Barbie’s Adventures: Lake Tahoe

Barbie recently visited one of the most beautiful lakes in the Unites states; Lake Tahoe. It is the 2nd deepest lake (1645 feet deep) in the United States, with Oregon’s Crater Lake being the deepest (1945 feet deep).  

It is the 10^th deepest lake in the world.  It measures 22 miles long and 12 miles wide.  It is also the highest alpine lake in the United States with a surface elevation of 6,225 feet above sea level. Lake Tahoe is split between two states, with the northern portion in California, and the southern portion in Nevada.  

 

An over view of the surroundings

Fannette Island, located in Emerald Bay State park (west shore), is the only island in Lake Tahoe.  From overlooks one can view the remains of the tea house, a little stone building on the top of the island and part of Vikingsholm, a 38 room summer home that is located on the shore of Emerald bay.  It was owned by the adventurous Lora Josephine Knight.

Fannette Island

Vikingsholm (with a little renovation going on)

Emerald Bay

For the outdoor enthusiast, Lake Tahoe has just about everything!  In the winter; skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and even sleigh rides.  And in the summer; hiking, boating, jet skiing, horseback riding, fishing, camping, biking, whitewater rafting, and swimming.  There is always something to do!  And after a long day experiencing the awesomeness of nature, several casinos dot the lakeside offering games of chance.

 

Another way to see the lake is to take the 72 mile drive around it.  It takes a minimum of three hours along narrow, winding roads, and that’s if you don’t plan to stop to look at the many beautiful vistas, waterfalls, and other places of interest. 

 

Barbie enjoyed her visit to Lake Tahoe, and hopes you get to visit too!

Happy exploring!

Barbie of the Month: Montgomery Ward Reissue Barbie 1972

Montgomery Ward & Co. was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, who started his business as a mail-order company. It was also the very first mail-order business in the world.   

Mr. Ward began his company by purchasing products wholesale, and then retailing his merchandise directly to the rural community.   

He started with just 163 items in his first “sheet” catalog, and in 1876, only four years later, grew the catalog to a whopping 3000 items and 152 pages.  

1876 Pocket sized catalog (152 pages)

The slogan that was adopted in 1875: “Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back” was an important part of the rapid growth of the company.  By 1904, his catalogs were being mailed to over three million customers.  The first retail store opened in 1926, and by 1930 store sales exceeded the catalog sales.  In 1931 there were more than 530 retail stores. The catalog business came to an end in 1985. In 2001, after almost 130 years in business, the company closed its doors.

In 1972 the Montgomery Ward toy department released a re-creation of the Original Barbie doll dressed in a one-piece strapless zebra print swimsuit with white open toe heels.  This doll was to commemorate the stores 100^th anniversary.  The #3210 Montgomery Ward Reissue Barbie was exclusive to Wards, and therefore makes finding her on the secondary market much more difficult.

#3210 Montgomery Ward Reissue Barbie

The advertisement for the doll in the Wards catalog reads “1959 Original Barbie”, but in fact she more closely resembles that of the #5 ponytail doll from 1964 because of her hollow body and Japanese markings (Midge™/1962/Barbie®/1958/by/Mattel,Inc./Patented).  She is easily distinguishable because of her slightly darker skin tone, which the earlier ponytails did not have.

Page from the 1972 Montgomery Ward Catalog

The original sales price listed in the 1972 catalog for this doll was $2.77, and she was sold alongside other exclusive reproduction dolls (1956 Shirley Temple, 1925 Bye-lo Baby, and the 1919 Kewpie Doll).

Barbie’s hair was made with a stiffer saran material like the later ponytail dolls from 1961 to 1964, and she was only available in brunette.  The earlier ponytail dolls from 1959 to 1960 had much softer hair. 

There are two versions of this pretty lady.  The first is the in-store doll who wears striking red toe and nail polish, and who came in a plain pink box with a clear face marked “The Original Barbie Doll”.   The other version was sold strictly by mail order through the catalog, and this doll did not wear any nail or toe polish.  She came in a brown shipper box.  Both versions wore a pink Barbie wrist tag that read “Genuine Barbie By Mattel”, and the reverse side of the tag is marked “Japan”.

Store and Catalog Version (missing wrist tag on catalog doll)

I have both versions in my collection, and I hope you find one too!

