Tag: 1971
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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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Unique Boutique (1971)
During the second half of the Sixties, Barbie was a total homebody: following the release of Skipper’s Schoolroom in 1965, Barbie went through about a dozen homes, but no more public spaces. When she was finally ready to reemerge in 1971, it was into a different world. Between the years 1963, when Barbie’s Fashion Shop…
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Beauty Parlors (1964-1977)
Tressy’s was first, in 1964. Introduced by American Character the year prior, she had the most sophisticated hair play for the time among Barbie and her rivals, with a lock of hair that lengthened and shortened by two separate mechanisms (a button to press and key to turn). Tressy’s Beauty Salon wasn’t functional–it didn’t add…
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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…
sheathsensation
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Sears Karosel Kitchen, 1971-1976
I’ve seen this funny little kitchen listed as a Barbie playset a couple times and was curious about it. I began my investigation with the handy catalog search feature of christmas.musetechnical.com. Although Sears was not shy about letting you know what doll might use the set, it turns out it was actually not Mattel- or…
Silken Flame 