Barbie and Ken's Little Theatre and Beyond

The end of November draws near.  What a wonderful last two months it's been for me!  And I have every intention to keep the Zen and contentment flowing through December.  Thanksgiving was filled with treasured friends and savory foods and the very next day, the tree went up.  Lights, camera, action!  

It seems that the 'bers fly by faster every year.  As long as I'm doing what I love and doing it all the time, the hours will pass with pleasure.  I am almost done with Cissy's latest outfit.  It seems I'm slave to detail and that means everything must be perfect down to the buttons and smallest accessory.  These are currently enroute via Etsy sellers and as soon as they arrive, and get used, a super fun post will come your way.  Cissy's pre-Christmas post?

And this is one that has been in the making for a little over a year.

I'd finally found the perfect Barbie and Ken's Little Theatre to purchase and although it cost me a small fortune, I didn't hesitate.  I never knew these existed as child, so when I found out about them, I was ever on the lookout for one.  I had seen the Little Theatre fashion gift set once at a doll show in Roseville, CA, and they wanted $1000 for it.  Pass.  That was many years ago, and while rare, I would have wanted to open it up and play with it, but as you'll see in the photo below, it didn't even have Red Riding Hood and the wolf hood in it.  What a wonderful gift for an imaginative child though!  Well, that child is me.  Just an old one.

After I purchased it, I was scared to death to assemble it.  Old cardboard can have a lot of problems including mold, warping, being brittle, and old cardboard also doesn't allow tape to adhere to it.  So mending such a structure is almost impossible.  This one didn't need any mending until I set it up.  The stage was warped and when I tried to press it down to straighten it...well, we won't 

talk about that.  The curtain had been hung, which was nice and as soon as I set it up, I knew it would be up in the Dream House's space for a long time.  

Barbie and Ken's Little Theatre debuted in stores in 1964.  There just isn't a lot of information on the set save for the details of what it contained.  Assembly instructions, seven sets of tickets, a Play Book with seven plays to perform, double-sided back drops and side panels and of course, cardboard furniture.  For many of us today, the most beautiful thing about these structures is the artwork.  However, how these were constructed to unfold and fold back up was genius.

The gift set included two dolls, Barbie and Ken dressed in Arabian Nights.  King Arthur and Guinevere was on the left and Cinderella and the Prince was on the right.  Can you just imagine receiving both the theatre and the gift set for Christmas?!  To die for!

As we read along on this post, please note that many of these images are from Ebay auctions from the past.  Images of the gift set are.

Close up of dolls.

I have no idea how or why I found this on Ebay, but someone had miniaturized both the Dream House, which I bought, and the Little Theatre, which was purchased earlier...or I would have nabbed it, too.  How on earth they miniaturized such a large cardboard toy, I will never know.  They must have used a professional scanner to do this at some graphic arts company.  It is still my dream to have a mini version like this for Skipper's Dream Room.

I remember asking the artist about it, and she merely said it was sold.  Period.  I asked her if she could make another, and I never heard back.  So, there you go.  

Inside were little paper dolls of the actors dressed up in costume.  And all the tiny cardboard furniture down to the minute detail.  This is a miniaturist's dream!

These beautifully illustrated booklets came with the costume sets.  For Ken's costume, his illustration would be in the front.  Who was the artist?  Incredible talent.  As a child I would want my doll to move like this, but of course Barbie is stiff as she can be.  Easy to dress, certainly.

Darling Cinderella tries on the glass slipper and is whisked away to her happily ever after!

As a collector, these paper pieces, including any paper piece in the costume sets, are very difficult to find in mint condition.  This is part of being a vintage Barbie collector.  The hunt for complete and mint.  Sometimes, bit by bit.

The photo on the left here is from Marl B. Davidson's bible, Barbie Structures and Furniture.  The quilted bed works on stage easily for both Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.  The throne works beautifully for Cinderella and the straight-backed chair and low table work for all the sets except for The Arabian Nights.  

This naturally allows a child with an imagination to fill the theatre up with her own pieces for the play.

The next two photos came from the auction I purchased my theatre from.  The only complaint I have is for the artist who did not provide two trees.  There is only one side tree printed with spring on one side, autumn on the other.  Someday, if I find  just this piece for sale, I'll purchase it, so I have trees on both sides of the stage.  Always thinking ahead!

The flip sides of the first set.

