I'm having trouble down loading images with Blogger right now so I don't know if I'll be able to post my image or not. But thinking about Barbie's has brought back some memories that I'm going to first share instead.
When I started kindergarten in the fall of 1960 all of my new friends seemed to have Barbie Dolls. They had recently come out and were very popular. I started to want one. So for Christmas I asked Santa for a Barbie Doll along with a couple of other things. I got a Baby Doll instead. I came from a large family and Santa only brought us one gift and my parents would give us cloths. I knew that was all I was getting for Christmas.
I had to wait for my birthday. My birthday came in September and I didn't speak up and say what I wanted. Again I knew I would only get one gift. We had had a fire in our house that year and my bed was destroyed in the fire. I got a new bed for my birthday gift - it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I knew it was all my parents could give me. It was more important for me to have a good bed to sleep in than it was to have toys. I had to swallow my tears and accept things for the way they were. I would wait for Christmas.
I decided I would ask Santa again for a Barbie. Instead I got a stuffed, pink, musical Teddy Bear that I called Hunter because of the hunter green cloths she had on when I got her. She played 'Rock a by a baby in a tree top,' I loved that Teddy more than anything else and had her for many a year. She finally disintegrated away from being loved raw because she was held so much. She was a lot better gift than a Barbie doll because I could snuggle and sleep with her, she was my best friend and constant companion. I figured Santa really knew that teddy bear was a better toy for me. My parents did surprise me and gave me a toy sewing basket instead of cloths. (I didn't play with that sewing basket much until I finally did get my Barbie. I would spend hours sewing cloths for her and that started a love of sewing that has lasted to this day.)
I had to wait for my birthday to try again for a Barbie. I figured out that I probably wouldn't get one from my parents but had better luck if I got one from a friend. I had gone to a couple of my friends parties and the most popular gift given was a Barbie doll. So I asked for a birthday party instead of a present. My mom was reluctant at first but then gave in and I had my birthday party. I had about 8 friends show up. I got Barbie outfits but no Barbie. Everyone there had assumed I had already gotten a Barbie since most of them were already owning more than one Barbie by that time. What they wanted most now was the cloths for her, so they gave me what they wanted to get not what I wanted. I didn't mind so much because I could bring the cloths to my friends houses and I could still play dress up with their Barbies. But it just wasn't the same as having my own Barbie to play with. I wanted a Barbie more than anything else.
By then I was becoming more and more of a tomboy since I enjoyed playing outside so much. Since I had so few toys, I discovered the wonders of nature. I found there were things outside that could keep me entertained for hours and hours. There was always something new and exciting to see. I started to pick up rocks and see how different they could be. But I still was a child and wanted toys to play with too. So I had to wait for Christmas to try again.
This Christmas it was going to be different. I decided since Santa only gave me one toy I would make sure he knew I just wanted a Barbie and nothing else. That was all that I put on my list - 'BARBIE'. That was all I asked for. I thought surely he would understand since I had just the said the one thing that was what I wanted. Instead I got a Madame Alexander doll - 'Beth' from the Little Womens' series. Beth was beautiful and a whole lot more expensive than a Barbie doll, but she just wasn't a Barbie. I took her and put her in my toy drawer and basically only pulled her out when I couldn't go outside to play. (I found out years and years later, the reason my mom gave me that doll was because she had always wanted one. Since I didn't play very often with dolls unlike my sisters, she knew I would keep it in good condition. I still have her and my other Little Women dolls I had gotten as I got older, they sit in a box in the closet - nothing much has changed.)
Getting back to Barbie, by then I figured out that no one was ever going to give me a Barbie. The only way I was ever going to get one was I would have to go out and buy one. I had gotten a dollar from my grandmother for Christmas. I went to the store to get one and found out that they cost $2.99. I was seven years old and realize if I just waited for Christmas and birthday money it would be years before I would have enough money saved up to get one. I had to figure out a way to get the money sooner. I asked how I could get money and was told I could earn it.
