Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Childhood Toys

I was 5-10 years old between 1980 - 1985, and two popular toys for my age group were My Little Ponies and Barbie. (What's funny to me is that these are still popular today, as well as Care Bears, Hello Kitty and Strawberry Shortcake. You'd think they could come up with something new?)

I turned five years old JUST after we moved to Germany, and my parents took me to the base commissary to pick out a birthday present. I can still remember mulling over my two top choices: a baby doll with a magic show theme (she came with amazing magic show accessories and a top hat!) or Western Barbie. Perhaps it was the Texas in me that leaned towards the Barbie -- I picked her and we took her home.


She is cool, no? These pictures really take me back -- I can still remember how the material on her hat string felt, like it was yesterday. The unique thing about this particular Barbie was that you could push a button on her back and she winked! At the time I thought this was a great action, but now, looking at the pictures I've found of her online, I'm actually a little frightened. How did this not give me nightmares? Or drive me to drink so that I could look like "Drunken Barbie." With waaaay too much eye shadow. BLUE eye shadow.
*

The story continues...

I later received another Barbie from some family member or another, and it was the lovely Peaches and Cream Barbie. She's beautiful, right?

Her gown was gorgeous, her hair was long and thick, and she had a normal set of eyes. What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything was fine, until Western Barbie got a look at her. All I heard after that was, "Why don't you play with me as much as you do with her?," or "You think she's prettier than me, don't you?" What could I say? Peaches is in a class of her own, and you...well, you just don't measure up anymore.

That's when Western Barbie made the transformation. Unbeknownst to me (because I would never EVER do such a thing), she cut off all of her blonde hair, leaving only spikes, and then attempted to color what was left a shade of brown that she found in my Barbie eye shadow. I was sorry for her choice, as clearly she did this not realizing that it wouldn't grow back, but we all learned to live with it.

Until the incident.

One day my grandmother's dog Keno came along and discovered Western Barbie. She was probably up to no good, possibly harassing Peaches, who was likely trying to teach my stuffed animals to read. Keno decided to teach her a lesson, and grabbed her by the feet. When next we saw Western Barbie, she was laying on the floor, with nothing left at the end of her legs but nubs. Little chewed nubs. This was the day that she took the final turn, and became Evil Barbie. From that day forward she did nothing but taunt Peaches and the My Little Ponies. It was a constant battle of good vs. Evil. Perhaps she was jealous of the fancy stable that my ponies lived in and Peaches took care of. (I still have this thing up in a closet or attic, filled up with old school ponies.)

My friends get a great kick out of this little story, about me and my Barbies. I mostly just wonder how much of this weirdness my kids will inherit.

A big thanks to eBay for all the pictures people have posted of toys I either no longer have or don't have access to. As for Evil Barbie...the last time I saw her, she was up in the attic of my parents' garage. I think she's still up there...probably telling Peaches where she can stick her peach boa.

13 comments:

The Mom Jen said...

I like "i've had too many cosmos Barbie!" Gah the shadow!

I never had Barbies as a kid, my friend did and I envied her suitcase full of all the clothes...

Anonymous said...

I LOVED Barbie! I finally tore myself away from playing with them when I hit Junior High...although you can still catch me playing with my daughter every once in awhile...

Missy said...

I clicked over from SITS... this is a great post! How funny is it that those two specific Barbies were my absolute favorites? Only the cowgirl was "Dallas" Barbie to me, because that is what my parents were watching while I played with her. And Peaches was "Fantasy Island" Barbie b/c that show came on right afterwards!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Ali said...

I was a 'barbie girl' too! I think between myself, my sister, and my cousin we owned every one ever made!

Merrie said...

Missy -- how funny is that, that they were your faves?? Love your names for them. lol

Ali -- my mom still claims that she never bought me Barbie's as she didn't approve. So then who bought the one in Germany, lady??

Jen -- Too many cosmos. HA!

Christie -- I play with my daughter's, too! :)

angela | the painted house said...

Found you through SITS...Oh, I loved Peaches and Cream. We fought over her, my friends and I.

Tasha said...

OMG I had BOTH those Barbies! Ah yes, the blue eyelids that "moved" but really just made her look stoned...

Sarah Mae said...

I had the two barbies you showed! Wow, talking about bringing back the memories!

By the way, found you on SITS! :)

Stockpiling Mom said...

I loved Barbies! I had both of these and can remembering how much I loved Peaches and Cream! I gave all of my barbies and accessories to my niece after our son was born...knowing he is it and barbies were not in his future I parted with them :-)

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Kimba said...

Oh my! I'm just a little older than you and I had that same Western Barbie. I had completely forgotten about her until I say your post! I loved, loved, loved that doll! She was really the only "themed" Barbie that I every had. I remember exactly what the jumpsuit thing felt like.

Thanks for bringing back a fun memory.

Scary Mommy said...

So funny, I just posted about Barbie too!!! Just got my little girl her first one and I'm so excited! :)

Tami said...

I got here through SITS! I love this post, it's hilarious!! And I had peaches and cream Barbie too!!

Candid Carrie said...

My Barbies are so old compared to yours. I still have them and I have the fondest Barbie memories. I wanted all the newest clothes buy my mother insisted she sew for them insisting they would have sentimental value. Yes, Mother Dear, sentimental value on homemade Barbie clothes can't be sold on eBay ;)

Found you via SITS and I could never trash my mom on my own blog ... thank you for giving me a place to ramble