The Barbie movie is here and the whole world seems to be going Barbie crazy! I will be honest, I’m pretty excited for this film as a long time fan & collector of the doll. I have vivid memories in the 1980s as a little girl playing with my peaches & cream Barbie (my fav) and dreaming of owning the barbie convertible (I got the motorhome..thanks mom and dad!). So I will be seeing the movie.

For today’s post, I’m doing an overview of fun vintage Barbie commericals and advertising from the 1960s.

Let the Barbie party begin!

(P.S. Sorry for the delay on a new post, I was in Vietnam and Japan for 3 weeks and just got back)

1960s Barbie Commercials & Print Ads

Brief History Lesson of Barbie

In March 1959, a doll named “Barbie” launched onto the American toy market, sporting a black-and-white striped bathing suit, pouty red lips and a sassy blonde ponytail. The leggy, 11-inch plastic figure—full name: Barbara Millicent Roberts—was the first mass-produced toy doll in the U.S. with adult features. She would go on to become one of the most iconic playthings in history.

Barbie was the brainchild of Ruth Handler, co-founder (with her husband Elliot) of the toy company Mattel, Inc. Inspired by watching their daughter play with make-believe paper dolls of adult women, Handler realized there was an unfilled niche in the market for a toy that allowed little girls to imagine the future.

Barbie’s appearance was modeled after a doll named the Bild Lilli, which had been inspired by a German comic-strip character. Originally marketed as a racy gag gift that men could buy in tobacco shops, the Lilli doll later became extremely popular with children. Mattel bought the rights to Lilli, and Handler created her own version .

Barbie’s on-again, off-again longtime boyfriend, Ken Carson, was introduced two years after Barbie in 1961. Ken was named after Ruth Handler’s son (Source).

1959 barbie in the iconic black and white bathing suit

1959 vintage ad for Barbie as seen in the LA Times.

This is the first Barbie commercial that first aired during Mickey Mouse Club!

(video link)

“Meet Tv’s Barbie & Ken’. 1962 Sears Wishbook catalog page.

Source: wishbookweb.com

Dress like your favourite Barbie, drink tea with her image and even play the Barbie game.

Another page from the 1962 Sears wishbook.

Source: wishbookweb.com

This is the commercial for when Barbie & friends first got bendable legs from the 1960s.

(video link)

“Barbie is back from another great year! With more new costumes!

Fantastic 60’s ad featuring Barbie’s iconic Mermaid black dress (plus other stylish outfits & gift set paks).

Source: Pinterest

1963 Barbie and Ken Comic Book. “Join Barbie and Ken on their brand new fun adventures”.

I love Barbie’s dress!

Source: Comic Book Plus

1960s vintage ad for Carnation Malted Milk ad with Barbie and Midge, 1964.

Further Reading: Vintage Recipes from 1940s & 1950s Carnation Milk Advertisements

Source: Pinterest

Vintage Barbie Commercials from the 60s – Part 1.

(video link)

Vintage Barbie Commercials from the 60s – Part 2.

(video link)

1966 JCPenny Christmas Catalog featuring “Color Magic Barbie Doll’.

1966 JCPenny Christmas Catalog page featuring Barbie and Barbie & Midge and featuring "Color Magic Barbie Doll'.

Source: wishbookweb.com

1967 Twist Barbie from Mattel.

1960s vintage ad for Twist Barbie from Mattel a 1967 ad.

Source: Pinterest

Another 1967 Twist ‘N Turn Barbie Ad.

1960s vintage advertisement for 1967 Twist N Turn Barbie from Mattel.

Source: Etsy –Vintagebuttercup

(Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy is an Affiliate Link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.)

“The spotlight is on New Talking Barbie in a fur-trimmed dinner suit that’s a Sears exclusive” as seen in a 1968 Sears Wishbook.

Source: wishbookweb.com

Are you a Barbie fan? Do you have a favourite doll? Favourite memory? Share any thoughts in the comment section below.

Thank you for dropping by!

