Barbie of the Month: Miss America

 

On September 12, 1971, girls everywhere were excitedly gathered around their television sets, watching the Miss America Pageant that was held live at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 

 

The annual event officially originated in 1921 in Atlantic City, and wasn’t televised live until 1954. In 2006 the show was moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, but it retuned to Atlantic City in 2013.

On the Miss America pageants official web site, Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce President Frederick Hickman describes Miss America in this way: 

“Miss America represents the highest ideals. She is a real combination of beauty, grace, and intelligence, artistic and refined. She is a type which the American Girl might well emulate."  

Rewinding back over forty years ago, it’s interesting to learn about the 1972 Miss America; Laurie Lea Schaefer.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ohio University in 1971, and that same year was crowned Miss Ohio.  She went on to be crowned Miss America in 1972.  

  

Laurie Lea Schaefer -  Miss America 1972

She dressed conservatively, only wearing dresses and skirts to school, and did not even own a pair of blue jeans.  She wanted to be a role model.  She was very proud of her traditional beliefs.  At her very first news conference after being crowned, she stated that marijuana use leads to hard drugs; she believed we had a right to be in Vietnam, but it would be good to end the war.  She thought that abortion should be illegal, and stated that premarital sex wasn’t for her.  She went on to say that she didn’t think that women were discriminated against in America.  And she summed up her beliefs with “I think the majority of young people think the way I do, on just about everything”  

 

In view of Laurie’s and the pageants’ popularity, in 1972 Mattel introduce a version of Laurie in one of their four new Walk Lively line of dolls.  There was Barbie, Ken, Steffie, and Miss America. 

 

These dolls had a walk ’n turn stand, so when they would walk using their legs, their heads would turn back and forth and their arms would swing.  The walk ‘n turn stands were all tan in color except for Miss America’s.  Her stand was white.  All the Walk Lively dolls are marked: ©1967 Mattel, Inc./U.S. Pat. Pend./Taiwan.  

Walk Lively Doll Stands (Miss America's is white)

 

Miss America (stock # 3200) is a beauty.  She uses the pretty and popular Steffie head mold.  She has brunette curled hair that is parted in the middle, with blue eyes, rooted eyelashes, and bendable legs.  She’s dressed in a long evening gown which features a gold lame’, bodice with white attached taffeta skirt that has a white sheer nylon over-skirt.  She completed her ensemble with chunky white closed-toe heels, a Miss America satin sash, silver crown, and a long red cape trimmed with white faux fur.  She carries a bouquet of red roses and a silver scepter.  

Walk Lively Miss America with her original box 1972

 

Also released the same year was a Kellogg’s Corn Flake promotional Miss America doll (stock #3194-9991).  Featured on the box alongside the doll was a photo of Laurie Lee Schaefer, who was promoting the offer.  With just three Corn Flake box tops and $3.00, you could send in for the promotional doll.  She arrived in the mail in a plain brown shipper box, but without the doll stand.  Everything else was the same as the store version.

Back of the Kellogg's Corn Flakes Box

In 1973 the Quick Curl dolls were released.  Quick Curl Miss America (stock #8697) was one of the five new Quick Curl dolls (the other four were Barbie, Francie, Kelly, and Skipper).   These dolls had special hair that contained teeny tiny little wires which allowed them to curl with ease.

Quick Curl Miss America 1973

Quick Curl Miss America was dressed exactly the same as Walk Lively Miss America, except for her crown.  Miss America Walk lively has much more detail and was made of cloth.  Quick Curl Miss America wears a silver paper crown.  Her body and face had some differences.   She had painted on eye lashes, a twist n’ turn waist, bendable legs, came with brunette or blonde hair, and was marked ©1966/Mattel, Inc./U.S. & Foreign/Patented/Other Pat's/Pending/Made in/Taiwan.  She was not on the Walk Lively body.   

Quick Curl Miss America 1973

She also came with a white brush, comb, curling tool, and hair accessories (bobby-pins, rubber bands, and ribbons).   

She was also available as a department store mail-order doll that came in a brown shipper box.

Quick Curl Miss America with her Shipper Box

All of Barbie’s clothes could fit all the Miss America Dolls.  There were three very hard to find ensembles which were made specifically for her, and all were released in 1972; #3215 Royal Velvet, #3216 Majestic Blue, and #3217 Regal Red.