Earlier this month, I happened upon an absolute, uncut, and mint condition Barbie's Costume Dolls paper doll set.  Didn't think twice about hitting the BIN button.  I love them!  Skipper's even in them and has a page boy paper doll costume for Camelot, and they made her a poor Cinderella costume, which you can see on the book's cover.

A dressing table for Barbie.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp's genie.

Grandmother's cottage for Little Red Riding Hood.

A dressing table for Ken.  The paper dolls included Midge and Allen as well as Skipper.

The paper dolls were produced in 1964, the same year as Barbie and Ken's Little Theatre.

It was my intention to set up and photograph all the scenes with the dolls dressed in costume, then share them with you all together.  I would keep the scenes up for a few months just to enjoy, then change them out.  Then a little miracle happened.

The first set up was Cinderella and the Prince.  I chose for the backdrop, the palace interior while they dance at the ball.  

Barbie's dress came in two styles.  The silver design you see on this gown was the first and rarest to find in minty condition.  The second version had silver scrolls, but this one is divine.  I have both.

For spring I changed the stage to The Arabian Nights, which happens to be my favorite.  The artwork on the sets is gorgeous with the voluminous silk drapery.

If I didn't mention this, don't think I did, I had been collecting all the costumes over several years, and of course, only ones in the finest condition.

Later in spring I set up Camelot.  From the Lerner and Lowe musical, I loved the scene where Arthur meets Guinevere for the first time in the woods.  This stage scene may not be winter, but it was born of that memory.  You can see the spring tree on the right.

Summer brought Little Red Riding Hood to the stage.  This is the inside of Grandmother's home.  Ken wears a hunter's outfit made from several Ken pieces and is seen with the head of the wolf.  Hey!  I didn't write the story.  Granny is nowhere to be found.  Maybe she's off in the kitchen having some of that wine Red brought with her.  I know I would after such an ordeal.

Then the magic happened.

Fall came and I was out of ideas.  Not!  I'd just gifted Barbie's Campus and was missing it when I got the idea of setting up the Little Theatre as a campus play.  With a backdrop made from the box the reproduction dolls came in, I set up a street scene where Barbie and Ken could lead the parade for the upcoming football season.  Skipper and Scooter got to watch the parade.  I added little pumpkins for a feel for fall.

That wasn't enough.  I had to make a Halloween set to showcase Barbie, Ken and Skipper's Masquerade costumes.  I used the backdrop of the castle in the dark, then added a tiny haunted house, pumpkins and a ghostly tree.  You could say it was a 

"Halloween pageant".  I decorated the front of the theatre with vintage die cut Beistle cut outs.

Halloween over, the theatre begged for more, so I set up a Thanksgiving pageant.  

Here, Barbie and Ken spend the weekend setting things up and making sure everything is perfect for the children's play and pageant.  Soft sculpture pumpkins and fall leaves have now graced the front to the stage.  The autumn tree (flip side of spring) is seen on the right.  There's a big turkey in the back, and a long table to feast at for the children.

Kelly, Kerstie and Tommy are in Thanksgiving costumes.  I think Target must have sold these, but I bought mine on Ebay.  Ken is in the wings encouraging the children out to the stage, and Barbie is directing from the seating.

By the time Thanksgiving was near, I knew exactly what I was going to do for December and Christmas.

One of Barbie's first outfits was a ballet costume with a silver bodice and while tulle tutu with flowers tucked between the layers.

It was a Sugar Plum Fairy costume for the Nutcracker.  Never in a million years when I bought this costume, did I envision being able to put on the actual ballet on a beautiful stage.

I knew this would be the piece de resistance to end a full year with the Little Theatre.

I have two Skipper outfit collections.  One is from the early 1960s and the other is the Mod era.  This little green nightgown would make a lovely outfit for Clara (or Marie in some versions).  I bought a little sleigh for her to arrive in the Land of the 

Sugar Plum Fairy and decorated the stage with a garland of cupcakes (that I've had for years) in front of the Arabian Nights backdrop.  A Radko floral garland graces the front of the theatre.  Pink berries and ornament balls are tucked here and there are large green candy twists are in front.  Old World Christmas mini peppermints hang from the flower garland.  

Ken is the director and shows the program for the Nutcracker Ballet.

The full stage close up.

Skipper as Clara.  The Nutcracker Prince is off in the wings.  I'll bet I could get a Ricky for the job, but then I'd need a costume for him.  Just thought of that.  That's how my busy little mind works.

