I think the movies Toy Story and Toy Story 2 being played on loop for about 2 weeks straight at my house has made me reminisce about my childhood toys. You know that flashback scene in Toy Story 2 where Jessie is telling Woody about her owner, Emily, who grows up ends up putting her in a box and leaving her as a donation at some collection site? GAH! The tears! I see that scene and my heart feels so heavy thinking about my Barbies and Cabbage Patch Kids and Melissa, my baby with an inexplicable plastic butt, just sitting in a box somewhere in my parent’s basement waiting to be loved again.
So anyway, this post isn’t supposed to be a downer. I’ve either made you really sad or you’re thinking that I’m a bit off my rocker. I really just wanted to talk about the dolls you played with growing up. First I’ll tell you about mine, then you can tell me about yours! And then we’ll brush each other’s hair and paint our nails with sparkly pink polish! Won’t this be fun!
I had a giant basket full of Barbies, hitting pay dirt when I got a bunch of hand-me-down Barbies. One of the inherited Barbies was actually not a Mattel Barbie, but an off-brand Barbie with swivel scalp. One side was blond and with a simple twist of her scalp you could make her a brunette. YES, TOTALLY CREEPY. I always pretended she was evil and trying to steal Barbie’s husband (or boyfriend, depending on that day’s storyline).
Speaking of Barbie’s husband/boyfriend, I never did have a hunky Ken, I had one with a crazy mess of black hair and Miami Vice like white suit. He did drive a pretty rad purple Corvette and a giant yellow RV. So he had that going for him, I can see Barbie’s attraction.
One of my favorite Barbies had to be Skipper, mine even had TAN LINES under her teal bikini! Hello inappropriate! I also loved my cowgirl Barbie who wore blue eyeshadow and winked if you pushed a button on her back. She had a droopy eyelid because of her winking, but I thought it made her look mysterious. She looked so beautiful in her fringed black and white cowgirl pantsuit and cowboy boots, with her perfectly feathered bangs. Really classy!
I used to love giving my Barbies names like Lisa, Tracy, Belinda, or Sonja with a “j”. They were always taking turns kissing and laying under the covers with Ken and then getting pregnant. On a possibly related note, I watched a lot of General Hospital growing up.
As much as I loved Barbie and all her (s)e(x)scapades with Ken and Skipper and the evil lady with two-tone hair, I also loved my Cabbage Patch Kids. I’m pretty sure that neither of my CPKs were acquired after a long wait in an elbow stabby line or for an inflated price. Their names were Deidre Aggie and Karin Dodi. I never changed their names because it just seemed wrong to me since that what was written on their birth certificates. The claim that you could change their names and get a new birth certificate by notifying Xavier Roberts or one of his minions at the Cabbage Patch Hospital seemed like a shady deal. I didn’t want to risk a name change for my girls and then have no PROOF of their actual name. (My loathing and mistrust of red tape and bureaucracies obviously started at an early age.) Also, Deidre and Karin were actually pretty good names considering some of the atrocious names given to my friends’ CPKs.
I really loved the whole romanticism behind CPKs and how they came from a “real” hospital and that you “really” adopted them. Children from a cabbage patch! So that’s where babies come from!
I do still keep in touch with one of my dolls. Technically Lillian is a Puffalump. She sat on my bed until I got married. Now Lillian lives in Ella’s room where I like to think of her as the Woody of Ella’s toys.
I could never put her in a donation box and abandon her!
Leslie
Twitter: mymommysplace
November 24, 2009 at 1:51 am
I had a Puffalump! Oh, the memories!
I loved Barbies. I had a Ken, but also a tall black haired doll that had been my mother’s when she was a kid. I called him Dr. John and I guess he was a love doctor, because he stole all my Barbies away from Ken by coming to ask for a cup of sugar, then kissing them until they put on his oversize shirt. Of course, Ken would come knocking and my Barbie would answer the door in Dr. John’s shirt leaving Ken broken-hearted.
I had a cabbage patch doll named Glory Ann. I also had a Koosa – remember those?
Leslie´s last blog ..Happy Birthday, Dad
Ness at Drovers Run
November 24, 2009 at 7:23 am
I have 7 original My Little Pony’s with the grooming parlour and the show stable. Still in the original boxes (not new but very, very loved) in the top of my cupboard, for the little girl, that I will never have. Two boys. I can’t give them away either…
Annie
November 24, 2009 at 7:25 am
This will either make YOU very sad or you’ll think I’M nuts – but I was so not into dolls when I was young. I had them, and all the cribs, prams, clothes etc – but I never played with them for long – and I never, ever gave a doll a name! I just didn’t ‘get it’ – I guess my imagination took a while to take off or something. I was more of a tom boy and preferred setting up garages with my brothers and their hot wheels! By the time I had a sister old enough to play with dolls, I was way past that stage.