Further Reading: Vintage Advertising from the 1920s-1960s

Liz

Have you ever wondered what life was like for our grandparents and great-grandparents? One way to get a glimpse into the past is to explore vintage photo booth images. From the 1930s to the 1960s, people all over the world spent time in photo booths to capture their memories in a unique way. From black and white headshots to lively group portraits, these snapshots offer a rare window into the past.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the history of vintage photo booth and explore fun samples of vintage images I found on the web.

Note: this part 2 post is all based off a post I did on 2018 entitled, Vintage Photo Booth Images.

Enjoy!

1950s photo booth image of a woman in a polkadot dress and cat eye glasses and curly hair

Source: eBay

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy , eBay, are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Note: If the item you clicked on is no longer available, just do a search for like items. There are loads of vintage items being added to Etsy and eBay daily!

Vintage Photo Booths Images from the 1930s to 1950s

Brief History of the Photo Booth:

The first-ever working photo booth was made by French inventor T.E. Enjalbert in March 1889 and was presented later that same year at the World’s Fair in Paris. He named it the “Apparatus for Automatic Photography” (which sounded way cooler in french: Appareil pour la photographie automatique).

The photo booth as we think of it today was created by Anatol Marco Josepho in 1925. The coin-operated machine he called “Photomaton ” was introduced on Broadway in New York. This version was used by more than 200,000 people, all of which waited patiently for 8 minutes while their photo strips developed.

After this success, he created the Photomaton Company and a fun fact is that the future president Franklin D. Roosevelt was actually on his board of directors. The Photomaton Company went on to install booths all over the country. In 1928, Josepho sold the rights to his invention to Henry Morganthau Sr. He was paid $1,000,000 for it and was promised a guaranteed lifetime royalty (Source–Outsnapped).

The Vintage Photo Booth Images:

1931 photo booth image of a mother & daughter who are clearly related.

1930s vintage photo booth image of a mother and daughter in 1930s fashions and 1930s hairstyles.

Source: Etsy – maclancy

Little Miss Sassy – 1930’s photo booth image.

1930s vintage photo booth image of a young Black girl having fun with the camera.

Source: Pinterest

1938 image of a woman with a stylish coat and fur collar.

1930s vintage photo booth image of a woman in a coat with a fun collar and 1930s hairstyle from 1938

Source: Etsy – maclancy

1940s smiling young man in Army uniform.

1940s vintage photo booth ~ Smiling young man in Army uniform.

Source: Etsy – therescuedphoto

Same place, different day.

Two 1940s photo booth images of a pretty Black Women in a lovely dress with a bow and the second image we discover she is a mother with another shot with her son.

1940s vintage photo booth image of a pretty Black woman in a 1940's dress posing for a photo.

1940s vintage photo booth image of a pretty Black mother with her son in a suit.

Source: Etsy – JakeRoeBucks

To say that I am madly in love with this photo, is a bit of a understatement…I LOVE this photo! Why? Because she looks like a player from the The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League aka “A League Of Their Own”. From the baseball hat, to the hair and even the red lip she could 100% be a player.

1940s vintage photo booth image of a woman with red lips and baseball hat. She looks like a baseball player from a League of their Own

Source: MoMa

I recreated this look not from this photo (but it’s almost the same) but from the TV show “A League of their Own” (Greta) which you can see below.

1940s inspired hairstyle for wearing with a baseball hat.

For the love of dogs.

How cute is this 1940s photo of a young man trying to get a lasting memory with his favourite cocker spaniel? Too cute!

1940s vintage photo booth image of a young man posing with his cocker spaniel dog.

Source: Etsy – therescuedphoto

Remebering that time at the “Paradise”.

1940s image of two curly haired friends with dress clips and a doll face brooch posing together under a sign that says “Paradise”.

1940s vintage photo booth image of two women with curly 1940s hairstyles and dress clips and brooches posing together

Source: Etsy – therescuedphoto

This 1940s tinted photo booth image of this young women with the gorgeous curls is MY vintage hair inspiration. In fact, I have slowly been working towards having my hair look like this, without ever seeing this image until now (I shared a recent photo of myself from Instagram below). Love it!