Tag: 1963
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Illustrated fashion packaging
Barbie’s early ensembles were sold in boxes with cellophane fronts that neatly displayed the contents, along with black-and-white illustrated backs featuring a bit of snappy text. Only for a short while did Barbie appear alone on any packages; once Midge was introduced, even the earlier fashions still in production came in updated packaging that included…
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More crafts and hobbies (1963-1971)
In past entries we’ve seen how Whitman broadened the early Barbie illustration space through their paper doll sets and coloring books, but those are just the tip of the iceberg; here are some other Whitman products that helped define Barbie visually during the first dozen-ish years. “Barbie and Ken” jigsaw puzzles were produced starting in…
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The Two Abodes of Tammy
In the early ’60s, the glory days of chipboard living, Barbie’s rivals enjoyed rooms and apartments of their own. Tammy, an early competitor from Ideal, came out with a pair of domestic play sets in 1963, hot on the heels of Barbie’s first Dream House. The first of these houses was not marketed specifically for…
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The “built” environments of Whitman Barbie paper dolls
We talk a lot about Barbie illustrations here, and we talk a lot about Barbie’s play sets and furniture, but what about the built environments within Barbie illustrations? In our posts on Whitman paper dolls we featured some paper doll folder interiors that show Barbie’s home or place of work; in fact, there are many…
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Dell Comics (1962-1963)
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…
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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. 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,…
sheathsensation
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Queen of the Prom, AKA the Barbie game
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…
sheathsensation
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Basic and dressed doll boxes
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…
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Skipper’s Schoolroom (1965) and the play sets that never were
A Sears exclusive in 1965 and 1966, Skipper’s Schoolroom was notable as the first Mattel play set where Barbie went only to work (she may have worked or shopped at the Fashion Shop, and the Little Theatre similarly had multiple uses), as well as the last public space introduced to the Barbiesphere for a handful…
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Barbie’s Keys to Fame
Illustrations from the Keys to Fame game. Source for all images in this post: statestpac2011 on eBay. A funny little mid-Sixties board game, Barbie’s Keys to Fame illustrates a number of possible futures for the one-time Teen-Aged Fashion Model, each emblematic of a “key” to fame: the stamina of the Ballerina, the style of the…
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Silken Flame 