I remember the first one. I was so excited. I thought it to be the most wonderful thing any girl could ask for. Absolutely stunning.
My first Barbie Doll. She was a beauty. She came adorned in a shimmering gold and white striped one piece swimsuit and had a matching hat. The hat was shaped like something an Egyptian goddess would wear. She also came with 3 wigs, a short platinum blonde style, a medium length brunette and a long style in a deep auburn color. Being about seven or eight years old, I thought she was 'all that and a bag of chips'.
Later, I added to my small collection, the ever so handsome at the time, Ken doll and then Barbie's younger sister, Skipper. Skipper had bendable legs and let me tell you, that was the cat's meow.
I had several accessories for my Barbie family, lots of clothes and tiny plastic high heel shoes in every color available at the time. There was even a Barbie car and mine was a pink convertible. It was hard to put those long straight legs into the car, but since Skipper wasn't old enough to drive, I would cram Barbie and Ken in there and off into the sunset they would go.
When I was a teenager dreaming of the future, I always said I wanted 6 sons. I don't know why, I guess I thought that would be a rousing good time. It was not to be and I was later blessed with a bonus daughter and two of my own. I introduced my two to Barbie dolls but they were not nearly as taken with them as I had been.
Barbie has taken a lot of bad rap over the years. She has been accused of trying to turn young girls into something that is physically impossible because she is sporting the purported perfect body. Large ample breasts, a super tiny waist, slim hips and those long slender legs. That is probably the reason there hasn't been a pregnant version of Barbie on the shelves, we know how that can rearrange a few body parts. Anyone who has raised little girls with Barbie dolls will usually attest to the fact that most of the time they are lying around in a naked heap and those little high heel shoes are most pleasant to step on in the middle of the night too.
This year Barbie is 55 years old, Ken is 53, Skipper is 50 and I still have my original trio. I never realized that Barbie was a younger man kind of gal, I guess she was the first cougar prototype.
Ken is still as handsome as ever with his plastic molded hair. Skipper's legs still work although she may have a bit of arthritis in one, her hip pops out from time to time. Then there is Barbie.
Long gone are the wigs, clothes and shoes. The years have not been near as kind to her and I think I know why. I really do not believe that Ken is some serial psychopath, running around preying on the lovely Barbies of the world. No, I believe her demise has come from creatures I longed for in my youth, but did not get. God had other plans for me, He gave me grandsons....
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