1968 Clothing booklet that is transitional

I own dozens of Barbie booklets from 1959 to 1999 and sometimes notice details in them that others may not have.  This post is going to be about two booklets from 1968.  The first booklet is called The World of Barbie Fashions and is dated 1966.  I believe this booklet was meant to be transitional, as some of the items in it are from 1967 but most of them are from 1968.  However, the talking dolls are not included.
The second booklet is called The World of Barbie Fashion Book 1 (there were actually several of these), which is dated 1967.  Everything in it is from 1968, and the new talking dolls are pictured.  The covers of these two booklets are slightly different, but what is really funny are the clothing variations I am going to show you.
The upper booklet in each photo is one dated 1966 and the bottom one is dated 1967.

The top booklet shows Melody in Pink Tutti
while the bottom shows Stacey,
the standard Tutti and Chris.

The bottom booklet has added Twist N Turn Stacey.

I don't know what happened to the color
of Night Clouds in the bottom booklet.

Here are two equally funky
pairs of sunglasses for Culotte-Wot?

Did The Silver Cage come with
two different pairs of stockings in the actual package?

Not only are Skipper's outfits pictured from booklet to booklet,
note that the early swimsuit is pictured with striped panties.

New items for sale on etsy

These are the items I've placed for sale in the past six weeks on etsy.  Most of them are doll-related.

Krementz gold rose clip earrings with box, from the 1960s
https://www.etsy.com/listing/648506186/1960s-krementz-14k-gold-rose-clip?ref=shop_home_active_38

Ideal Tuesday Taylor and Jody dolls
https://www.etsy.com/listing/663708701/ideal-tuesday-taylor-and-jody-plus?ref=shop_home_active_37

Mego Maddie Mod doll and Candi clothes
https://www.etsy.com/listing/650823024/mego-maddie-mod-2-sizes-candi-doll-items?ref=shop_home_active_36

Five jewelry boxes from defunct stores
https://www.etsy.com/listing/652738322/5-cardboard-jewelry-boxes-from-defunct?ref=shop_home_active_35

Doll clothing sewing kits, revised
https://www.etsy.com/listing/652801092/sewing-kit-outfits-for-fashion-dolls?ref=shop_home_active_34

Two 1960s fashion doll fake fur coats
https://www.etsy.com/listing/680043633/2-fashion-doll-fake-fur-lined-coats?ref=shop_home_active_8

Manual of Catholic Devotions, 1928
https://www.etsy.com/listing/680051003/manual-of-catholic-devotions-c-1926?ref=shop_home_active_7

Barbie Loves Tweety NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/668218108/1999-barbie-loves-tweety-nrfb?ref=shop_home_active_4

March of Dimes Barbie NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/668046298/1998-kmart-march-of-dimes-walkamerica?ref=shop_home_active_6

Bubble Fairy Christie NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/668046298/1998-kmart-march-of-dimes-walkamerica?ref=shop_home_active_6

Beyond Pink Christie and Teresa NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/682288339/1999-beyond-pink-christie-and-teresa?ref=shop_home_active_1

Peggy Ann doll and clothes
https://www.etsy.com/listing/505474069/peggy-ann-fashion-doll-vinyl-clothing?ref=shop_home_active_2

Two Fashion Avenue outfits NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/682199079/barbie-and-skipper-fashion-avenue-sets?ref=shop_home_active_3

Charlotte the Pig NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/676544605/1999-barbie-stable-friends-charlotte-the?ref=shop_home_active_9

So many Barbie-size TV sets!

In 1972, the Willows Department Store hired its first saleswoman
for its electronics and appliance floor, SunSet Malibu PJ!