Back then in our neighborhood you could recycle glass bottles. You could get 1 to 5 cents for them depending on their size. Most were about 3 cents. I remember taking our families red wagon to my neighbors houses and asking them for their glass bottles. No one was willing to give me any until one elderly neighbor asked me why he should give me his bottles when they were worth money to him too. I was very disappointed and started walking away until he called me back. He told me he would work out a deal with me. If I took the bottles to the store for him he would let me keep one cent for every bottle I took. One cent was so much better than nothing and I readily agreed to do it. I found that solution worked well with some of the other elderly neighbors as well. It took about about a year for me to get the money together since they would only let me come by every couple of weeks, but eventually I did get the money together.
It was one of my happiest days of my childhood when I was finally able to go to the store to buy my Barbie. I had the 2.99 saved up, only problem was no one had ever told me about taxes. She really wasn't $2.99 but $3.03. I was not able to get her at that time. It really tore me up as I had to put her back on the shelf since the sales lady wouldn't budge on the taxes and my mom just wouldn't give in and cover it. I had to go and earn the four cents more.
Finally I was able to get one. At the time, I had blond hair and blue eyes. I wanted the one that looked like me that I had picked out earlier. She was no longer there. I had to settle on one that was a brunette and blue eyes, like my sisters. She just didn't grab my heart like the first one. I got her home and played with her all day. But after a couple of days playing with her, she was boring and not near as much fun as I had envisioned her to be. I like my outside nature 'toys' so much better. I would only play with her when the weather was bad. Most of my playing with her consisted of me sewing clothes for her.
Most of the time she just sat in my toy drawer. Then one day my younger sister was home sick and decided to play with her. She cut her hair to make her look like her. She was ruined to me and I gave her to my sister since it was so obvious she wanted her. I was hardly ever playing with her by then and it made no sense to me to keep her. My sister loved playing with dolls and was doing it all the time, she was overjoyed to get her. She treasured her so much more than I ever did and it made me feel good to know that she was with a better mama than I was ever going to be with her. I never played with or had any other interest in Barbies again. I ended up having three sons and never had a reason to get another one.
Now this Accretionary Wedge is to dress a Barbie up as a geologist. Needless to say I had to go out and buy one. I was amazed that after 50 years I could get one for $5.47 at Walmart. I thought for sure they would be more expensive than that. Well I wasn't so totally off by that -- there were some collector ones that were in the 75 dollar range and there were some fancy ones in the 25 range, yet I was still able to get one like I had always dreamed of getting for just $5.47. She came with just the basic swim wear stuff just like my first one.
Now I muse upon the fact that even though I never played much with Barbies she did teach me so many things. She started me in the habit of recycling items my whole life. She made me aware of the environment and how fragile it is. She taught me how to work and earn some money. She taught me how to save my money so that I can get the things that I want. She taught me about taxes, a lesson I never forgot after that. She made me realize Santa wasn't real. She created a love for sewing in me. She taught me the joy in giving things to others.
Barbie, also made me realize that growing up in middle class America I should be satisfied with all that that I did have. All I really needed was the basics to live - food on the table, a relatively safe shelter over my head, a few cloths to wear and a warm bed to sleep in. Anything more than that was a blessing and should be something to be valued, treasured and appreciated to its fullest and not taken for granted. For the record I never considered my family poor. I grew up in the suburbs of middle class America, with hard working parents that paid their taxes and made sure our basic needs were met. There was very little money left over for other things like toys. I was grateful for all that they could give me. My family was very typical of those in my neighborhood and we all considered ourselves very fortunate to live where we did. (I love the USA). To me that was being middle class. Besides what could be more middle class than that - to own a Barbie, which I did?
I'm sure there are other things she taught me too but right now I can't think of them.
Now for her Accretionary Wedge debut.
Miss AW-39 from LA.
Gold Digger Barbie
Now that she's all pooped out - here she is doing what geologist seem to do best.
PS here is what she looked liked before the rock hounding hit her.
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