My daughter? Total girly girl – has many ‘babies’ that she tucks into bed, feeds, dresses, and names
Heather, Queen of Shake Shake
November 24, 2009 at 7:48 am
I never had a Cabbage Patch doll or a Puffalump. My parents were so cruel.
Heather, Queen of Shake Shake´s last blog ..A Dictionary Ate Me Alive: My Road to Being Published
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
November 24, 2009 at 7:54 am
Leslie, I don’t remember a koosa…going to google it now!
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
November 24, 2009 at 7:55 am
Annie, Ella is completely disinterested in dolls, too! That’s why I allow Lillian to stay in her room.
I was really into cars as a kid, too. I guess I was a girly girl with some tomboy mixed in.
Laura
November 24, 2009 at 8:29 am
That two toned hair doll with the swivel/twisty head was a Tiffany Tuesday doll. I had her gigantic head- beauty parlor style and I would fix her hair,…The movie scene that KILLS me is when Mulan returns with the medal and the sword,..and her daddy tosses em both aside and gives HER a big hug,….tears EVERY.TIME.
LauraC
Twitter: lauracase
November 24, 2009 at 9:36 am
I completely forgot about puffalumps but as soon as I saw the picture, it all came rushing back to me.
My barbies used to shower in the barbie RV with Ken.
Have you ever read the A M Homes short story “A Real Doll”? It is a cult classic. This girl has a bunch of barbies and her brother starts dating barbie. For reals. I don’t want to ruin the story but it was clearly written by someone who played a ton of barbies growing up. Definitely worth checking the book (Safety of Objects) out at the library just to read this story.
LauraC´s last blog ..The one where I demonstrate that 3 year olds are jerks
annettek
November 24, 2009 at 9:51 am
I admit it, that scene makes me cry every time. And now I’m wondering whatever happened to my puffalump…
Heather
November 24, 2009 at 10:46 am
I still have my puffalump, since I have all boys they aren’t allowed to play with her.
Heather´s last blog ..The Farm
Domestic Extraordinaire
Twitter: DExtraordinaire
November 24, 2009 at 11:07 am
I had a crazy haired CPK named Fara-her ponytail stuck straight up. I also think that my mom nearly went to jail fighting another lady for it. or so its been rumored. I still have her upstairs in our attic. I had all the My little ponies and Barbies-dueling parenting meant I got a lot of duplicates, but I wasn’t upset. Those were all lost to my mom’s roof leak of 96-so sad.
I also had the Rainbow Brite stuffed people and the horse. I have no idea what happened to those. I think I may still have Rainbow Brite.
Domestic Extraordinaire´s last blog ..Fun on a Sunday with a Giveaway
Misty
November 24, 2009 at 11:18 am
I have a puffalump tooooooo! She is a white moo-cow and her name is Marshmallow.
And I won’t ever give her away either…
Misty´s last blog ..Brightly
Sarah the SIL
November 24, 2009 at 11:53 am
I was a big fan of Barbie. The scandalous story lines I created would make a great soap. I also enjoyed My Little Pony…you’re fave. Let’s not forget Strawberry Shortcake. Before she became the prostitot she is today.
Trenches of Mommyhood
Twitter: sarahviz
November 24, 2009 at 1:15 pm
We are eerily similar – I had the blue Puffalump! And my Cabbage Patch was Tay Georgina. She had pink glasses.
Trenches of Mommyhood´s last blog ..Me=Dinosaur
Natalie
November 24, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Jennifer, I love this post! I too went back in time. My CPKs were Ertha Kirsten, Rich Errol, Timothy Bailey, and a weird looking CPK Pet which was a peach-colored cat named, Mitch. So random. My favorite doll came from my dad’s Ace Hardware Store (also very random) and her name was Martha. She is now old and decrepit and if Sarah so much as touches it, I’m scared she will fall apart. She is JUST now starting to be interested in dolls (she is almost five) so there is still hope.
all things BD
November 24, 2009 at 2:22 pm
I was not into dolls much at all growing up. However, I did have a Bionic Woman doll, which had removable bionic chips in her bionic appendages. That was awesome.
