Off the Cuff

[#1]

The Ken® doll, boyfriend of Mattel’s curvy Barbie®, is turning 50. Ken was first introduced by Mattel in 1961. Even then, he was the official designated boyfriend of Barbie, the “Teen-Age Fashion Model”.  Ken Carson (yep, he does have a last name) was named after the son of Mattel’s co-founders, Ruth & Elliot Handler, who was named Kenneth. Check out Ken’s timeline, trivia and more.

 

When Ken arrived 50 years ago, he was featured with fleece blonde or brunette hair, red cotton swim-trunks, cork sandals and carried a yellow terry-cloth towel. 

Here’s a timeline of Ken’s life. 

1961: Ken is introduced as designated boyfriend to Barbie.

1962: Ken’s coif goes plastic—since the flocked hair easily rubbed off or came off totally in water. 

 

Mid-60s: Ken is remodeled to be more athletic. This included clothing updates including items such as “Holiday Hiking” in 1965. (Photo left: This "Holiday Hiking" complete set of clothes is a rare find.)

 

Ken and Barbie had an official wedding ceremony (of course, Barbie already had her wedding dress by 1959 that retailed for $5.00.)  Mattel introduces the 1965 wedding as the “Wedding Day Party” that included a tuxedoed-Ken doll and a “Wedding Party” doll case. In addition to getting married, Ken gets “bendable” legs.

 

1968: Mattel introduced an African American friend named Brad. (He also is the designated boyfriend for Barbie’s first African American friend named Christie.)

1975: "Now Look Ken" is introduced. He has hair down below his shoulders to follow the current styles.  By the end of the 70s, Ken was a bit scarce in toy stores, and he was back to sun tanning (Hawaiian Ken) and shaving (Sport & Shave Ken).

1980s: Ken celebrates the disco era with wild abandon. "Jewel Secrets Ken" wears a light blue silver lame jumpsuit with a striped shirt and an iridescent bow tie and cummerbund.

In addition, the first African American official “Ken” appears.

1990s: Ken's journey came full circle and he finds his way back to manly outfits (denim and a checked flannel shirt for "Camp Fun Ken" in 1993), and promising careers (now that his wild party days were behind him). 

Ken also gets back into sports in a big way 1n the 1990s--Winter Sports Ken had a multi-poseable body and came with his own skis and snowboard (1994). 

1996: Ken’s younger baby brother “Tommy” is introduced.

2001: To celebrate Ken's 40th birthday, Mattel creates a commemorative, tuxedo-clad Ken that comes with a mini-Ken: a tiny replica of the very first doll, wearing a red bathing suit, cork sandals and yellow towel (just as 40th Anniversary Barbie came with a mini replica of the #1 Barbie doll from 1959). 

2004—Valentine’s Day: After 40 years of togetherness, Barbie® & Ken® announced their split.  Since that time, Ken has steadily been trying to win Barbie® back.

  Photo left: Animated Ken from Toy Story 3.

 FUN FACT!   Barbie® doll's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.  Did you know that Ken’s full name is Ken Carson.  No middle name was ever given.

 

Did you know? Here are just some of the “careers” and outfits Ken has sported over the years: 

Actor, , Cowboy, Impersonator, Ice Skater, Roller Skater, Alternative Lifestyle, Airforce, Army Doctor, Dancer, Lifeguard, Marine, Sailor, Soda Jerk, Rock Star, Motorcyclist, Basketball Player, Football Player, Olympic Gold Medalist, Skier, Student, Best Man, Birthday boy, Gymnast, Prince, Tennis Player, Photographer, Frat Member, Beach Bum, Tourist, Body Builder, Hair Stylist and Pilot!

[#2]

 I love this...although I wasn't a fan of Barbie, my sister was. And I remember she would always take the clothes off the barbies (I guess to swap outfits), but she would never put them back on her dolls. My mom would get so mad and say, "Stop leaving your naked Barbies everywhere!" and then she would take one of my dad's old socks and cut a whole in the toe and on each side and 'dress" Barbie in this black sock outfit (the original snuggy!)

One day we were in Walgreens and my sister had one of her naked dolls with her. My mom apparently didn't know it.

So, we're at the cash register and my sister starts dancing this naked doll and my mom yells, "Would you put that naked doll away!?"

Apparently irritated, my sister said loudly, "Why do you hate my naked dolls so much...daddy doesn't mind!"

 Of course my mom was horrified - as was the cashier and all the customers around us...!

[#3]

Like JulioS, I was never a fan of Barbie either but I remember when a family member gave one to my daughter and for the sake of family peace I had to keep my opinion to myself.  

One day my daughter asked me to make an outfit for her Barbie.  Now you have to realize that my skills as a seamstress are almost non-existent.  I bellied up to my sewing machine and came up with a very rough dress.  I didn't know how to do anything fancy with buttonholes or zippers.  I just sewed up the side seams and cut out an opening at the neck.  

I proudly showed this to my daughter who was suitably impressed until we tried unsuccessfully to pull it over Barbie's head!  We tugged and tugged but to no avail.  Desperate yet determined, I pulled Barbie's head off (!), pulled the dress over her body, and popped her head back on.  My daughter liked my solution and was fortunately too young to be horrified at my crude measures.  I guess this just proves that necessity is indeed the mother of invention!

