Our doll reference library is looking quite good these days. Here are several books owned by Naomi which she has loaned me to post about. When we started to collect Barbie, Ken and friends in the late nineties we were fortunate to be able to buy quite a lot of books between us. We went to doll shows in Adelaide where we lived then and there was usually a stand with books. When we could spare some money from buying dolls we’d buy some, other we bought at second-hand shops or markets and from the then new to us eBay.

Back then they were useful to ID the dolls we were buying undressed and to learn more about the ones we had bought boxed and especially to browse and decide what dolls we wanted to get.

As quite a lot of time had passed from when we stopped playing with dolls as children to when we started collecting as adults Barbie had gone through quite a lot of changes. The books helped us catch up.

Now I still find them useful. I can’t keep everything I read about dolls in my head and although the internet is a great resource and the one I use most often sometimes it’s nice to curl up on the couch with a book.  As a doll blogger I like to be able to share information and if I don’t know the answer to something it is handy to have our little reference library to go to.

Barbie has probably had more books written about her than any other doll in history. Books that tell her story from her conception to the present day, books that list all the dolls that have been issued in a certain period, books that focus on Barbie fashions and even books that analyse or satirise the cult of Barbie.

We have concentrated on the more practical books that help us identify dolls, fashions and accessories but I do enjoy reading the other type of book although I don’t always agree with the authors views. I think some people take Barbie way too seriously.

I was especially pleased that Naomi brought over her Skipper book as I had not read it or if I did it was years ago and I don’t remember much that was in it. Between us we have a few Skippers and Skipper clones as well as Skooter now so the book will be handy.

A page from the book

My childhood Skipper in Town Togs

I have one more book on the way “British Dolls of the 1950s” by Susan Brewer, a companion to my recently purchased “British Dolls of the 1960s”. It turns out that a lot of the dolls I wanted to read about were first covered in the 1950s book so I needed that one as well.

I should have that soon and will show it in another post.