I have a rescue poodle and, appropriate to the house I live in, a rescue dust ball.
Well well, look who's here. It's little Madame Alexander's Mexican doll.
She brought her dust ball too. They sniff noses.
"How come you don't have any shoes?" I ask her. "And where's your chihuahua?"
"Kerry lost my shoes 45 years ago," she says, "and dust balls are much easier than chihuahuas."
"Do you mind showing me your passport?"
"Shut up Barbie! Now you're just being mean! You know I only have a green card! Come on Polvo, vamanos!! Let's go play with Taliban Barbie. She's much nicer than you!!"
And so it goes.
oh, this was SO irreverent in SO many ways! you are full of piss and vinegar, today!
ReplyDeleteThanks twg. I'll take that as a compliment.
Deletetaliban barbie in wedges. very nice.
ReplyDeleteI should look for more appropriate clothes & sandals. If only her feet would flatten. I don't want her to get herself in trouble with the authorities.
DeleteDelightful. You have an amazing imagination and really good at that macro photography...and you have given me a reason I do not need to clean house so much.
ReplyDeleteHa! Every house should maintain a dust ball play park.
DeleteDolls are great for macro shots b/c they don't move. Not even a twitch.
In a completely different spirit, that is a no. 1 or a no. 2 ponytail Barbie from 1961 at the latest -- I can't tell from the angle of the images if her eyes have white irises which would indicate a 1959 -- wearing clam diggers from the #967 Picnic Set ('59-'61) and a knit cardigan from #976 Sweater Girl set from '59 - '62. Almost no greening to the ears and the face paint looks so good that's either a doll that has aged incredibly well or has endured a very skilled restoration.
ReplyDeleteShe's valuable. Does her zipper read 'YKK?' And does she have holes in the bottom of her feet/wedges? The original-release dolls did to facilitate being set on stands. Genuine shoes with holes are highly collectible, too.
Holy s--t! You really know your stuff. I looked this all up once, and then promptly forgot what year she is. I know it's either 1960 or 1961. She is unrestored & in great shape because as a child growing up on a farm, I couldn't relate to her & she was left languishing in her plastic box. I imagined her with the unpleasant personality that she displays in today's post.
DeleteI photographed her good side; there is a green spot on her other ear. She does not have holes in her feet, but that zipper does indeed say YKK! She also possesses her original adorable powder blue corduroy jumper appliqued with a bluebird and birdhouse, plus a white blouse with puffed sleeves. Little bitch.
ummm...she does have white irises. I didn't know that about the irises. So I'm not really sure what year she was made.
DeleteStill amazed at you, Suze. Next thing I know you'll analyze the Steiff poodle. How do you know this stuff?
DeleteKerry, I tempted to say she's a 1959! The only thing is she doesn't have holes in her feet. (Pulling out my guidebooks to consult, here.) Do you still have the box? The boxed dolls in their original clothing in good shape I've seen go for over $10,000 when the collectibles market is robust. Ah, I wish I could go to your place and price and identify all your stuff!
DeleteBack in 2010, I got into buying and selling vintage doll accessories -- mostly from the 1970s -- but Barbie's earliest days really snagged my imagination. I read a fantastic biography of Ruth Handler (Gerber is a skilled biographer who writes life stories like a novel) and kinda fell in love with all Babs' stuff. The early stuff was handcrafted in Japan so if you have the 1959 doll, I'm guessing you have original lines of the clothes. Do the tags have an R or a TM on them? My best sale came from a 1959 Gay Parisienne dress I bought for two whole dollars at a vintage shop on the outskirts of Austin. It had a huge tear in the skirt. I sold it for $376. :) :)
Okay so your powder blue cord dress is from 1960's 'Friday Night Date' #979. You probably have the two glasses of orange soda with straws hanging around somewhere? The original cotton 'fizz' is worth something now. Ha! This is so cool. So, I see in the 1960 number 2 that she has a white dot in her colored iris but the '59s were all white, a little creepier in a way. :D The number ones all had holes in their feet.
DeleteSo cool that you recognize this stuff. Wow: $376 for a torn Barbie Parsieienne dress!