Here is another article that isn't really about the doll, but rather about the doll-size non-Mattel accessories.  I now have four 1/6 scale televisions.
The oldest is the red-and-white one.  It looks like it is a black-and-white TV from the early 1960s.  The little disc you see at the top has six cartoon pictures inside: a bunny clown, a jack-in-box, a bear in a band uniform with a drum, an Emmett Kelly-type clown, an Easter bunny, and a boy and girl fox dressed up.  There is an eyehole in the back.  The TV is marked "NO. 515/MADE IN HONG KONG."  This set came with a bunch of miniature items I bought as an adult collector.
The big pink TV is the wildest one.  It is a combination snow globe and salt-and-pepper shaker!  The two sides hold the spices and the lid slides back and forth.  The TV scene held water once--there are remnants of snow inside, plus a little cap on the bottom.  It's the only item I have with lots of identification:  1963/CLACO/KENILWORTH, N.J./MADE IN HONG KONG/NO. 205.  I bought this at an antique show because I couldn't resist it!
The green television was purchased in, if I remember correctly, 1970.  The picture is holographic and you can see the girl ice skater twirling, while a silhouette of a male falls on the ice.  The back is marked A&W PROD./1962.  Believe it or not, this is a pencil sharpener.  My sister got this TV as a little girl and I got a tiny pencil sharpener that was a globe (which unfortunately is long gone).
My other sister found the blue Kings Island TV for me at a garage sale.  Like the red TV, it has a view hole in the back with a button you press on the bottom to change the pictures inside.  There are a number of pictures of the park's original rides.  The theme park opened in 1972, and the TV looks like something from the early 1970s, but one of the photos inside is of the Screamin' Demon looped roller coaster, which opened in 1977.  I suspect at some point the photos inside were updated.
It's my theory that all of these TVs were made by the same Hong Kong factory that made the tiny Nativity sets that I showed you before Christmas, as the miniatures have many similarities.
The doll with the TVs is a 1972 SunSet Malibu PJ in 3486 O Boy Corduroy, also from 1972.  I've made up a little story about the picture I am showing you.

Sweater girls from all decades

Dance Club Devon, African-American Pizza Hut Skipper,
1970 redhead straight leg pink skin Skipper,
Share a Smile Becky, African-American Bathtime Fun Barbie,
1988 Caucasian Fun to Dress Barbie, Twist N Turn PJ
and All-American Kira all wear knitted accessories.

Unless you personally know the history of a knitted item of Barbie-size clothing, you will likely never know its age or maker.
I can tell you about five of the yarn pieces in this photo.  Pizza Hut Skipper and Fun to Dress Barbie wear Christmas tree ornament sweaters that were purchased sometime since 2000.  Straight leg Skipper wears a poncho and Becky wears a cap that were crocheted for my sisters' dolls by a neighbor in the early 1970s.   I knitted the tan scarf that Kira wears myself after I took a knitting class sometime in the 21st century and learned how to do the crossover stitches.
The others are a mystery and came with piles of used doll clothes that I bought over the years.  The caps that Devon and Fun to Dress Barbie wear are circles of corduroy that have a white knitted trim.  The blue items on PJ are a matched set--skirt, top, purse and cap.  I assume they are from the 1980s because jewel tones were popular that decade and sweater dresses were also popular.  They may have been hand-made.
I assume that the light blue tunic worn by Bathtime Fun Barbie is from the 1960s and was purchased.  Reasons?  The stitches are way too tiny and perfect to have been made by a human.  The other reason is that the sweater is actually wool and not worsted, and there aren't that many genuine wool Barbie-size outfits out there.  That sweater must itch like crazy!

Who knew that Aladdin celebrated Christmas?

An Arabian Santa Claus and Caucasian and African-American elves
show off a number of Nativity sets.
I hope I haven't offended anybody--that wasn't my intention!
I chose those particular dolls just because they were handy!

I don't know if this is the most politically correct Barbie photo I've ever taken or the most politically INcorrect.

The photo really isn't about the dolls--it's about the Nativity sets.  They were made in Hong Kong and sold by a company called Shiny Brite in the 1960s and 1970s.  They were a dime a dozen during those decades (alliteration!).  Now they are easy to find for sale on the Internet but are expensive.  Only occasionally do I find them for a small price at an actual event.

I became aware of these plastic manger scenes in the late 1960s and early 1970s when my sisters and I played with Barbie dolls.  The two tiny ones in front were the ones my family had, and I knew even then that they were Barbie-size (the term 1/6 scale didn't exist yet).  The five bigger creches were ones I found as an adult, at garage sales, antique shows and on the Internet.  Did you know that once upon a time you could buy replacement figures?  That's what's in the pink and white package.

Fast forward 50 years.  The most popular 1/6 scale Christmas ornaments of the 21st century are the little yarn sweaters that you can buy at many gift or specialty stores.  They even come with tiny hangers so that you can place them on the tree.  Although they are all "Barbie-size," the dolls cannot always wear them.  If you get one that is machine-knitted with tiny yarn and tiny knit stitches it will not stretch out and you won't be able to get it over either the doll's head or her hips and and arms.  You need to get the ones that are hand-knitted with bigger needles and stretchier yarn.

I wanted my dolls to show off my tiny Nativity collection because I bought all those crib sets with them in mind.  (See my previous story about my Barbie Christmas card--one of the photos includes the tiny triangular one.)  So I chose three dolls that were already semi-dressed appropriately for Christmas.

