Mod Barbies

In December, I wrote about getting my first ever Barbies for Christmas this past year. I never liked Barbie as a child, but became interested in her during her 50th birthday hoopla last year. I decided I needed "just one" for my toy collection, reasoning that no generalist toy collection could be complete without a representative Barbie.

Well...it turns out Barbie is quite addictive! I now had one of the early ponytail Barbies, yes, but what about the Bubblecut, or the Twist n Turn, or the Mod dolls, or the houses, or cars, or Ken?! Gah!!!

"Just one" Barbie has now turned into seven so far, with the addition of these mid 1960s Mod period dolls. The long haired girls are Twist n Turns  with the "new, youthful face" and "real eyelashes" that replaced the molded eyelash, vampy-looking early Barbie. The two short haired dolls have Hair Fair heads, disembodied craniums that were sold separately with wigs and wiglets, to swap out on your existing Barbies. I love their cute bobbed hairdos.

Pooped Postcard

I haven't been able to post much so far this month: been too busy (undecorating from Christmas) and sick (a wicked cold) and tired (from both). On my first antiquing foray of the new year, I found this vintage postcard titled "BOY! AM I POOPED!" that seemed a fortuitous find. Dating from 1957, it was sent by a couple of soldiers to a friend back home.

The message reads: "Hi Kilo. Curly + I went to the races Sunday. Had a big time. Got loaded as usual. Hope you are O.K. Will be down to see you one of these days. Your old pals (illegible name) + Curly."

I've said it before in my old postcard posts, but I have to say it again: everyone seems to have had such colorful names back in "the old days." I wonder what Kilo, Curly, and their illegibly named friend are up to these days...

Schuco Janus Bear

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a thematically appropriate toy to begin January's postings. After much thought and poking about in various cupboards and boxes, I found it: this small Schuco bear. But first, a few words about Janus, the Roman god who symbolized transitions, passages, beginnings and endings, and whose image, of a head with two faces looking in opposite directions, was affixed to ancient gates and doorways. Here he is, in a statue currently held by the Vatican.

Our month of January is named after him, as is this little bear, the Schuco Janus bear.

Like his namesake, the 3 1/2 inch Janus bear has two faces on opposite sides of his head. The first is a fairly standard Schuco style teddy bear face:

while the second is quite different, a sort of maniacally gleeful, pop-eyed character (originally he would also have had a protruding red tongue, but my example has lost his):

To change from one face to the other, you just turn a small knob at the bear's base, and a rod within his head swivels accordingly. You can see the mechanism in this last picture, as well as a glimpse of the two faces.

The Schuco Janus bear is highly sought by collectors, and deemed "freaking creepy" by pretty much everyone else.

Holy Crap: I Won an Award!

Wow: apparently I've been nominated for something called "The Lovely Blog Award", and here it is:


Hmm...it's pretty and all lady-like, what with all the flowers and teacups and gentility and such. I suppose in hindsight my post title is not the most appropriate response. Regardless, many thanks to Christine at The Daily Postcard for the nomination. Christine has a really fab site, which, as its name suggests, is indeed updated daily. With really cool old postcards. Go check it out!

I'm told by Christine that I'm now supposed to nominate another blog in this ongoing sort of blog-awarding chain letter, so I hereby nominate Norma at Make Mine Mini. Norma could be called a dollhouse interior decorator. There are lots of amazing teeny tiny things to see at her site, along with a fantastic header image: a photo taken of her mother in 1918 outside her house, absolutely surrounded by all of her (now antique) toys. Norma, I've been meaning to ask you: do you still have any of those toys? I realize they're much too big for your dollhouses, so if you need a home for them, I'm here for you. Just wanted to let you know that....

Christmas Loot 2009

Well, the Christmas bacchanalia is over. Here's a glimpse of some of this year's loot: vintage Barbies, antique doll furniture and dishes, a tin toy grocery store, teddy bears, books, and a new camera (thanks to my brother Jody, the quality of pictures here will be much improved). Details in the following posts!

Hope everyone had a very happy holiday!