I'm delighted to be able to share all of this with you, and if you have the Little Theatre, I hope it helps you come up with plays and scenes of your own.  I've had an idea for one play that may never get done because I need a special back drop.  I won't give it away because I haven't given up on the idea yet.  You just never know what will surface in a search.  

What of the Little Theatre after New Year's Eve?   I'll think on that when the time comes.  I've had a lot of fun these past months making more of this toy than I would have imagined.  School stages were used for multipurpose events.  Choirs sang on them, concerts were held on them, graduations were commenced on them.  Endless possibilities with a little imagination.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing what I did with the Little Theatre this past year.

Now back to darling Cissy!

Enjoy this beautiful holiday season!, Melissa

 

Time Warp to the 1970's for Grace and Dolly

I have mixed feelings about the 1970s.  Anyone who knew me back then would understand why.  Some points in history should remain where they are, and others, the brightest memories of those years are sometimes encouraged to shine another day.

I began high school in 1971 and these would be some of the most difficult years for me, as well as the years that established who I would become in the future.  While I tried many different dresses on and wore many hats, I identify with the 70s more than any other decade.  I've been watching members of Club Grace post photos of their dolls in the latest offering of the subscription, and there is no more defining determination of where these collectors were at in those days, than how they've created pieces to go with this costume or how they've photographed their doll. 

A large part of what defined this decade for me was the music. 

1974 debuted Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark and it was my favorite album that year.  We were still spinning vinyl records and they were treasures.  Tower Records made money hand over fist selling every kind of album imaginable, and if you were planning on going to a concert, Tower was the place to buy your tickets at their Ticket Master booth.

People who didn't live through these years will try to define them by what they've read from people who didn't live those years.  And that is how history is written.  If I were to tell you all I knew of the 1970s, we'd be here a week.  But what I can tell you is that it was different for everyone.  Fashion was all over the place, and not at all.  As one person put it, "Today's passion for slow fashion and repurposing, has its roots in the 70s."

The people I hung out with went to arts and crafts fairs in Santa Cruz, where long haired guys in Renaissance clothing, sold mandalas, and feather and abalone jewelry, while the braless women dressed in lace and long skirts, sold handmade clothing like they wore.  Heart's Little Queen album cover says it all.  We dressed up in this and that and bought vintage clothing from the 20s-40s and paired it with jeans skirts and platform shoes.  We dressed like gypsies and nouveau Renaissance maidens.  We wore floppy hats and spent as much time barefoot as we did in clogs and granny boots.

We wore feathers and shells and leather pieces in our hair and ears that were now multi-pierced.  We dabbed our skin with scented oils and learned to read the Tarot.  We studied New Age.

One of my first real jobs was working at CreCol (Creative Colors), a company that made latigo leather tooled purses, like the one above.  I learned the trade from the bottom up and could ruby edge tool with the best of them.  I wish I remembered how to braid those purse straps, but I remember everything else about the processes from dying to air brush to gloss finishes.  The man I dated at the time, strung the gussets to the flaps and this was how I got hired at the company.  

At any rate, the 70s would have a defining impact on anyone who lived through them.  As far a music goes, it was all over the place as much as our clothing was.  It was a decade of great variety.  Hard rock got harder, soft rock got softer, and artists frustrated with the standard musical forms, tossed them aside and started their own.  For fans of such new forms as funk, this innovation was wonderful.  Others simply hated the new music.  Groups formed to express their hatred of disco, and some thought that punk culture was a sign of the downfall of

civilization.  Music defined who we were and who we hung out with.  We looked forward to going to rock concerts as they were a great social event.  You'd spend the entire day going to one, being present, then leaving.  San Fransico gave us Day on the Green concerts and I don't believe I missed any of them.

As for trying to define fashion in the 70's, several distinctions have been made.  The 60s were full of bold colors, prints, and color blocking.  Mini skirts were especially popular along with the psychedelic fashion and space age inspired looks.

The 70s casual attire consisted of a lot of wide and flowy designs in skirts and pants, particularly bell bottoms.  Flare sleeves and maxi dresses and skirts were perfectly paired with platforms, clogs and granny boots.  On the other hand, the later disco fashion was full of plunging v necks and lots of sequins and glitter.

