Dear Bookclub,
Julie jazzed up our evening with Barbies galore and touches of 60's nostalgia to put us in the proper mood to discuss Renée Rosen's "Let's Call Her Barbie". Borrowing from Stevie's preschool and digging into her own impressive stash of childhood dolls, Julie's display fully ignited our already sparked memory-neurons and the reminisces flowed. There is no denying the power of Barbie; our group had been strongly influenced, given the timing of Barbie's birth and ours. Sharing the stories of our first Barbies, we enthusiastically chatted and chatted. And ....who's that you hear?? Yes, 'tis Chatty Cathy! Julie's childhood Chatty Cathy chimed right in, wowing us with the memory and more fascinating, that Julie still possessed her doll!'
But wait, there's more!
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| Thumbelina |
Reflecting on the development of these revolutionary dolls, (Thumbelina could be wound up and slowly squirmed with life-like movements), it was easy to imagine the engineers and executives competitively innovating to come up with the next run-away hit. Hearing the clink of the ice in the glasses, smelling the cigarette smoke, Rosen's depiction of the corporate sixties complete with the treatment and perception of women, was on target.
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| Bild Lilli |
Noted was the uncanny likeness of Barbie to Lilli. Ruth Handler's confidence in developing her version of the doll is remarkable given the similarity. Please enjoy this mesmerizing and very entertaining video of a restoration of Bild Lilli:
Julie's display included two dolls who could have characterized Jack and Zsa Zsa - hey we're playing dolls!
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Jack Ryan and Zsa Zsa Gabor |
I must apologize for taking so long to get this blog written. The amount of information and pathways to more information is endless and I have been indulging in them since before we even had our meeting. My edit is scattered and random! But please take a moment and check out this in-depth article written by Doug Acuri as part of an American Toy Anthology he is writing. Excellent photos, illustrations and diagrams. "Jack Ryan and Ruth Handler of Mattel: The Power Ballad of American Coffee, Sex, Speed, Guns, Conspiracy, Caffeine and Four Letter Words in Toy Making".
https://medium.com/@solidi/jack-ryan-and-ruth-handler-of-mattel-the-power-ballad-of-american-coffee-2c19994e6732
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| Barbie restored in video below |
Leaving you with one more restoration video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InsX-DvTDbQ
Julie's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"Theo of Golden"Allen Levi
"Wild Dark Shore" Charlotte McConaghy *chosen
"Becoming Madame Secretary" Stephanie Dray
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
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