Royal Velvet (top left), Majestic Blue (bottom left) and Regal Red (Right)

Having a Miss America doll in your Barbie Collection is like owning a little bit of Americana.

Happy Hunting!

Barbie of the Month: Twist 'N Turn Trade-In Barbie

In 1967 the ever so popular #1162 Twist ’n Turn Trade-In Barbie was one of Mattel’s most successful Barbie Doll promotions of all time!   

#1162 Barbie

 

Barbie underwent a total make-over for this rollout.  She had a brand new head mold, her waist could twist and turn, she had long rooted eyelashes, and beautiful long uneven cut hair with a few side pieces that were pulled to the top of her head to form a tiny ponytail. She also had a softer pink skin tone to her body.

 

Here's my #1162 TNT Trade-In Barbie Doll
with her box that has the gold sticker that reads
"Special Introductory Price"





Mattel’s ad campaign was very effective, which was mostly due to the television ad that starred Maureen McCormick, who later played Marsha Brady on the Brady Bunch television show (1969-1974). In just the first month (May 1967), there were 1,250,000 dolls that were traded-in during the promotion.  All the old dolls that Mattel received were given to charity.  It makes you wonder how many number 1 and 2 ponytail dolls were in the bunch!

 



1967 Television Ad

 

 



Magazine Ad from Family Circle Magazine (1967)

 

 

To acquire this new mod Barbie doll, all you had to do was take your old Barbie doll, in any condition, to a participating toy store along with $1.50 (which was half the price of a new doll at the time).  In exchange, you would be handed the new mod Twist ‘n Turn Barbie doll in the hair color of your choice; Sun Kissed (light blonde), Summer Sand (ash blond), Chocolate Bon Bon (dark brown) or Go Go Co Co (Light Brown).  Even though these dolls had cool names for their hair colors, the boxes were marked with the actual humdrum hair color name.

 

The mark on her bottom reads: ‘©1966 Mattel, Inc./U.S. Patented/U.S. Pat Pend. Made in Japan’.  It’s important to note that some of the dolls have “Made in Japan” all on one line.

 



Here's another one of my pretty Trade-In Dolls

 

Barbie came wearing a salmon two-piece swim suit made of a vinyl type material with a one-piece swimsuit, which was white cloth netting trimmed in salmon that went over the top. She wore a matching salmon colored hair ribbon in her hair.  On her wrist was the official Barbie wrist tag.  A paper fashion booklet titled “The World of Barbie Fashions” was included as well.  She was packaged in a sealed plastic bag and she and all of the items listed came inside the official Trade-In box. The #1162 and the #1160 model dolls are identical, except for their box, and the #1162 trade-in doll did not come with the X stand that can be flipped over and used as a chair.



Notice the hair color on the end flap of the box

Today, there is some controversy around some of the rare, unusual hair colors that can be found on these dolls, such as titian, eggplant, champagne, and platinum.  Some of the dolls with these uncommon hair colors have simply changed over time from their original color which was caused by oxidization.  But I believe Mattel added some to the mix, either as a prototype, or just for fun!





 This TNT has the Platinum/Silver Hair Color

 

This was and still is one of my favorite Barbie dolls of all time.  Being one of the lucky girls who traded in one of my old dolls for the pretty new and up-to-date mod Barbie is reminiscent of my childhood, and is a very special memory for me.

Happy Hunting!



Totally Hair Barbie

The other day I was reminiscing as I was going through some of my daughters old Barbie dolls, which were neatly stored away (at my house!) all these years.  Being the organized child that she is, each one of her dolls were precisely dressed in his or her original outfit, just as she had received them, probably on Christmas morning or on her birthday.

To my surprise, she had the one doll from 1992 that I wanted to photograph for my web site. This pretty doll had crimped extra-long blonde hair that stretched all the way to her heels. She came in the trendiest multi-colored neon micro-mini dress, complete with a pink belt, pink shoes, pink earrings, and a matching hair ribbon.  She even came with five hair accessories and her own “Dep” styling gel.  And yes, I even found the gel! 

 

 

 



My Daughters Totally Hair Barbie (1992)



 

Are you scratching your head wondering what makes this doll so special, and why I would want to photograph her for my vintage Barbie site? 