Happy Hunting! 

July 4th – Independence Day

I love the 4^th of July!  It is a national patriotic holiday that is celebrated in the United States.   It began back on July 4^th 1776, when the U.S. declared independence from Great Britain. 

We love to dress ourselves (and even our Barbie dolls) in red, white, and blue stars and stripes for this festive occasion.  It’s celebrated with family picnics, barbeques, parades, patriotic music, and spectacular fireworks displays.

Amazingly, there are no official 4^th of July Barbie dolls.  There are dolls that can be displayed for the occasion, such as dolls from the “Stars and Stripes” Series featuring Barbie and Ken dressed in their various military uniforms, or colonial period dolls such as Patriot Barbie and George Washington Barbie.  

The one doll that I think is perfect for the occasion is the Statue of Liberty Barbie Doll from 1996.  She wears a stunning red, white, and blue gown.  The other Statue of Liberty Doll, which debuted in 2011, unfortunately wore a sea foam green colored gown.

 

Statue of Liberty Barbie (1996)

As far as the vintage years, there were military uniforms and other vintage clothing which came in the correct patriotic colors, as well as the Olympic Gold Medal dolls who proudly wear their red, white, and blue.  There are also many handmade clothing items that are  available for sale and which are designed especially for this joyful occasion.

I hope where ever your plans may take you for this holiday, that you have a safe and a memorable one!  And may God continue to bless the United States of America!

Happy 4^th of July!

Barbie of the Month: Julia

Julia, the second doll in the Barbie line to be fashioned after a real live person, debuted in 1969.

Julia

This pretty lady was based on Diahann Carroll’s character from the NBC television comedy show “Julia”, a nurse and single widowed mother living in Los Angeles working and raising her young son Corey.  She was the first African-American actress to star in her own television show.  The popular sitcom ran from September 1968 to March 1971.

Julia, the T.V. Show

Julia, The Television Show

Julia (stock #1127) came with a twist ‘n turn body, bendable legs, rooted eyelashes, and was made from the same head mold as Christie. 

Julia dressed in her two piece nurses uniform (1969)

In 1969 the talking version of Julia (stock #1128) was also released.  She had bendable legs and rooted eyelashes as well.  To hear her talk, simply pull on her string on the back of her neck, and the voice that would speak back to you would be that of Diahann Carroll. 

Talking Julia (1971)

Twist n’ Turn Julia came dressed in a two piece nurses uniform, white panties, matching hat, and wore white pilgrim shoes.  In 1970 her uniform changed to a one-piece style dress.  

1969 Julia  and 1970 Julia

Talking Julia wore the same outfit the entire time she was on the market. It was a one piece flashy glittery gold and silver jumpsuit with matching attached belt and hard to find glittery gold open toe heels.

Julia’s hair style remained the same until 1971.  The twist-n- turn dolls all had short black straight hair, which sometimes oxidizes to a pretty red color.  The talking dolls released in 1969 and 1970 had the same straight hair too.  In 1971 Talking Julia’s hair changed to a fuller curly cut, and her skin tone was darker as well. 

1969 - 1970 Talking Julia and 1971 Talking Julia

Julia was the same size as Barbie, so she shared her entire wardrobe.  She did have four outfits that were exclusively made for her; #1751 Leather Weather, #1752 Brrr-Furr (which came in lime green or the hard to find red variation), #1753 candlelight Capers, and #1754 Pink Fantasy.  All of these were available from 1969-1970.

Leather Weater, Brr-Furr (2 colors), Candlelight capers and Pink Fantasy

Julia only had one gift set, a Sears exclusive called “Simply Wow” (stock #1594) which was released in 1969. The boxed set included a Talking Julia doll dressed in her original outfit, a blue knit dress with white satin bodice that had a six tier gold braided trim at the waist. There is one layer of trim around the neckline too.  A matching blue waist length jacket with gold trim and blue chunky heels completed the set.  The set originally sold for 9.99 in the Sears Catalog.

Simply Wow Gift set

40 years later in 2009, a reproduction of the first 1969 TNT version was released in honor of Barbie’s 50^th anniversary.  

2009 Reproduction Julia

Celebrity dolls continue to be a popular item with collectors, and there are new ones added to the Mattel family of Barbie’s quite often.  

Happy Hunting!