Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about my photography adventures, flowers, gardening, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
The movie Barbie was a tremendous success here in the United States and worldwide, grossing over $1.38 million U.S. dollars. I still haven't seen the movie, but I owned a Barbie in my youth, and I would love to see the movie one day.
Earlier this month, I had the next best thing.
The annual O Tannenbaum Christmas display and auction at the Tioga County, New York Historical Society is up and running, and the entries will be on display until December 16. Many of these trees (actually, just the ornaments) are auctioned off in a silent auction. A clipboard with a sheet is next to each tree and people write their bids there.
This year there were at least three Barbie inspired trees.
This tree included a Barbie tree topper. In case there was any doubt, even the tree skirt was Barbie inspired. For me, though, the Barbie tree topper head was a bit - creepy?
I didn't have much room to maneuver for some of these and I was trying to get the entire tree. The detail may be hard to see.
This tree was called "Vintage Barbie".
I did get a closeup of this tree, which included some Hallmark ornaments.
For those of my readers who celebrate Christmas, do you do themed trees in your house?
Somewhere, maybe, still exists a white, blond, bubble cut Barbie with unbendable arms and legs and feet that can't go flat. This Barbie must wear heels, and it is dressed in a wedding gown. The last time I saw it, it was lying in my drawer, lying in the embrace of its black stand.
Once beloved, it was put away with other childhood things. Perhaps it was thrown out after I left home. I'll never know.
It will never be in a movie. It will never be famous. But it isn't forgotten.
I am a senior citizen now. I can remember my doll, but not the year it was given to me. I suspect it was 1961 or 1962, and I loved it. I played Barbie by myself and with a friend. I dreamed of the outfits I would dress it (dare I say "her"?) if my Mom could only afford them.
Needless to say, my Barbie never saw the inside of a Barbie Dreamhouse. For years, it lived on top of my dresser, on its black wire stand.
I predated all of the career Barbies - the astronaut, the vet, and even the President. Over 200 of those careers encouraged girls to step out into the world.
I was so thrilled when I got the wedding gown outfit as a gift. By then, a friend in my apartment building in the Bronx had a Ken, and her Ken became my Barbie's fiancé (whereupon I heard the vocabulary word "fiancé" for the first time).
Now there is a movie, a movie that is on its way-no, wait, it has reached and exceeded- a gross of one billion dollars. One billion dollars. For a director who happens to be female.
The movie? It's become more popular than many could have dreamed.
And me, the person who last went to a movie in December of 2018, wants to see it.
My spouse wants no part of it. I don't mind. I don't expect him to understand, although I don't know if my eyes could stand all the pink (you don't need to see much of this video to understand why). He won't know what Barbie means to millions of girls and grown up women.
Childhood memories can be so strong. Barbie gave me many hours of happiness. If I had been born just a handful of years later, it could have been the catalyst for me becoming something untraditional.
After all, one of my aunts (one I barely knew, I should add) became a doctor back in the 1920's. And my late mother actually encouraged me to go into medicine, although it wasn't my interest.
Yes, Barbie, thank you. Sisterhood is strong. Women are making this movie happen.
Have any of my readers seen the movie? If so, would you recommend it?
