All About Baby Dolls

Playing with Dolls is good for children

leim — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:15:09 +0000

“What do you want for Christmas present?” Probably kids will never miss out the chance to clarify the things they want if you ask this question. As a parent, you should identify what your kid’s interests and hobbies before you make your decision on what to buy for them. If you do not have any idea, why not get a doll for your children. In fact, doll play is a part of pretend play that helps to improve your kids’ imagination and take on a role as an adult when they contact with everyday basic objects in the doll house play.
Social Skills + Creating Intimacy
You can instill basic human instinct through doll play by caring, nurturing and feeding activities. Children can practice their language and social skills including sharing, cooperation, helping, and problem solving. Doll play brings all their warmth, empathy and the ability to give care to others helps you to raise your child to become a more caring adult in the future. According to the child development psychologists Dorothy and Jerome Singer of Yale University note, “Early opportunity to play with doll provides children the chance of practicing the vital human capacity for nurturance and selflessly to others.
Imagination and Creativity
Doll play promotes self-reliance by encouraging children to use their imagination and creativity. Kids will make up the doll as an actor in the play. As they age, you will start notice that they are using doll to create a real life scenario base on adult’s life styles. Doll play is important in helping children explore on how to grow up and take on the role as the future adult. You will be able to see their improvement in creativity and problem solving skills during the play. Currently there are varieties of doll play themes which are available for sales such as doll in army costumes, doll in rainforest, Eskimo, Native population and other world cultures, which they can portray different story base on their imagination and creativity in the play.
Emotional development
In addition to the fun and joy brings to children; doll play also serves beneficial developmental purposes by allowing children to work out their emotions in a safe context. According to Hallie Speranza, who teaches at the Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Laboratory, the University of Texas at Austin, says doll play can be therapeutic. Scolding their baby doll or stuffed animal allows your children work out and release their feelings or tension without involving other kids.
Dolls for Babies
It is recommended to choose dolls that are soft and cuddly yet washable and sturdy for babies. Babies love to put everything into their little drippy mouths; you might need to wash at least every day or two to make sure the cleanliness of the dolls. Before giving a doll to baby, make sure that there is no small part of the dolls that can be removed or fall off easily. For children age 3 to 5 year old and up, they prefer to own dolls with movable hands and legs in different position.
Tips on storage
Most of the dolls and doll house play is made of vinyl, flexible plastic as well as rubber. It is important for you to store in places where toys do not expose to direct sunlight. If you plan to place it near to the window, make sure that it is protected from exposure to sunlight. You can pack the doll and doll play furniture separately in paper to avoid touching with one another. After each play, clean up if necessary before you put back to the storage.
Every child has their own interest and strength to learn in an optimal way on what they experience in their daily life. Doll play is a fun and also one of the favorite toys especially for girls. Getting a doll with complete set of doll house play is always a great choice for children.

