Happy Birthday Barbie!

I am so excited for Barbie's birthday. If I were still a little girl I would have all of my Barbies out and have a big Barbie Birthday party! Actually, if I had time and knew of anyone else who still has their Barbies, I might be inclined to have that birthday party right now anyway.

I have always been a big Barbie fan. I got my first Barbie when I was three years old. My Mom used it as a bribe to get me to sleep through the night. It worked and I got my first Barbie.

She was beautiful! I played Barbies all the time. My Mom sewed all of the clothes for her and all of the other Barbies that followed including Skipper, Midge, Twist and Pose Barbie, Francie, Malibou Barbie, Ken, and many more. I still have some of the clothes.

My sister and I and all of our little friends would play for hours. We made furniture out of stuff we found around the house. Egg cartons were great for either a couch, or a bed depending on how you flip the carton. They were also good for bedroom shelves and closet organizers. They held those little plastic Barbie shoes and accessories just perfectly!

Our imaginations were endless. Then came the Camping Barbie and the Barbie Townhouse. Beauty Shop Barbie, Mall Barbie, School Teacher Barbie, Holiday Barbie, Spy Barbie or Secret Agent Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Doctor Barbie, and so many more. They just came out with the Tattoo Barbie. I think I need one of those for my collection. I guess she comes with stickers you can put on her yourself and some for you, too!

My original Barbie had stiff legs and arms. She didn't move at all. According to the New York Times, it had been determined that if the 11 1/2-inch doll were 5-foot-6, her measurements would be 39-21-33. One academic expert calculated that a woman's chances of having Barbie's figure were less than 1 in 100,000.

Not every girl liked Barbie. And some parents and women's feminists groups criticized her saying it was not good for girls to hold themselves up to such high standards as Barbie. Here's the deal, Barbie was good for role playing and imagination. My Barbie could fly to the moon. She raced cars and kicked Ken's butt doing it. She could pitch a tent faster and climb the highest mountain better than Ken. Actually, my Barbie dumped Ken and went with G.I. Joe because he had a Jeep.

Right now, the 50th anniversary Barbie is on sale at Target for $3. I absolutely have to have a 50th anniversary Barbie. I got my first Barbie about 5 years after she first became available. If I still had her, and she was in mint condition in the box, she would be worth approximately $25,000, apparently. But the way I played and all of the adventures my Barbie had, she would not have been in mint condition. I lost her in a flood about 15 years ago. She was being held for me in a storage unit near the Minnesota River Valley near Bloomington and one spring it flooded. I think My Barbie is in the Gulf of Mexico now. Actually, I think she would have turned into Rescue Barbie and saved lives the whole way down. She had a good life.

My point is, Barbie gave an outlet for my imagination. I could be anybody and anything I wanted to be through my Barbie. She was beautiful and smart. And I think all girls should have a role model like that.

Happy Birthday, Barbie!

Peace.