For this month's Club Grace, I took a step back into what I believed the best way to time warp into that decade.  Grace's dress was such a surprise to me.  I liked it.  It could be dressed up with vests or jewelry, boots or the great platforms that Rachel had made for the subscription.  I chose to make Grace jewelry like I wore.  Heishi beads and turquoise were very popular, so I found teeny tiny heishi and made her a necklace and bracelet. 

For her hair, I made a leather thong that laced together with suede string.  Dangling from the ends are a feather and a shell.  Keeping these in thin hair was out of the question, so some women braided their hair and laced one of these around the braid.  

Dolly dresses in a jeans skirt.  This is what we called them.  Not denim skirts.  More typical was the split jeans skirt which was made from a pair of very old and worn-out jeans.  The inner leg seams were cut out and filled with a variety of fabrics to create a v-shaped quilt.  Lace and appliques and embroidery covered areas of these skirts as well.  Pair it with a crop top or peasant top and you were set to go.  I made Dolly a laced-up suede cropped shirt since it is November, and she would want to stay warm while she works on her macrame.   Scarves were popular, whether wrapped around your torso as a skimpy top, or in your hair or around your head gypsy style. 

Below are album covers of some of my favorite music of the day.  I still listen to this music, but the 90s would issue in a new love of music with smooth jazz and new age.  I've always loved music and at one time would only date musicians.  I have to laugh because I ended up with an engineer with a degree from MIT and a business degree from Stanford.  This was how many of us changed.  Let's face it.  The 70s were about rebellion and fun times.  Like I said early on, it would take a week to describe all that I knew of the 70s but it is in the past and should remain there.  We didn't call our style boho back then, but this is how I dress today with a bit more subtlety.

This month's Club Grace took my memory down many dusty roads like the one American sang about.  But now it's time to think about Thanksgiving and the grand finale month, December.  I'm working on something special for Cissy and hope to have it done this coming week. 

Wishing you the best of the Thanksgiving holiday!  Melissa 

Grace in silver hoops, beads and leather.

Peter Frampton at Day on the Green

This is a purse I could have made.

Album cover for In Good Graces

 

Emily's Dennison's Bogie Book Costume

We finally got our first cold snap of the season two days ago!  The past few days have been extraordinarily pretty, with days in the high 60s, bright sunshine, blue skies, and leaves changing color everywhere.  The full moon on the pre-night was as glorious as any harvest moon rising I've seen in the best of the past.  It's been an incredible October for me.  My gratitude is abundant, but I also know that staying as inspired and busy as I've been attributes much to my serenity.   And then there's Halloween.  My very favorite time of year.  The second month of the 'bers.  Summer is but a distant memory now.  I never dwell on the recent past.  There's just too much life to live in this very moment.  

I finally named her.  My 1470.  Funny, but while I tried to make her one outfit, I just wasn't into it.  Kitty Hudson's another story.  She's my little muse.  What I wanted was to buy all of Doug James's costuming for my 1470, but when they started those Zoom meetings, they sold the clothing 

immediately concluding the meeting.  And they flew.  It hurt.  I don't Zoom.  I'm terribly self-conscious and it seems rude to silhouette yourself on a Zoom meeting.  You're either in or out.  Maybe someday I'll change my mind in the future, but I'm a serious introvert and hate photos of myself and being on video.  All that said, Emily's Dennison's Bogie Book costume would be the perfect share on one of Doug's Zoom meetings.  But I'll stick to my blog and Facebook.

After finishing Dolly's scarecrow costume to go with Grace's Halloween hayride (or western) theme, I had to take a few days to do things around the house.  Wednesday came along, and I knew it was either do or die.  So, I got busy.  Real busy.  

First, I had to find a costume to make Emily.  Her name came to me while I was sewing this costume.

It was easy to remember (that's half of it), and she just looked like an Emily to me.  So, Emily she is!

I don't know why I chose this costume out of so many, but here's a guess.  Maybe the hat reminded me of the Polichinelle costumes I made for Louise and Lawrence.  Seems reasonable.  And I'd made dresses with lappets before, so perhaps I thought this would be easy.  And I love the pom-poms.  It's a sweet costume.

It's funny, but when people were dressing in crepe paper costumes for Halloween back in the 1920s, they were simply Halloween themed.  Today we dress as ghosts, witches, vampires, bugs, animals, horror movie characters, and so on.  Quite a change!  I haven't done research on this, but my guess is that the availability of masks in the 50's and 60's and pre-made boxed costumes had something to do with it.  And it just occurred to me that this is a Polichinelle costume!  Yes.  This is why I chose it.  I've done it before.