Dolls collection as Hobby

leim — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:12:01 +0000

Doll collecting is a hobby that has been in practice for many years. There are collectors that dedicate their entire hobby interest to dolls, dollhouses and the proper maintenance of them. Hobbies such as this are not for the weak. It takes plenty of time and commitment to grow a substantial doll collection. Beginners should take a time out to consider the many facets of doll collecting. It certainly should be a decision made based on joy and passion. Doll collecting is a much bigger world than some might think based on first impressions.
For the beginner that is seriously interested in devoting time to making doll collecting a viable hobby, it’s important to seek out information. Be sure that any sources used for facts and information gathering are reputable. It’s incredibly easy to be misled by websites or other sources that are not accurate. It’s important to know what you want to get out of your doll collecting experience. Going in blind can leave you feeling clueless and uncertain of where or how to begin.
The first thing that most would be doll collectors should do is read up on the most basic and common types of collectible dolls. There are certain ones that can easily be identified if you know what to look for. Getting informed should always be used as a starting point. There are many fabulous resources that can assist new doll collectors in their new Endeavour. Try an online search or consult the library for hobby books.
Look into doll shows and exhibits. This is an ideal place for getting acquainted with other doll collectors. It also opens your eyes to a whole new world. Plenty can be learned from attending a doll exhibit. Don’t hesitate to ask questions of the professionals since there is no better place to gain valuable information. Browsing through the many dolls on display is great for getting ideas and insight on the many possibilities associated with collecting dolls.
One thing about being a collector of any type of item is that you must always keep your eyes open for that one great find. Some of the most valuable dolls collected were saved from somebody’s attic or storage room. Garage sales tend to have more antiques than one would assume. Many people selling old dolls are not even aware of the potential collectible within their possession. Don’t underestimate the bargains you can find by perusing garage sales and second hand stores for dolls and doll accessories.
Of course it should go without saying that dolls must be properly and carefully stored. To improperly store a doll of value may effectively reduce the worth of the doll. Paying attention to factors like temperature and moisture is extremely important. Too much or too little of either of these can be detrimental. If you know you have dolls of value or wish to preserve them so they may increase in worth, seek out professional assistance. Collecting dolls requires patience and persistence, both of which always pay off.

Exclusive collection of Dolls

leim — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:09:48 +0000

Children doll business is may be the largest business in toy industry. As we all know that almost every children love to play doll, any kind of dolls. Therefore, people who can see this opportunity to find themselves to get into this business to gain profits. However, as this business has enormous market value so it naturally be come competitive as well. So it is really necessary for you to know some fact before you come into this challenging business.
The dolls are used by the children where it resembles mostly the characters in the cartoons and comics. They became a integrate thing with the toys. The doll collecting is a unique hobby where a child collects the toys and dolls interested to him. The dolls came into existence even from the older days. The wood and clay is the primary material of the dolls where the materials like animal fur and synthetic materials are used now for the enhanced look of the dolls. There also dolls made from the paper, wax and porcelain. With the latest versions of dolls, many teenagers have the passion of collecting the dolls.
Even though are so many types of dolls available in the market, but it seems that the most favorable and popular type is animal dolls. This is because animal is only thing that kids can get familiar with and be able to remember at the first stage of learning so animal dolls are also the thing that they can get familiar with very quickly too.
Animal Dolls
The dolls usually resemble a cartoon or cosmic characters. The dolls with the shape of animal looks very pretty and it acts as the virtual pet to the children. The design and structure of the dolls are made to look like a genuine structure of the animal so that it attracts all age group of children. The passion of collecting the animal dolls has increased and the children can collect the animal dolls to use them as a pet.
Choosing Right Dealer In Online
The dolls that are displayed in the online store acts as the best source for the animal dolls collecting children. They display all the new collections and verities of animal dolls so that the children can get a best doll from the home. Choosing a best online store is important because it saves the time and money of the visitors. However, it is fairly to say that finding the ideal dealers is not very easy. There are so many factors to consider such as price, delivery, the quality of products and so on. Therefore, it is your job to look around the internet to find the ideal one by your self as there are so many resources available such as online classified or alibaba.com if you want to find partners from overseas.
The dolls which are of unique and new to the market can be availed in the website and can be purchased it from the home. These dolls can also be used as a gift to others and can be used as a best Christmas gifts to children.