[#4]

I admit it. I played with Barbies for a while when I was young. I guess I was a weird kid, or maybe just precocious because I remember my best friend and I used to play Barbie Bordello where Barbie ran a cathouse on a Mississipi steamboat, and Ken would come to visit and everyone's clothes would come off. That was the end of the game, because of course that's where our knowledge ended. lol

When I had kids of my own, I swore Barbie would never come into the house because my adult PC attitude claimed that Barbie was a ridiculous role model for growing girls. Well, someone gave her a veterinarian Barbie and I caved. And from then on it was a steady stream of Barbies for Christmas and birthdays, and Barbie clothes and little shoes that would always find their way under my bare foot or into a litterbox.

[#5]

When my daughter outgrew her Barbies, I started putting some of them in my garden as a joke, kind of in lieu of garden gnomes. I dressed them in their most "garden"-type clothes, and some of them even had sun hats. My daughter got a real kick out of it. One of them eventually had vines grow around her legs, and another's hat was stolen by a squirrel, who must have chewed up the straw to add to her nest.

[#6]

I love this!  My brother got into a Three Muskateers phase, and he used to "behead" my Barbies and put the heads on little sticks.  I was more into stuffed animals, so I thought it was funny, but my little sister used to have a fit, so she inherited them.  However, she was always leaving them in the yard, and the neighborhood dogs would make off with them and leaved their gnawed carcasses for her to find . . . our house was not healthy for poor Barbie!

[#7]

Wow -- my temporary beheading of the Barbie (see above) now seems pretty mild compared to your brother D'Artagnon!  I love gardendigger's solution and the funny aftermath.  Those long legs of Barbie would be great vine supports, now that I think of it....

[#8]

Are brothers sick and twisted or what? lol My brother decided he wanted to go for this Daniel Boone hunting lodge effect in his room one year and while I was at school he skinned a whole bunch of my stuffed animals and tacked their "hides" to the wall, but left me the carcasses. To this day I do everything I can to save all things furry. And P.S. lest you think he grew up to be a sociopath, he's actually a very gentle guy. lol

[#9]

What is it about boys in general?  When my son was young, I think around 5 or so, I went into his room to wake him up one morning and was greeted with a spider's web of dental floss!  He was worried about burglars so he built a trap (or perhaps a defensive device) with dental floss from knee to head height all around the room.  The only way to get in and out of his room was to do a commando crawl on the ground!  I found this so cute, I let him keep it this way for a week.  But then it became a real hassle for everyone, so he had to take it down.  

[#10]

I love the dental floss story! Yes, I do think it's something wired into the chromosome. My sons would come up with things that never in a million years would I have thought they'd do, and they would find ways to test the laws of gravity, etc. While they were growing up, we were pretty much on a first name basis with the local emergency care walk-in. I felt so grateful as each one survived to reach adulthood. I still have a couple of younger ones, but I just keep praying they'll be fine. Haha

[#11]

My mother-in-law had four boys and two girls. She actually says that one of her girls was more of a handful than all the boys ever were. I guess there's an exception to every rule!

[#12]

I'd agree with that, Scout! Although my boys were in and out of emergency rooms with minor injuries, my daughter was much, much more complicated from an emotional standpoint. Thank God we both survived her teen years. lol

[#13]

I adored my Barbies. They were so much fun to dress up with great outfits and those tiny little shoes, and pretend to go on dates and stuff. And I had one of those big Barbie head things that you could practice doing make-up on and styling her hair. I thought about being a hairdresser then but decided I didn't want to touch other people's hair. I mean, ew, right? I wish those had been invented earlier on or were maybe more popular all over the place so more people wouldn't make those horrible make-up mistakes that would just be soooo EPIC FAIL if they were in a magazine. Like, the blue eyeshadow?! Puh-lease! Who believes that would be flattering to anyone except maybe a Star Trek alien? And the gothy black lipstick? I just want to say to a teenager who does that, Trust me girl, no one is gonna want to kiss that mouth. I mean, yuck. And while I'm ranting, what's the whole jeans halfway down the butt look all about? Is it just me or do you want to tell guys to pull up their pants in public? I don't want to see their boxers. At least until they've bought me dinner, am I right?

[#14]

I never did play with barbies.  Even as targets.  I had the little green and tan soldiers for the Allies and the grey Axis guys and I'd spend hours setting up battlefields.. just so..  and then destroy it in minutes!  It was glorious!  I even had those little tanks with spring-loaded barrels that actually fired projectiles, and I tried to figure out a way to use flaming matches.  Never quite got the hang of it.  Luckily.  I'd have probably caused a fire or two. 

Of course, you cant get spring loaded tanks like that any more.  *sigh...

Never liked Ken.  There was just something not quite right about him. 

[#15]

I SO agree with honeybuns about the droopy drawers issue. I can't stand that look and I can't imagine that girls their age really do either. Having had two children and remembering their toddler stage when I used cloth diapers which were always threatening to fall off, that's what the look reminds me of. And when their pants are down around their knees, most boys can't walk very easily (just like toddlers). I would think it would be a total pain. My daughter who's in Europe says the young men there wear very form-fitting jeans and she certainly finds that much more attractive. Apple...tree...(if you know what I mean).