Emily's costume is once again, completely made from silk.  I do love working with silk.  I appreciate the crispness and shine and flexibility of the fabric.  

The dress boasts five lappets generously appliqued with pumpkin head characters and little bats.  Lots of tinsel black pom-poms.  And black shoes with black pom-poms on them.

The shoulder bow-sash adds interest to the rather plain bodice of the dress.

Oh!  The bodice.  Okay.  I had to make this three times.  I forget how sloped this doll's shoulders are.  When designing the pattern, the shoulder seams must slope down at an angle.  This isn't so important for sleeved dresses, but with a sleeveless top, it's a must.

I didn't mention this before with Kitty Hudson's costume, but I've added black netting to the inside of the skirt at the waist, like a sewn in slip, to give the skirt an opportunity to puff out.  I think it's a nice touch. 

I also had to resew the skirt to the bodice three times.  This is a lot of extra work when you're in a time crunch.  Why?  Because I was trying to exact the look of the illustration by making the bodice longer.  Well, guess what?  That illustration is of a girl with a very long waistline.  It is NOT easy translating an illustration to a costume.  No matter how often I do this, it never gets easy.  I never do the same thing twice, so there's something new to learn each time I start a project.

The appliques took just as long as the body of the costume.  Where on earth was I going to find an image that looked like what the illustrator scribbled on the lappets?  I must have spent a good six hours or longer looking for the right image.

 

I studied the little characters over and over again under my magnifying lamp, and finally realized that these were pumpkin head bogies.  The bats were easy to figure out.  And guess where I found the pumpkin head bogies?  On an old scrap of Dennison's crepe paper!  see below   I was thrilled.  But then I had to figure out how to make them.  

They weren't simple black silhouettes like Kitty's cats.  Nope.  These were colorful.  Heather suggested that I paint them.  Ever put wet paint to silk?  Try it sometime.  This would have been a mess.

It took a long evening and a "sleep on it" to figure out that they would have to be done in three stages.  Itty bitty pumpkin heads.  I think they turned out cute, but I need a serious rest from this tiny, fiddly work.  

I didn't have to make the shoes like I did with Kitty's costume.  I had a pair of 1470 shoes, and I removed the bow, painted them black, Mod Podged them with gloss, then assembled the pom-poms on them.  So, they're not the same as the ones in the illustration.  Big deal.  A girl in the 1920's would use what she had on hand, and that's what Emily did.

Emily's hat took a couple of whacks as well.  This was one of the things that kept me busy.  All the rework.  However, I spent the entire day, Saturday, until 10:30pm working on this costume.  The last thing to be made was the shoulder bow-sash, and I did that this morning.  

I finished the costume in time to take a breath and enjoy the last two days to Halloween doing nothing but reading my horror books and watching horror movies.  And enjoying my dolls.

It was a busy month.  Esme got me started with her pumpkin costume.  Followed by Kitty Hudson's kitty costume.  Then there was the Club Grace Dolly Dingle costume, and finally something for Emily.  I wanted to make one of Ann Estelle's costumes drawn by Mary Engelbreit, but that will have to wait.  

One thing I never shared with you was Gracie's second crepe paper lantern.  Last year I had just enough time to make her the pumpkin one, but after Halloween I forged ahead and made the owl lantern.  I've shared a photo of this below.  I also love photos of the costume in progress.  So, I took one for you.  My poor work surface grows smaller and smaller with all the this-n-that I need while making these costumes.  Included in these photos is one of a vintage box to start your decorating that Kitty and Emily might have picked up on their way home from work.  A fun page from a Bogie Book.  And a real crepe paper dress that lasted the ages!  Wow.  Love this.  I also included this photo of someone's vintage inspired Halloween collection.  The shelf was beautifully done.  And now I'm off to sit back and enjoy the day in a quiet way.

Happy Halloween!  Enjoy every minute of every day!

Melissa

Work surface, work in progress.

Dennison's crepe paper

Party Starter

The illustrations are worth it!

The real deal.

Gracie's Owl lantern.

Esme

Dolly and Remmie Lou

Kitty Hudson

Fabulous for next year!

A collector's great shelf.

Happy Halloween from Emily