About Antique German Dolls

leim — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:07:28 +0000

From the 1840’s through until the early 1920’s, some of the most beautiful dolls ever created, were produced in Germany.
The earliest dolls, often referred to as Parian (meaning untinted bisque) were created in famous pottery factories in Copenhagen and in Dresden. These dolls had beautifully delicate molded features, including not only their faces, but their hair as well, often with molded ribbons, bows, snood, flowers and sometimes a collar. Delicate exacting colorations made every one of these dolls a work of art. These dolls are rare and valuable.
Their popularity peaked around the end of the 1870’s and can be dated by their hairstyles. Parian Bisque led to the more common China Head Dolls. These dolls were mass produced, and have a shiny glaze finish over the plain untinted bisque. These dolls ranged in size from tiny 1” tall frozen charlotte type dolls to large as 24”. These dolls were most popular between 1860 and 1900, as a cheaper alternative to the latest doll craze, that of tinted unglazed bisque that was becoming more and more popular and available. In the early 1890’s the German doll manufacturers began mass producing many lovely quality dolls that began to rival the quality of the French dolls.
Dolls began to be modeled after real children. Emotions and expressions became visible. The famous period of the “dolly type” face was born.
These beautiful dolly face dolls traditionally had “sleep eyes” made to open and close, set into the head carefully with plaster. The eyes were hand blown glass. They also have open mouths, usually showing 4 upper teeth. Fine mohair wigs, or human hair wigs were also used on thesedolls. The heads were attached to sophisticated ball joint bodies.
Many of these dolly face dolls were produced in small cottage industry circumstances, and the maker of many remains unknown. The more famous German doll manufacturers such as Heinrich Handwerck, Heuback-Kopplesdorf, Kammer and Reinhard, J.D.Kestner, Armand Marseille and Simon and Halbig, clearly placed their hallmark, and doll mold numbers onto the back of the doll’s neck, making it possible to date, value and appraise many of their dolls.
One of the most famous dolls of all to come out of this period was the “Bye-Lo” baby doll. It is documented that the artist, Grace Storey Putnam searched hospital nurseries in the early 1920’s looking for just the right tiny model for this doll. The Bye-Lo baby was followed by “My Dream Baby”.
The value placed on Antique German Dolls, is based on their rarity, on the quality in craftsmanship of a particular doll, the condition of the doll, and by how much of the doll remains in original condition. This will include such factors as repairs to the head or body, replaced eyes or wig, and many other factors.
Antique German dolls continue to appreciate in value. The quality and talent put into every doll made is appreciated more and more by collectors of antique dolls as the years go by.

