Tag: 1970
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Sidebar: Miss Lively Livin’ game (1970)
Because of its gorgeous design, we’ll briefly pause to appreciate one last Barbie board game of the vintage and mod eras, even though its art uses photographs in lieu of hand-illustrated characters. The whole package is such a sumptuous rainbow that it’s irresistible. Look closely at corner squares on the board to see shots of…
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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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The Many Abodes of Barbie, Part VII: 1970
In 1970 the best Barbie house arrived. A controversial statement, to say the least: of vintage Barbie Dream House enthusiasts, the chipboard diehards clearly feel differently, and for many plastic aficionados the great, timeless houses came later in the decade. However, we’ll present compelling evidence that the Lively Living House (and the Surprise House, which…
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Penthouse Apartments, 1964-1976
Skyline views, rooftop patios, luxe furnishings, maybe an elevator that doubles as your front door… A penthouse apartment is practically shorthand for glamorous living. As we’ve noted, Barbie was more bucolic. But throughout the vintage and mod years, her friends and rivals opted for lavish city living on a trio of occasions. Tressy’s Penthouse (1964)…
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Gift sets Galore (1960-1970)
Could there be any controversy? Gift set packaging is the vintage Barbie art category most likely to make a good calendar.Consider: The earliest sets had “discreet” packaging, for sure; apart from a single silhouette they weren’t really even illustrated. Still, the early “Party Set” box above is our pick to kick things off in January.…
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Doll Carrying Cases (1961-1972)
The Barbie carrying cases of the mod and vintage years certainly packed a lot of style. From the earliest examples, with limited palettes used to depict Barbie posed before jazzy, off-kilter colored quadrilaterals, her poses mirroring those found in the early fashion booklets, into the full-color phase, with floating heads and sparkle trails, during which…
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Whitman paper dolls (1967-1973)
During Barbie’s mod years, the Whitman illustrators experimented with a diversity of art styles, demonstrated in the collage of Barbie paper dolls above. (If a couple of them look like Stacey to you, let me reassure you that Whitman identified all as Barbie herself–we’ll see Stacey in a moment.) Starting with the “Barbie has a…
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Silken Flame 