Today is Barbie's 50th birthday so I want to celebrate her special day. After all, I grew up with Barbie. I didn't have the very first Barbie with the ponytail. My sister and I had the Barbies with the bubble hairdo. Hers was blonde and mine was brunette (apparently to match our own haircolors). My sister's wore the well known black and white striped bathing suit; I think my doll's was red and white. I had the first Ken doll, the one with the blonde fuzzy hair that rubbed off after a period of time. My sister had a Midge and Allan. We both had Skipper plus I had Scooter and Ricky. We didn't have multiple Barbies, a concept that my daughters find hard to understand. The idea was to buy outfits and accessories for your doll. Actually, I only owned a few official Barbie outfits for all of my dolls. However, one Christmas my grandmother gave my sister and me each an entire collection of Barbie-size clothes, handmade by someone she knew. We were in heaven. I saved my dolls for my daughters but they had a hard time competing with the new Barbies. There were so many different versions, I couldn't keep track. Instead of buying outfits, they just got a new doll for each theme. Once our girls could sleep in bunkbeds together, we turned the other bedroom into a playroom. The large Barbie dollhouse, made by my father for me and my sister many years ago, was moved into that room. The girls' Barbie dolls led very busy lives, judging by the look of the room; very often we couldn't find the floor. Gradually, Barbie and friends lost out to other interests and they now reside in boxes. I haven't quite forgotten my love for Barbie. Every Christmas I buy the latest Hallmark Barbie ornament for my Christmas tree and for a little while I am that little girl again.