Tips of caring for American Girl Doll

leim — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:44:00 +0000

My daughter and I love to visit the American Girl® Place. We always dine at the cafe my daughter’s favorite is of course their dessert. I must say, it’s just too pretty to eat. One favorite spot in the store is the doll’s hair salon. You can hang out and watch the stylists spruce up some magnificent magic do’s. One of the stylists had shared some really important doll care tips, which I would love to share with you. There are also some tips from a good friend who is an avid doll collector for over forty two years. I hope these are helpful as they have been for me and my daughter.
Always Wash your hands before handling your doll. By doing so you will keep her clean longer.
There are three essential items for brushing your doll’s hair.
o Doll wire hairbrush
o Misting bottle
o A towel or apron
Always use a doll’s wire hairbrush. If you brush your doll’d hair daily it will prevent from getting tangled but always remember to mist lightly. If you brush your doll’s hair dry it may cause ripping and damage to your doll’s hair which is made of synthetic fibers.
Never put mousse, hairspray, shampoo, conditioner, tangle free liquids, foam or any chemicals on your doll’s hair. Your doll does not have human hair and therefore by applying those items mentioned above with only damage your doll’s hair. Remember water “H20″ is only the best and recommended by American Girl©.
* Never use blowdryers, curling irons or straightners on your doll’s hair otherwise you will literally melt her hair. There are other safe and fun alternatives to curling and styling your doll’s hair. American Girl©. sells perm rods and curling paper but here is an economical way my daughter and neice came up with. Use paper towel or toliet paper tubes and cut about an inch or so. Take a strand of hair, lightly mist, fold curling paper and roll the paper tube like a roller, fasten with a bobbie pin or clip, let dry and fluff with fingers. The aftermath is beautiful. You can also mist a strand of hair , fold curling paper, twist and dry.
* If your doll’s hair does gets tangled do not use what you would normally use on your own hair ie. detangled mist or creme rinse. Just mist water on your doll’s hair and brush it from the ends and work your way up, in strands.
* Always avoid getting water on your doll’s skin. My daughter puts an apron or a towel on her doll before spritzing and doesn’t allow the water to come in contact with her doll’s face.
* Never keep your doll in direct sunlight. If you leave your doll in the sun all of her coloring will fade, including her doll clothes.
* Baking soda works well to wash your doll’s face. If your doll has a stain you can use a little baking soda on a lightly dampened washcloth and gently wash her face. Let it air dry after wards.
* With mom’s help you can help keep your doll’s cloth body clean and smell fresh. Have mom vacuum the soft cloth body, lightly sprinkle some baking soda or cornstarch in to the cloth, leave overnight, and then vacuum again.
* Doll clothes should be hand wash or machine wash in Delicate cycle.
* Try to avoid eating with your dolls. If food comes in contact, have your mom help you clean her up.
* If your doll’s head loosens, it can be tighten. Untie the strings at the back of the neck of your doll and secure the head in place. Make two knots with the strings to keep secure.
My daughter has 10 American girl dolls. Ouch! One of her gripes was Molly’s hair as many of you Molly owners can agree. We were told at the American Girl Place, that Molly’s hair is textured. Therefore, her hair is best kept in braids. Since she followed their advice, she has since regain her fun with Molly. She works with Molly’s braids, changing her hair bows, twirling each braid up on each side, attached into a single pony tail or french braid.
My darling daughter loves her dolls and enjoys dressing, reading to them as well as reading about them and having tea parties with them as well. She says “Momma, I will never depart with them. I plan on giving them to my daughter one day.” As a mom, I am so thrilled to hear this. I know thesedolls are a big investment but when I see how in tune she is with them and loves reading about them. I know is well worth the investment. Also, I love the innocence that thesedolls contribute to young girls. In today’s world, I find that to be a treasure.

Historic Dolls collection

leim — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:28:23 +0000

Many serious collectors, when it comes to collecting dolls aren’t interested in the dolls that have recently come out or have been recently produced. Serious collectors, instead, have their sights set on antique dolls. These dolls are much more valuable than their more recent counterparts. Antique dolls are rich in history and, if kept in good shape throughout the years, can become an invaluable addition to any serious antique doll collection.
For an antique doll to become valuable, it will have to have been taken care of throughout the years. Dolls that are missing eyes or even limbs won’t do much for any serious collector. However, the dolls that is kept wholly intact and is in complete mint condition, those are the antique dolls that will fetch large sums for the seller.
Mending Dolls
Of course, if a doll is an antique and is missing some parts, say an eye or a leg, the dolls can be repaired. There are shops out there that will repair your antique dolls to make them look like new. It should be noted, however, that many collectors out there are very picky about what antique dolls they will accept for their collection. They will not tolerate a doll they considered to be mended and take their antique doll collecting very seriously. Any serious collector will be able to tell almost instantly if you’re trying to pass the antique doll off as mint condition. Mending can be done to restore your antique doll to its full beauty if the doll needs it.
You can find antique dolls at specialty doll stores and even online. Many antique dolls come from collectors and even more come from people who once owned them and then died. This is where we get most of our antique dolls today. They are left over or sold with peoples estates. Some of these antique dolls are a hundred years old or more. You can imagine what an artifact like that is worth. Considering most of the antique dolls are hand made, the amount is likely more than you expect.
Any time you wish you can start antique doll collecting. Be prepared to spend a lot of money when you find a good antique doll retailer. It’s worth it when you consider all the extra friends you’ll have to fill up your new doll room, but doll collecting isn’t cheap, especially not antique doll collecting.

