ken by Mattel."
    Basic Ken doll box (L) and dressed. Sources: stargazer9254 on eBay, jenmar on eBay.

    Ken’s boxes–either basic or dressed–had their own Barbie renderings, wearing what may be Enchanted Evening, a de-embellished Friday Nite Date, and some manner of playsuit. The sides of the boxes showed just the gents.

    Hand-drawn boxes yielded to photography in the latter part of the Sixties, but they never went away entirely, as Barbie would be illustrated on her packaging countless times through the decades and until today. Many Barbie fans favor the lush Superstar-era illustrations, while some Barbie Fashion Model Collection offerings clearly reference the vintage illustration style we cover here.

    Three later illustrated doll boxes. L-R: Jewel Secrets Whitney exhibits the lush 80s style with rich colors and textures; 45th Anniversary Barbie Fashion Model Collection's box mimics the classic boxes, with 3 rows of sketches in a light style; Busy Talking Barbie from the Seventies is illustrated in flat, graphic washes of color.
    L-R: 1980s Jewel Secrets Whitney doll in package, 45th anniversary BFMC “Silkstone” doll with nostalgic-style box illustrations, and 1970s Talking Busy Barbie doll in illustrated packaging. Via eBay and Theriault’s.

    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.

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