Antique Doll

Q: I have a 19th-century doll that belonged to my grandmother. The doll is 17 inches tall with a porcelain head and a stuffed leather body. Her hair is styled in a long braid down her back. I was told that her wig is human hair. She has pierced ears and blue glass eyes that […]

Barbie Still Top Doll for Collectors 

On March 9, 1959, teenage fashion model Barbie Millicent Roberts from Willows, Wisconsin, made her debut at the American Toy Fair. Barbie quickly became one of the most recognizable dolls ever created, sought after by young girls and collectors alike. A recent sale of Barbie dolls by Apple Tree Auction Center of Newark, Ohio, included […]

AE Nippon Doll

Q: I’m writing about a 24-inch doll my mother left to me. My mother was born in 1926. The doll’s arms, wrists, legs, and neck are all moving joints. Her eyes close when she lies down, and I believe her hair is real. Her face looks porcelain but I don’t know what the body is. […]

Oil Patch Kid Doll

Q: This “Oil Patch Kid” doll was in my mother’s stuff when she passed away. The doll’s face, hat, and coveralls have “oil dirt” on them. It came with a “Patch Pal” that looks like a large drop of oil, albeit in a fuzzy form. It was in a clear plastic “oil drum” with a […]

New Exhibit Helps Girls Dream Big, Just Like Barbie

Imagine it and it will happen. That is the message behind a new exhibit opening August 1 at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis called “Barbie, You Can Be Anything: The Experience.”  The museum is partnering with Mattel to celebrate 61 years of Barbie with a new exhibit showcasing the iconic doll’s many careers (more than 200 and […]

Is My Doll A Collectible?

A collectible doll is quite often the same as one collector played with as a child. Shirley Temple, the Dionne Quintuplets, Chatty Cathy, and Barbie are all collectors’ dolls made since 1930. The Brownies, Campbell Kids, Kewpie dolls, Raggedy Ann, Buster Brown, and other comic figures were dolls made years earlier. They have all become […]

Barbie

Barbie, said to have been inspired by the German doll Bild Lilli, was probably the first American teenage doll. She was introduced in 1959 and may be the most successful doll ever made. Mattel, Inc. continues to make the doll, along with a huge wardrobe of clothes and accessories. The 11 1/2-inch fashion doll with […]

Computer Engineer Barbie

Barbie’s in the news again. A 2010 book with a cover picturing a glamorous Barbie doll computer engineer— who can’t do her job without asking men for help—was recently discovered by a blogger. She was enraged by the book, titled I Can Be a Computer Engineer. Other women took note and also objected to the […]

Storing Barbie

Keep Barbie barefoot. Don’t store a Barbie doll with her shoes on, because the shoes may damage her feet.  

Mexican Barbie

Mexican Barbie has ignited comments and complaints. The doll is part of Mattel’s “Dolls of the World” series. Her fiesta dress, pet Chihuahua and passport have been interpreted by some as insulting. But all of the dolls in the series have passports—they’re traveling to visit foreign countries and learn about different cultures. Others suggest Barbies’ […]