Oldies - Number 3

This week's oldie-but-goody is one I'm sharing with my daughter-in-law, Bonnie, in mind.  At Christmas she was asking us to recall what our favorite Christmas gift was and, honestly, I cannot recall one that stands out above the others.  Maybe I was thinking of this photo from my youth or maybe I was thinking of all the times I sat in the floor and played with my Barbie dolls when I answered her with this as one of my many favorites.

My great-grandmother gave me a doll that just hit the scenes and the marked the year I was born.  My mother didn't really like her because she had always hated it when somebody shortened her name or called her Barbie as a nickname but I thought she was really wonderful in her grown-up curvy body and all the fancy clothes that could dress her for any fantasmical occasion. 

She was that original Barbie in the zebra-striped suit with the straw-colored hair and I thought I was something special to have her.  By the looks of things, I must have been about five-years-old because I'm wearing a broad, snaggle-toothed smile, a cow-lick splitting my straight bangs, and beaming with pride at my newest wonderful toys.  Shown in this picture is the fancy canopy bed, complete with Barbie-pink bedding and I recall wanted a bed just exactly like it.  I also see the stylish black, patent-leather carry case that Barbie and all her clothes, shoes, and accessories were stored in when not spread across the tiled floor (that was probably made of asbestos) of the den.  Front and center are the fancy, white plastic dressing table and stool, adorned with curlicues and gold, with Barbie, herself, sitting upon with her legs crossed all prim-and-proper.  I remember having a little plastic hairbrush for Barbie and a hand-held mirror with some sort of reflective foil on it as well.

In the background I see the fireplace that Daddy built himself with his novice brick-mason hands and the old churn where he plopped his Co-op cap when he came in from the barn.  It looks like I was a polka-dot lover from the beginning in that cute little multi-colored number and my trendy pedal-pushers (known as capri pants these days).  I'm guessing Mama was glad I was playing something calm and didn't have things sprawled out everywhere because she was at least eight months pregnant with my sister if the date on the photo really indicates the date the photo was snapped. 

Times were simpler then and I really was a lucky girl to have such fancy toys to feed my imagination and creativity.  I remember wrapping her and myself with all sorts and bits of fabric and trims to dress us up and pretend we were worldly.  Over the years Barbie has been criticized as a toy and I certainly understand how the concept of her as a model and image might mess with a young child's mind.  But as I look back, I just recall dreaming and being creative to come up with fancy attire for that doll as she lived my fantasies of what grown-up life might be.   I've seen my daughter and granddaughters play with Barbies in much the same way and it brings a smile to my face because I fondly recall hours of quiet play on my knees with that first Barbie and my big imagination whiling away the time.  Good times!