Showing posts with label Barbie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barbie. Show all posts

Monday, July 4, 2011

A Bicentennial Minute


Can you believe that the Bicentennial was 35 YEARS AGO??? For those too young to know how big the Bicentennial was - here's some examples from my Pop Culture collection that might help illustrate that you didn't have to be a right-wing patriot back then to celebrate the birth and values of our country - you just had to know how to work the old red, white & blue.
From DC to Marvel...
From Disneyland to Walt Disney World to Disneyana...
From Lunch boxes to Barbie...
From TV Guide to Porn...
From Porn to Pot....
From KISS to Liberace...


And from Playboy to CBS News...


Just about every aspect of popular culture was part of the celebration - which seemed to start in 1974 and end sometime in 1977. These were special years for me and I look back at the Bicentennial fondly, knowing that I will probably never see a celebration as big or important again in my life. And if I do, I hope Barbie has just the right outfit to celebrate along with me.

Friday, March 6, 2009

50 is the New 17

What do these diverse celebrities have in common? Danny Bonaduce, Judd Nelson, Kyle MacLachlan, Lydia Lunch, Mackenzie Phillips, Marie Osmond, Perry Farrell, Rosanna Arquette, Sheena Easton, Val Kilmer, Apollonia, Vanity, Sade and Barbie®?That's right they are all somewhat plastic and have all been in rehab. Just kidding!!! Actually, that might be true, but what I'm getting at is they are all turning 50 this year!Yes, the Barbie Doll is 50 years old - and she doesn't look a day over 17! She's still long limbed, shapely and beautiful, and still only 11" tall. Barbie’s measurements are 5 inches (bust), 3¼ inches (waist), 5 3/16 inches (hips). Her weight is 7.25 ounces!Ruth and Elliot Handler of Mattel Toys launched the fabulous fashion doll named after their own daughter, Barbie - 50 years ago. Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. (Pictured below is a TV Guide advertisement telling you when a TV advertisement for Talking Barbie is going to air - an ad for an ad - how odd!)And strangely, Barbie's soon to be boyfriend Ken, was named after their son. Um, that's kinda gross. (Below is an issue of Dell Comic's BARBIE AND KEN, detailing their European tour, where Barbie almost discovered that Ken was her brother!!!)
By the late 1960s, her adoring public purchased $500 million worth of Barbie products.  And not just dolls - but other cool stuff like records... (Six teen-age tunes sung by Barbie and Ken! I wonder what that sounds like?)
and phones...(How cool is this pink Barbie phone? And not that yucky modern PMS 219  "Barbie pink", but real girl-ish 1960s pink!)
Oddly enough, Barbie has never been married , apparently she just likes to model wedding gowns and leaves Ken at the altar repeatedly. Barbie has managed to keep up with current trends in hairstyles, makeup and clothing, becoming a reflection of the history of fashion and style - for better or worse!The best-selling Barbie doll ever was the freakish white-trashy 1992 Totally Hair Barbie®, with hair from the top of her head to her toes.My sister had this very same Dream House and I was never allowed to play with it. I guess they'd though I'd turn out gay if I played with Barbie. Um, guess what? (Check out that stylish brick fireplace below!)Well, happy 50th birthday to the girl who has it all, has been it all from schoolteacher to astronaut (Barbie has had more than 108 careers and has been a presidential candidate four times as an Independent candidate!) and most all all, always a great Malibu tan.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Barbies Gone Wild

Recently, a religious group named "Christian Voice" called for a boycott of Barbie because Mattel is releasing a Black Canary Barbie (priced at $39.95 and aimed at adult Barbie collectors) claiming that the dolls is "filth.” Never mind that the doll is wearing a costume that the DC Comics character has been wearing since the 1940s, and that Barbie has worn Bob Mackie outfits since the 1980s - they don't have a prayer.I wonder how long it will take them to call for a boycott of the new Priscilla Presley Barbie - after all, Ms. Presley is divorced...and a member of the Church of Scientology!The Ken & Barbie dolls are wearing replicas of the outfits that The King and his princess wore on their wedding day in Las Vegas in 1967. The Elvis Ken is clad in a black paisley-print tuxedo, while Priscilla's is wearing a white chiffon gown with a tiara and veil. I wish they were wearing these outfits instead:In the non-toy world Elvis and Priscilla separated on February 23, 1972 and divorced on October 9, 1973, agreeing to share custody of their daughter Lisa Marie (Jackson). They remained good friends until the day of Elvis' death on August 16, 1977. "I WISH that he knew what Scientology was before he died," Priscilla Presley said recently, adding that the church's staunch anti-drug policies could have "helped Elvis a lot" in fighting his addiction to prescription drugs. 

Elvis was once quoted as saying about Scientologists, "Fuck those people! There's no way I'll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin' group. All they want is my money." What would Elvis do?