PrimeTime livi ng you r b e st i n th e p r i m e of you r li f e
AUGUST 2023
MANIA! Barbie Mania is running rampant. Her movie decided to perm mine, too. Have launched the same weekend as the mega hit you ever smelled the curling solution Oppenheimer, creating the phenomenon dubbed from the fifties? If so, you’ll know that by ELAINE M. DECKER “Barbenheimer.” Their weekend sales set records. this was a “misery loves company” move Barbie had the highest-grossing debut of 2023 on my mother’s part. More about that during the fourth-largest U.S. box office weekend later. If the smell wasn’t bad enough, the of all time. Mattel, Inc. officially debuted Barbie kinky curls it left me with added injury in 1959 at the American International Toy Fair in NYC. That was the to insult. I have a school picture to prove it. year I entered high school, so I never owned a Barbie doll and I don’t The beautiful Toni doll made my experience with Tonette plan to see the movie. worthwhile. The Ideal Toy Company made the doll from 1949– Five actresses graced a Time magazine cover in July; they share the 1953. The other saving grace is that they also provided little Barbie role. They’re all tall and thin but only one looks anything like paper dolls. I was very much into those. I searched for some the iconic doll. My husband said the cover reminded him of the sixties on eBay, but the only ones available seemed to all be laser cut British model, Twiggy. Other than the tall and thin of it, I didn’t see reproductions. Twiggy at all. I made a gangly Twiggedy Ann doll for my broher-inI have a real Toni doll in her original dress. I sold the blonde law’s niece when I was in college. The doll had short, yellow yarn hair one, but I still have a brunette. Why would I settle for repro paper and a pink button nose and looked more like Twiggy than the women ones? The doll was one of the most popular ever made. They on the Time cover. generally sell for up to $50 if they’re in good condition in nice The quintet of actresses on that cover were selected to represent dresses. Even without Barbie Mania, vintage Barbies fetched incarnations of Barbie over the decades. She began in Palm Springs and several thousand dollars, especially if they were very old or evolved to the White House, reflecting changing ideas about girls. You were in an unusual outfit. They’re probably worth more now. can still find classic blonde Barbies, but there are also Black, LatinX, Smelly home perms weren’t the only torture my mother subjected Asian and trans ones. She’s been said to have an ingratiating smile and me to. She had a home beauty treatment to take care of the mustache impossible curves, not to mention ample boobs. I don’t know if the that Brunettes have on their upper lip. Never mind that I was too young actresses meet all those criteria, but based on the Time photo, at least to have noticeable hair there. In another example of “misery loves three have the boob thing covered. company,” when my mother bleached her own mustache, she had me It’s not just in theaters that the movie has caused Barbie Mania. do mine. We made a paste, probably with amonia and peroxide. I don’t Retailers have hopped on the Barbie bus, too. Their merchandise and recall exactly. It smelled terrible, burned like hell, and my mustache store displays are drenched in pink and fuchsia. Medical techs are now looked the same when I was done. padding around their facilities in fuchsia Crocs. Can pink hair be far I’ll bet Barbie never had to bleach her mustache. Ken would behind? probably have been too preoccupied staring at her boobs to notice a The doll I remember most from my childhood is Ideal’s Toni. I have mustache anyway. one in my collection. She pre-dated Barbie by about a decade. The original Toni had long blonde hair and long thin legs, but she wasn’t a Copyright 2023 Business Theatre Unlimited. fashion doll. Home hair perms appeared in the early 1950’s. The Toni Elaine M. Decker’s books include Retirement Downsizing—A Humorous brand was especially popular. It was promoted with the Toni doll and Guide, Retirement Sparks, Retirement Sparks Again, Retirement Sparks Redux and CANCER: A Coping Guide. Her essays appear in the anthologies: Tonette, a home perm kit for little girls, just like their mother’s. My mother permed her hair at home. When Tonette came out, she 80 Things To Do When You Turn 80 and 70 Things
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