Barbie Rarities: The Dolls, The Costumes, Miscellany, An Identification and Value Guide

Barbie was America's coming of age in dolls. Since the Shirley Temple phenomenon some 25 years earlier, no doll had so captured the public imagination as Barbie in 1959. Yet while the Shirley Temple doll had been universally revered, Barbie was both revered and reviled. Shirley Temple was a child doll - sweet, innocent, a vestige of Victorian purity. Barbie was current, modern, a sophisticated almost-adult and - in the conservative late 1950's - shockingly bizarre to many adults. Her make-up, her eyes and that incredible body! But the times were ready for Barbie. While adults argued pro and con about this provocative doll, children already knew. Barbie was an idea whose time had come. Barbie Rarities presents 900 rare and vintage Barbie dolls, Barbie family dolls, fashions, gift sets, accessories and cases from 1959-1976 with an additional special section on rare models of 'pink boxed' 1980-era Barbies as well as foreign models. 216 pages. Full Color, 350 color illustrations. Value guide included.