My Very Vintage Barbie

Here is my Barbie wardrobe case! I'm amazed at what good condition it's in.  The brittle plastic handle isn't even broken!  I can never give this stuff away, it was such an important part of my childhood.

But, I have to confess, I haven't been keeping it very tidy.

I open it to find my original Barbie (circa 1962) and all the Barbie and Ken stuff I ever owned, very well played with.  Nothing here would sell in "mint" condition.

My daughter-in-law observed recently that the business model for Barbie in those early days was very much like the current American Girl Doll.  Everything was really well made. A child would own one or two dolls and buy clothes and accessories little by little.

For the first three years I owned one Barbie. She cost $3 ($23 in today's money) and came wearing nothing but a bathing suit. And then my older sister got me this very cool Barbie with WIGS!

The acquisition of each new outfit was a special occasion.  And every new outfit came with a little booklet to remind you of all the other outfits you didn't own ... yet.  We would spend a lot of time looking at these books, dreaming of the ones we wanted.

Since I have a few of these books I can tell you how much Barbie's clothing sold for at the time.

The workmanship was incredible. Everything was made in Japan. That's were the cheap labor was in those days.


Look at the inside of this dress. The hem is slipstitched by hand!  And each outfit came with an official woven Barbie label.

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This dress I was given along with my first Barbie.  Here is the catalog page.  It cost $2 ($15.50).  When I look back now, I appreciate these gifts even more.  My father was a school teacher and my mother didn't work.  These were expensive gifts!

Here's another great outfit. Not only did the pants have a working zipper and the coat had a matching lining ... 

It came with a bunch of accessories, including a mini map of the United States, with the Mattel logo in the corner, of course.

I owned the Barbie "Nighty-Negligee Set" and my favorite ...

the Barbie Ballerina set, compete with a working zipper again and ...

her very own sign to advertise the upcoming performance.

Every outfit came with lots of wonderful accessories, including a bar of Barbie soap in the little black box.

I never got the very, very expensive wedding dress.  My mother made me one, but I don't know where it is right now.  I do still have the underwear she made for my Barbie, though.

Also, in this little book was an advertisement for the Barbie and Ken sewing patterns published by the Advance Pattern Company.

And, I was very surprised to find one of my first attempts, a shirt for Ken.  


So, tomorrow, I'll show you the good stuff I have for Ken!


But WAIT ... I'm adding Barbie's very first TV commercial ... fun!