On the left is Magic Carpet Aladdin in a Santa Claus suit I purchased from the JC Penney catalog some time in the 1980s, plus the boots from 10742 City Cowboy Fashion with Hat N Boots.  Both the doll and the cowboy outfit are from 1994.  I had redressed Aladdin a long time ago in that outfit and chose him to wear the Santa suit because he already had on black boots.

I realize the character of Aladdin is probably Muslim.  But then I remembered that the original St. Nicholas was from Turkey, so he probably had Mediterranean or Semitic features anyway.

My Barbie is a Fun to Dress doll in the skirt and heels from 3310 West Side Look, both from 1988, plus an oversized which sweater with red hearts that matches the skirt.

Lastly is a 1995 African-American Pizza Hut Skipper in her original skirt, shoes and socks and another matching sweater that was probably machine-knitted but used larger needles.

Barbie house decorated for Christmas

"Brrr!  It's cold out here!  We're ready to come inside," yell Cheryl and PJ as they stand outside the Barbie Dream House

I made my own Christmas cards to send out this year.  Barbie, of course!

In January 2018, I decorated the 1978 orange, yellow and white Barbie Dream House with some of its furniture, plus a tree with trimmings and other small items I've accumulated over the years.   All the dolls and outfits in the house were from Mattel and made between 1978 and 1982.  Naturally, I took photos.

Everyone admires each other's outfits.
From left to right are
Barbie, Ken, Cheryl and PJ.

The dolls and outfits I used were:

1. Pretty Changes Barbie in 1010 Disco Dazzle, both from 1979

2. Hawaiian Ken in 2800 Blue Chip Dressing, both from 1979

3. Western Skipper from 1981 in 3781 Elegant from 1982

Pets are always ready
to help decorate for Christmas.

4. Sun Lovin' PJ from 1980 in 3787 Winter Sports from 1982 and a European Fur and Leather coat and skirt from 1980

5. TV's Star Woman Cheryl Ladd in Best Buy 2560, both from 1978

"We were supposed to
put the lights on the tree first,"
Kristy reminds Skipper.

6. Letitia "Buddy" Lawrence (Kristy McNichol) in her original outfit, from 1979

7. Barbie's Afghan hound Beauty from 1980

I bought the tree from a floral store in 2017. The gifts under the tree are boxes I've accumulated over the years; I think one of them held jewelry. The lights that Kristy and Skipper are holding are a battery-operated necklace which doesn't work anymore. I found the fireplace at a craft show years ago.

If you look closely you will find numerous old items: my sister found the Kings Island TV at a garage sale--the set dates from the early 70s; and the tiny Nativity in the triangular stable is from the late 60s and was my grandmother's. The clock on the chimney also dates from the early 1970s. It was actually a child's plastic fake watch with a holographic dial. I just cut off the band and glued the watch itself over the fireplace.

The oldest item were two ornaments that belonged to my father and were from the 1950s. There is a wooden barrel on the second floor, and you can kind of see a tan balsa birdhouse dangling from the tree.

I do not know the origins behind the barrel and the birdhouse. When I was a little girl I'd shake the barrel and hear something inside. I realize now that the barrel was a type of puzzle and there was probably a trick to open it. I never figured out the trick. I eventually just broke open the barrel and found the birdhouse inside. Even 40 years ago I wanted to use that birdhouse with my Barbie dolls and I finally found the ideal setting for it this year!

Items placed on etsy in December

Here are some items I've placed for sale on etsy in recent weeks:

sewing kits for fashion dolls
https://www.etsy.com/listing/652801092/sewing-kit-outfits-for-fashion-dolls?ref=shop_home_active_1

five cardboard jewelry gift boxes
https://www.etsy.com/listing/652738322/5-cardboard-jewelry-boxes-from-defunct?ref=shop_home_active_2

Mego Maddie Mod and Candi items
https://www.etsy.com/listing/650823024/mego-maddie-mod-2-sizes-candi-doll-items?ref=shop_home_active_3

Ideal Tuesday Taylor and Jody
https://www.etsy.com/listing/663708701/ideal-tuesday-taylor-and-jody-plus?ref=shop_home_active_4

Krementz gold rose clip earrings
https://www.etsy.com/listing/648506186/1960s-krementz-14k-gold-rose-clip?ref=shop_home_active_5

Mattel Hot Looks Super Accessory Tote NRFB
https://www.etsy.com/listing/662174553/1988-hot-looks-super-accessory-tote-nrfb?ref=shop_home_active_6