Dolls of their girls

leim — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:18:13 +0000

I have had people say to me…Little girls just don’t play with dolls any more. My response… Have you encouraged her, or played with her?
I know growing up, that dolls played a very important part of my life. Our family struggled to make ends meet, and our toys were treasured and few. So treasured in fact, that the dolls I owned as a child, are still my treasured possessions today. I rescued them from the toy box after my two younger sisters had also had their turn with them!
My dolls were babies when we played pioneers, with a wagon and trunk. They were my patient clothing models, when I began to learn the art of sewing, and they put up with countless terribly designed and sewn outfits. They were my comfort on cold winter nights.
My sisters and I played with and treasured our dolls much longer than most young girls seem to today.
Paper dolls were another huge part of our creative childhood. A few magazines of the era such as McCalls came out with a sheet of paper dolls each month. We had a neighbor who subscribed to McCalls and saved the paper doll sheets for us. Betsy McCall and her friends were greatly anticipated on a monthly basis! Carefully cut out, the dolls glued to the back of cereal boxes and cut out, they made fantastic play things. Looking at the elaborate craft sets that are presented to today’s children, it is hard for me to imagine that they really stimulate creativity any more than our own imaginations did.
Doll houses played another large part in developing our creativity. As we could only dream of owning a store bought doll house, or furniture, we industriously set out time and again to create our own doll houses out of whatever materials came to hand. A large cardboard box held infinite possibilities.
Items such as empty paper rolls, match boxes, bottle caps, to name a few became pieces of furniture, dishes and much more. Careful searching through the Eatons and Sears catalogue as well as weekly sales flyers also produced a wealth of accessories. Pictures from the food flyers glued to cardboard, were used to fill the kitchen cupboards, people cut out and glued to cardboard became the doll house families. My sisters and I enjoyed countless hours of creative fun with these simple materials.
I read an article recently that suggested little girls are tiring of dolls as young as 6 years old. What do they play with then, that can develop their imagination, creativity and nurturing instincts.
I hope parents everywhere will realize the value in simple, uncomplicated playthings for their children. A doll house, with a doll family, furniture, and accessories can provide countless hours of decorating and imaginative fun, as rooms are changed and rearranged. Not only is the imagination developed, but also fine motor skills are honed as children learn to manipulate miniature items.
I also cannot help but feel that a little girl, who cares for, changes, puts to bed and adores a favourite doll, will learn valuable nurturing instincts that will stay with her into her adult life.

Spruce up your Doll by dressing

leim — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:15:26 +0000

You’ve been doing it since you were a baby. First were the floppy soft dolls, and then you progressed to Barbie? Dressing up dolls is a favorite pastime for many girls, and if you still dress up Barbie occasionally in secret, it’s okay - there is an entire community just like you.
As the internet has grown, websites have been developed that appeal to all kinds of people. We think of games online and message boards, but did you realize there are also dress up dolls online
? And not just a few basic dolls – these girls put Barbie’s Dream Closet to shame.
Dress Up Dolls
Originally dolls were developed for use as plain images, but since girls enjoyed them so much, many websites, such as TheDollPalace.com, began to allow girls to dress up dolls on their site in much the same way they would dress up a Barbie or traditional paper dolls. The difference is, these dolls don’t just come with big blonde hair and a few clothing selections. There are literally hundreds of outfits in all manners of fashion designed to complement dolls of every skin tone and hair style.
You pick the base. Skin tones range from pale to dark just like we do in the real world. You then add hair to your doll in practically any style you can image. Next comes clothing and it may take awhile to get the clothing selection just right. After all, you are able to design everything from growth to punk to preppy to pirates on The Doll Palace. We know an outfit is never complete without accessories, so you have plenty of choices there as well.
Once your doll is finished, you can put her on an available background and use her for any number of things. You can print her out. You can make her the subject of a good story. You can enter her into any number of contests sponsored by the site, or you can use her as your avatar. Your avatar is your online picture when you’re chatting with others in the chat rooms or message boards inside the doll community.
An Entire Community
Dressing up dolls in one thing you can do on The Doll Palace. You can also read through fashion or teen related articles, write your own articles, create stories, join groups who love making dolls, visit on the Doll forums, and even just chat. There are plenty of dolls already created that you can use as inspiration or avatars and tons of doll makers as well. New makers and dolls are released all the time, so there is always something new to do on the site.
Finally a game that appeals to you is available online. No sillier shooting games or hearing about how dangerous other websites are. There is a website that has lots to do, parents approve of, and best of all - is plenty of fun to play on.