 

Well…twenty-one years ago Mattel keyed in on what little girls wanted to see in a teen-age fashion doll.  Totally Hair Barbie (who was also available as a brunette and in a black version) became their top selling Barbie doll of all time.

 

 

 

 

 

1992 Totally Hair Barbie Dolls

 

 



 

 

She was released in the early part of 1992.  By summer Mattel projected ten million in sales during the first year, with ten percent of Barbie sales coming from this doll alone, and expected one billion in overall Barbie sales.

 

She was the must-have doll of the Christmas season.  She retailed for $11.99 in the 1992 Sears Christmas Catalog.  Mattel heavily advertised this totally hot, totally cool doll on television and with print ads. Even though they didn’t quite make their projections, she was still the highest selling Barbie doll in history.  There were over ten million sold worldwide between 1992 and 1995. 

 

 1992 Totally Hair Barbie Commercial

 

There were other Totally Hair Barbie dolls in the line; Totally Hair Ken, Totally Hair Skipper, and Totally Hair Courtney, as well as the rare and very hard to find European dolls that are named Ultra Hair, rather than Totally Hair.  There is Ultra Hair Whitney, which uses the pretty Steffie face mold, and Ultra Hair Barbie. 

 

 

 





Ultra Hair Whitney with the
Pretty Steffie Face



 

 

Ultra Whitney Box Flap. 
Front of the box Says
Ultra Hair Barbie

 

 

 

 

 

Totally Hair Skipper, Courtney, and Ken

 

 

 

Next time you go to my website be sure to click on Trivia, and you will find this blonde bombshell’s photograph!

 

 

Barbie of the Month: Dramatic Living Barbie Action Accents Set

 

 
 
This lovely but hard to find red-haired Dramatic Living Barbie doll was only available in the United States as a Sears Exclusive gift set.  She was also sold separately in Japan. 

This doll differs a bit from the Dramatic Living Barbie’s with the “Taiwan” marking that we are all used to seeing.  She has a little bit longer hair that’s a darker red color.  She has the same body, pretty face, and rooted eyelashes as the Taiwan doll, but what sets her apart is her “Japan” marking.

 

Notice the length of hair: (Left) Japan Marked doll, (Right) Taiwan Marked doll

 

These active dolls can pose in almost every way possible. Her original box says: “My elbows, knees and ankles bend, my head, hands and waist turn, my arms and legs swing up ‘n around!”   What a perfect doll to use for this action set.

Action Accents Dramatic Living Barbie

 

 

If little girls were looking for an excellent group of athletic clothes for Barbie, then the #1585 Action Accents was the one to buy!  This exclusive Sears gift set was only sold in the United States in 1970 and 1971.   The collection included the doll and sixteen sporty items for all her many adventurous activities. 

Front of the box

 

The doll came with a wrist tag, clear stand, and was dressed in her hot-pink leotard with matching tights for working out.  She even had a workout rope to use for resistance.  For skiing she wore her same tights and leotard, but added a vinyl pink and orange ski jacket.  There were a set of skis, poles and boots, too.  For snorkeling in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean she had her fins, mask, snorkel, and a one-piece orange and blue swimsuit. For ballet performances she wore her pink leotard and tights along with a pink tutu and ballet slippers.  When she went ice skating in Central Park she wore her tights and leotard again, but this time added her blue skirt with straps that was trimmed with pink faux fur along the bottom. A pink furry hat and matching blue ice skates completed her outfit.

The complete set

The Living Barbie that was sold strictly in Japan came in an open style box with cellophane covering the top.  It is the same box that the Japanese Living Eli doll came in.  They both were packaged wearing tights and leotard, but Eli’s were red.  The small little booklets that came in the box with both these dolls pictured the same clothes that were shown in the U.S. booklets for the Dramatic Living Barbie dolls.

Japanese Eli and Living Barbie Box

 





This wonderful gift set is very difficult to find mint in the box, and if you do, be prepared to pay a pretty penny for it.  It’s an amazing set for any collector!



1970 Sears Christmas Catalog Ad
 

Here is the advertisement in the 1970 Sears Christmas catalog.  The set sold for $9.99.  Even though she is shown with blonde hair, she never had it.  She only came in red.  I wonder what everyone's expression was when they ordered this doll for their little girls at Christmas!

Happy Hunting!