Yes I Had a Barbie (and Midge and Skipper!)
My feminist street cred, notwithstanding
I’m 5 years older than Barbie, which put me in the right demographic to have a Barbie doll. Alas, we were not of the socio-economic strata that allowed me to have many of her outfits, and definitely not her Dream House or fabulous Pink sports car, but I did have the original Barbie in her striped bathing suit and non- articulating legs.
I haven’t seen the movie, but I definitely plan to.
Don’t judge me.
But my self identification in the Barbie generation DID lead me to an early ‘toon at the beginning of my Pandapiphaney. Even after I had passed my Barbie phase, I continued to be intrigued by all the “career Barbies” that were created over the years: Astronaut Barbie, Brain Surgeon Barbie, Supreme Court Justice Barbie* (*I might have made this one up, but there absolutely should be one). Recently I saw an ad on Fezbook for PANDA NANNY BARBIE but I don’t know if that is an official Barbie, but it should be!
I thought you might enjoy reading these ‘toons, as you breathlessly anticipate your reunion with Barbie via the movies. This was written right after the devastating earthquake in 2008 in the Sichuan Province, where the main panda base was.
Boopie and the Pandas
This post is partly in response to
and her post about going down creative rabbit holes. I’ll have more to say on that later.Meanwhile, in a nod to Barbie’s Dream Car, I share a photo from my friend Linda, who thought that Pinky deserved her own Dream Car. (With fuzzy dice!)
I hope you enjoyed this bonus post! I know I liked revisiting Boopie and the Pandas!
Hahaha, Pinky’s car! And Frank’s fuzzy dice! I remember checking out Barbie convertibles but the proportions weren’t quite right. This car was made by the same people who made the white & pink jet plane...did I ever tell you I actually got one via Amazon but quickly returned it because I just couldn’t justify spending money on something like that when families are going hungry. Pinky was very annoyed & would have nothing to do with me for some time after that.
Am tempted to experience the Barbie movie. I LOVED playing Barbies with a couple of neighborhood BFFs, but never had the Dream House, car, or Ken. However, I treasured Barbie’s long red velvet opera coat that my grandmother gave me for my birthday one year. Have often wished I still had it, it was so beautiful.
I worked for a while with a very professional marketing executive who told me that Barbie shoes were the perfect fit for her pet rat. Not making this up.
How could I forget about Boopie and the pandas? ! This is so funny! Thanks for putting this up on line! I was too old for Barbie, I think. Anyway, I have always enjoyed Barbie leading all these different lives! ❤️🐼