Animal Dolls for your kids

leim — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:45:38 +0000

Doll is seen as the most favorite toys for children. Both classic and electronic dolls have their own pro and cons. Particularly for animal dolls that has variety of all kind of animal. We have to admit that animal is the first thing that children will knoe for the first stage of learning. A lot of practice and lesson, start from using animal as a symbol like A B C, which always represent in the type of animal. Therefore, children will have first impression and appreciation of animal at the first stage of learning. According to this reason, it is will be very common that they will looking for animal toys and animal dolls have become to their favorite type. However, some children has very much appreciation of animal dolls and they start to collect them as a hobby so we can imagine that they will enjoy of having al kind of them in the collection.
Collecting Animal Dolls Is A Great Hobby
The animal dolls are the dolls, which resembles the structure of the animals. The animals with the specific breeds are inherited in the dolls and it provides an attractive look to the animal dolls. The materials like artificial fur and other synthetic materials make the doll to be realistic. The passion of collecting the dolls will make the children to collect their favorite dolls in the market. The collection of the dolls makes the child to have the pleasure and improves the habit of collecting new things everyday in life.
Types Of Dolls
The dolls that are given to a child at the early stage makes the child to be happy and it takes care of the doll with great efforts. It treats the doll as the pet and provides fun in playing with the doll. The animal dolls make the child to look it as a virtual animal where the child cannot fear about the animals. They can care the animal doll and can start collecting their favorite animal dolls in the market. The other dolls are decorative dolls, baby dolls, and fashion dolls. The collection of dolls differs from each individual and they even learn the method of creating new dolls. However, we may not have no idea that what kind of dolls that will be created and developed in the future, so just to make sure that they will get the most of their favorite.
Collecting The Doll As A Hobby
An independent research reveals that the collection of dolls is considered as the second biggest hobby in the United States. The collection of dolls depends upon the individual and should be collected according to the personal taste. With the advent of the Internet, an individual can purchase a variety of dolls in the Internet and can purchase it from the home. The doll collection is a great hobby for the children and it continues till in the adult stage. It makes the individual to leave from the adult stage and provides the chance of enjoying the childhood again.

