In my report on the Cincinnati Museum Center’s 1950s Day, I mentioned that the event was timed to tie in with the museum’s ongoing exhibits on Barbie and Julia Child. I also explained that I intended to see both exhibits but would do so on a day less crowded than 1950s Day. It happened on Thursday. In hindsight, those tie-ins seem a bit of a stretch since the first Barbie, pictured at right, appeared at the very end of the 1950s in 1959, and Julia Child’s first TV show aired in 1963.
Barbie was conceived by Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler to address the disparity she saw in the toys available to her son and daughter. The son had dolls that let him imagine himself as a cowboy, soldier, fireman, and so much more. The daughter had dolls that let her pretend to be a mother. The daughter’s name was Barbara.
Clothes and other accessories have always been an important part of the world of Barbie. There were twenty-two different ensembles available for that very first Barbie, and their display provides an opening for telling about my only personal Barbie experience. My sister would have been nine when Barbie first appeared, so she might have had a Barbie. I just don’t recall. My daughter definitely had some in the 1980s. The pictured “Cruise Stripe Dress” was only made in 1959-62, but the red high heels it was packaged with, or at least a close facsimile, continue to be made today. I understand that there are worse sources of pain, but stepping barefoot on an upturned tiny red stiletto in the darkness does create a memory lasting forty years and beyond.
Gender diversity began to be addressed rather quickly. Racial diversity stayed absent a little longer. Ken (Yes, Ruth’s son was named Kenneth.) appeared in 1961. Barbie’s Black friend Christie came along in 1968.
Barbie has had a lot of vehicles, especially sports cars and campers, during her 60+ years of existence. I was surprised to learn (from the internet, not the exhibit) that her first car was a 1962 Austin-Healey 3000. A pink Corvette is the first car I think of when I think of Barbie, and I believe that is true for many people. This mockup of a 1985 model was one of several photo ops scattered throughout. I saw probably thirty to forty people inside the exhibit while I worked my way through it. Three were males, two guys with their partners, and I. The rest were females in groups of two or three. Many took advantage of this Corvette to grab pictures of each other.
The idea that girls could be anything they wanted to be was an important part of Ruth Handler’s vision for Barbie. Numerous displays showing some of the careers available to Barbie and her playmates during various periods are spread around the exhibit.
1968’s Christie was a powerful “some of my best friends are Black” statement. In 1980, that statement moved onto “and I am too” with the introduction of Hispanic and Black dolls carrying the name Barbie. Today, Barbie can proudly be called the world’s “most diverse doll line”.
The 1959 Barbie in the opening picture retailed for $3. That’s about $33 in 2025. Some estimates place its current value at more than $27,000. The standard “exit through the gift shop” takes you past this rack of Barbies priced at $11.99. Not too bad, I think, for an icon.
The entrance to the Julia Child exhibit is right next to the entrance to the Barbie exhibit. Barbie is a ticketed event; Julia is included with museum admission. Although I did not know much about Barbie, I knew even less about Julia. I have seen her on TV while channel surfing, but don’t believe I have ever watched a full program or interview.
I was even more out of place here than I had been in the Barbie exhibit. Not only did I know very little about Julia Child, I knew less about French cooking and the tools of the trade. Others in attendance knew of various events in Child’s life and specific items in the collection of cooking gear she called “Batterie de Cuisine”.
Apparently, Child had achieved some level of fame before that 1963 television show. This photo of her and her husband, Paul, was used as a Valentine’s Day Card in 1956. I believe this was the only spot in the exhibit set up especially for a photo op. It did not seem as popular as Barbie’s Corvette, but some of the same groups of women who posed in the car also took each other’s pictures in the tub with Julia and Paul in the background.
As with many traveling exhibits at the CMC, a local connection is part of this one. Cincinnati has been home to some well-known French restaurants. I never made it to Pigall’s, but I did have one meal each at the Gourmet Room and the Maisonette. Two out of three ain’t bad.
Barbie: A Cultural Icon is here through September 1. The last day for Julia Child: A Recipe for Life is today, May 18.