DeleteI don't have Barbie's original box, although I have 3 little catalogs, all printed in Japan, that tell me what sets of clothing she has. You're right! Friday Nite Date! I do still have the little orange drinks w/cotton fizz, straws, and black plastic tray! Barbie also has the Winter Holiday Set #975 & the Resort Set #963. She has a red apron with a little rolling pin and spoon. A striped swimsuit. And other random things. They have an R on the tags.
She has white dots in her blue irises.
I first read about Ruth Handler in 2009 when Barbie turned 50: I'll have to read that autobiography. It's really fascinating how Barbie is a cleaned-up version of the German tart "Lilli."
They talk about Bild Lilli in the biography. Handler completely 'borrowed' the concept of the doll, who was given in Germany as a joke between men as a sort of sex toy originated from a comic strip!
DeleteThe TMs were from '59. I've seen the charm bracelet from the Resort Set fetch a nice price, and there was an accessory set released later that included the charm bracelet. You have the original release though. That is really cool.
Gay Parisienne, along with Roman Holiday and Easter Parade, were only released in 1959, which makes them so valuable. A complete set of the Roman Holiday accessories, including a tiny compact with a little pink powder puff, I once saw go for around $3,000. It's kind of an insanity. I haven't dipped into that world for years but your post got me looking things up and sniffing around eBay again. Forever, I was looking for Talking Julia's glitter-flecked heels and there was this one seller who always had them up for $85. I wanted them. But not for $85. They're finally on auction, right now. Going price at the mo is $31. I'm keeping an eye on them. :)
Oooh, $32 for glitter-flecked heels; I hope you get them! :)
DeleteI also wish you lived nearby & could come over & go through my stuff. It would be so much fun. I have quite a collection of Steiff animals from my childhood; some of them are probably worth something, although I would never part with them.
Your imagination is running wild today!
ReplyDeleteYes. Might as well make the best of the dust balls.
DeleteThis is hilarious, in a sadly true kinda way. There used to be a private Barbie Museum in nearby Palo Alto, until rents pushed them out. It was interesting to see the evolution from Housewife to astronaut, as well as the Couture Barbies, influenced by icons such as Jackie Kennedy. It was a series of small rooms, stacked floor to ceiling with such social commentary in (mostly) high heels.
ReplyDeleteStudying the history of Barbie is very much a look at social change, isn't it?
DeleteI wonder what happened to all of the things that were in that museum.
I don't know what to say, but this post did make me smile.
ReplyDeleteWhat? Stephen Hayes is never speechless. :)
Deleteyowza. those are some nice shelf fungus she has for lashes. meow!
ReplyDeleteEye visors!!!! Barbie is sooooo crazy looking.
DeleteAbsolutely NOT PC! So, why am I laughing so much?
ReplyDeleteI tried to not cross the line too much. I did, after all, include two rescue animals.
Deletei am so fighting down laughing hard .. i am in my office and supposed to be working ... and i want Barbie's sweater!
ReplyDeleteIs this NSFW? There should have been a warning at the top!
DeleteIt's a good sweater isn't it? The tiny gold buttons,,,
DeleteWhere is the meal component?
ReplyDeleteI guess something has to be left to the imagination! But some of the really old Barbie sets came with tiny comestibles, like the orange fizzie drinks that Suze refers to in her comment. I have those! Perhaps they should make an appearance in a future Barbie photo shoot.
DeleteOr maybe I will do some cooking for Barbie. Yeah.
I vote for future Barbie photo shoots! This one was great.
DeleteCheck this out, just saw it now. Reserve hasn't been met: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-Vintage-Barbie-Doll-Modern-Art-1625-Dress-VHTF-/300889781496?_trksid=p2050601.m2372&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D250%26meid%3D7058708080415248585%26pid%3D100085%26prg%3D1112%26rk%3D2%26sd%3D390576518916%26%26clkid%3D7058709149569302679&_qi=RTM1303753
The hat on this outfit might go for even more.
Oop. Never mind. This one didn't come with the hat. It came with the framed painting.
DeleteIt's at $155 and the reserve hasn't been met! I'm looking at Barbie's wardrobe with new respect...
Delete$190 now. Three hours to go. Reserve still not met.
Delete192.50 with an hour and a half left. What on earth is the reserve? Crazy. May be some wild last minute bids if somebody's heart is set on this.
DeleteI'm thinking maybe I should stop casually leaving Barbie out in the wet driveway while I go inside to charge the camera battery. Her clothes are worth more than mine.
Deletehaha
ReplyDelete