Everything about Barbie Dolls

leim — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:37:57 +0000

“All the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl treasured,” stated nine year old Claudia MacTeer in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Her and her sister Frieda were upset at the fact that they always received little white dolls for gifts. They figured that society saw the white dolls as being beautiful, and since they themselves were not white, Claudia and Frieda thought that they also were not considered to be beautiful. This is one of the reasons they despised the white dolls. The dolls looked nothing like them, so they could not relate to the toy. Little girls, for a long time, had no choice but to play with white dolls, with the most popular choice being the Barbie Doll. This toy was thought of being the “ideal” model girls would want to look and be like when they grew up.
This theory seemed to hold true for about thirty years after the story took place until Barbies of different races came out. In addition, little do the young girls know, as they dream of being like Barbie as a child, the odds of them every looking like her when they grow up are 1 in 100,000 (Portanier). This caused a great deal of controversy or the toy’s manufacturer, Mattel. Thus, the Barbie Doll is an unrealistic, unattainable model for young children to play with and want to duplicate. The history of the Barbie Doll began back in 1959 when Ruth Handler, the toy’s creator, was on vacation in Switzerland. She came upon a doll named Lilli one day while shopping with her 16-year-old daughter. Even though her daughter had grown out of playing with dolls, she was still compelled by this one and wanted it.
This gave Ruth an idea, to create a doll herself. As of then, the only dolls in America were mostly made of paper. Ruth wanted to design a doll that was three-dimensional “that could serve as a roll model for young girls” (Barbie). She did so, and named it after her daughter, Barbara. This new doll looked nothing at all like Barbara. Her daughter had dark hair and was over weight compared to this anorexic, blonde beauty of a doll. In addition, this doll grew to be so popular for several reasons. First off, it was the first doll created to have an adult body (History of Barbie). She had sex appeal compared to other dolls that were usually cloned to look like babies or young girls. Secondly, she has what society has envisioned as a “perfect female body.” She had blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, long legs, a voluptuous chest, slender waist, and flawless skin. What woman wouldn’t want to have features like that?
This brings up my next point. Although Barbie has these incredible features, her measurements are very unrealistic. If Barbie were scaled to the size of an actual woman, she would be 5′9″, 110 pounds, and her measurements would be 39-18-33 (Barbies). “It’s not that she has an unusually large chest, but only one that is perceived as such in its comparison to her waist” (Portanier). If a real woman had a chest this large compared to the rest of her, it would be physically impossible for her body to support it with such a small waist and feet.
Moreover, the Barbie Doll was created to look like a Caucasian female. Yet, when it first came out, it was difficult to tell this. The face painter of the doll was Japanese which “caused the first Barbie to have an Oriental appearance” (Barbies). Mattel slowly changed and modified her features through the following few years until she looked more American. Even though she appeared more American, she only looked like those in the white population. Additionally, Barbie has always had friends of other races since 1966. But it wasn’t until 1980, when the first African American and Hispanic Barbie came out. (This would have made Claudia in The Bluest Eye very happy.) They even produced African-American Barbie with different skin tones to reflect the actual variations amongst people of the race (Barbie). I think this is quite an advancement in the toy industry, being that the Caucasian Barbie was only produced with one skin tone even though it too varies among white people. Changing her skin tone wasn’t the only innovation done to Barbie’s body. Through the years: her skin tone was softened, hair texture changed, given a rotating waist, bendable legs and arms, eyelashes added, eye stare was modified, smile was added, and her head was tiltable. “In early 1998, eight of the 24 new Barbie lines for the year were released with a modified body shape” (Portanier). This included a smaller chest, wider waist, and slender hips. This was to make her appear like she has a more teenage body. The Barbie Doll’s feet were also made flatter, the makeup more pastel, hair texture was made softer, the smile more natural. The newer dolls also have white panties painted on them. (It’s about time; the Ken dolls always had permanent underwear.) Mattel still sticks to their story that they tailored her body to “appear more youthful and more contemporary” not because of complaints about her outrageous proportions (Portanier).
Furthermore, Barbie does have some worthy qualities aside from all the bad publicity the toy receives. She sets a fine example, career-wise, for the little girls to look up to. Barbie has had a variety of jobs over the years including: Dentist, Astronaut, Teacher, Veterinarian, Soldier, Rock Star, Flight Attendant, Model, Doctor, Ballerina, Olympic Athlete, and Environmentalist. This is a great representation to show young girls that women can work any job they want, even jobs that use to be more male dominated. Over the past 42 years, 90% of America’s girls have played with Mattel’s famous doll named Barbie and her numerous friends (Barbie Dolls). Children from all ethnic groups now have a doll that they can identify with racially. If Frieda and Claudia MacTeer, from the story by Toni Morrison, were around in this day and age, they would have a higher appreciation for their dolls because they could relate to them easier. The girls no longer would have to play with only “blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned” dolls. Even though they may be able to see themselves in the doll racially, the girls will never have a body like Barbie’s. The doll’s unattainable proportions have received much criticism over time. Mattel has modified the body in numerous ways over the past few years to make it seem more realistic. In addition, Barbie has had some positive influences on young girls by having high-ranking careers over her duration. This helps inspire children to set high career goals for themselves.