I later joined her fan club, but when the package arrived with a scandalous pic of Lindsey Wagner showing a wee bit of cleavage, I resigned my membership in protest. I was an odd child. Ask my mom.
all things BD´s last blog ..Because I’m So Far Behind On Posting I Can’t Stand It Anymore
rabbi's wife
November 24, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I was really in to My little pony (I think I ended up with more than 40) and Strawberry shortcake. I had 2 CPKs also, both redheads, Emmy Lou and Joyvita Anna. on the next trip to the states, the MLP’s are coming back to Israel, for sure! Shevy got a knock-off one for her birthday and looooves it!
rabbi’s wife´s last blog ..Living with terrorism.
Susan
November 24, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I had a SUITCASE full of barbies, the huge dream house, the purple corvette, oh my goodness–fun times! I had the droopy-eyed cowgirl, too! I was never into dolls, but I played with Barbies until I was way too old; I used my younger sister as an excuse. I only had boy cousins, so we played with the Luke Skywalker “doll” with my Barbies. The good old days . . .
Michelle
November 24, 2009 at 10:01 pm
My sister was a barbie girl. I was a lot more in love with my cabbage patch kids. I had one that you could pretend crimp and curl her hair. That was my favorite.
Katie
November 24, 2009 at 10:08 pm
I had the same cowgirl Barbie and the Skipper. Also CPK, but I did change one of their names b/c it was Leona Beverly and that was not appealing to the 7 year old me. (or now for that matter) And Puffalumps too. I have my CPK and my mom has all my Barbies. My daughter plays with them when we visit.
Katie´s last blog ..Dippity Do!!!
Letterhead Printing
November 24, 2009 at 10:50 pm
So it’s not only me. I miss my Barbies also. I love shopping clothes and shoes for them. It’s fun to look back at those memories again.
kari
November 25, 2009 at 1:12 am
My husband wasn’t so found of the puffalump sleeping with us once we got married – but it will never go away. (Yours looks like it is in much better shape than mine)
Jem, Conveyancing Programmer
November 25, 2009 at 7:59 am
We don’t have thanksgiving in the UK. And im kind of sad about that as this seems like an amazing holiday which brings families together and all sit down and eat.
The only holiday we have like this is Christmas which sometimes can get overshadowed by the stress of shopping and buying presents for each other.
Dana
November 25, 2009 at 4:13 pm
this is so RAD!
I had a WILD Puffalump that I named Ted. He was a blue elephant with RAD sunglasses!!! 
the only thing that keeps coming to my head is that NO ONE EVER KNOWS what a Puffalump is when we are reminiscing!!!
And a Fluppy Dog. He was a dog with yarn hair. So great.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dana´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: Channeling Al Bundy
Sheri
November 30, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I popped over from MckMama’s blog to read your Not Me Monday for 11/30 and kept on reading. This post cracked me UP! Dang, you’re funny girlfriend
Karen Hartzell, Graco
November 30, 2009 at 11:36 pm
So now I have to go dig out my puffalump cow. If she made it through college with me, she should certainly meet my 5 yo DD.
SO many memories that made me smile. Thanks! Not a downer at all for me.
Karen Hartzell, Graco´s last blog ..Graco and Target – Great Deals This Holiday Season!
Kristin
December 4, 2009 at 11:20 pm
My mom had a Skipper doll that if you turned her arm, she grew taller and her boobs got bigger. How’s that for inappropriate?
Jennifer
Twitter: playgroupie
December 7, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Kristin, I have a vague recollection of this doll…hadn’t thought of it in years. My goodness, yes, INAPPROPRIATE!
Stassja
December 19, 2009 at 2:42 am
Ohhhh I love this subject! I too had a puffalump. I probably still have it somewhere.
I know exactly what you mean with toy guilt, I was that way with my stuffed animals and to this day it still bugs me to see them being beat on. I have a number of “imperfect” stuffed animals that I had picked up in the store, and before I left I noticed the crooked eye or nose but couldn’t bear to put the animal back for a different one! So much guilt, so little time.
So yes, I was a stuffed animal fiend. I would stay up late in the dark and make up little soap operas of what puppy married which and so on. I still have two large storage bins in my sons room full of them, and about 15 mid-large ones on his floor. There are only a few that went by the wayside; when my parents had a rat in the garage that ate into the boxes and chewed some up and peed/poo’d on them.
I had one barbie, and almost no clothes for her. She was basically always naked and her head came off. We would cram it back on and go about our business. My little brother had an unnatural fear of barbies that I exploited mercilessly, placing it across the doorway to our room to keep him out, or hanging it (headless) in the closet and then telling him to open it. My parents joined in on the fun by laying it in front of the VCR to dissuade him from pressing buttons. LOL.
Stassja´s last blog ..Dorian’s birth
Graco Heart to Heart Blog - Monthly Nods – December
December 29, 2009 at 6:50 am
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