Some cool fashion online store images:
FAVE #850 Barbie blonde #8 Ponytail (1964-1965)
Image by Tinker*Tailor loves Lalka
Newly arrived gal - Looks like she wore #1688 Travel Togethers from 1967 forever, and she had a big bow in her hair that looked factory (?!) that matched the outfit. At first I thought she might have been a dressed doll from a store display, but surely that's too big a gap in the years between the outfit and doll. I decided to remove the bow because the straight pin used to hold it in place was starting to rust and make a black dot on the doll's head. I also took out her original bottom hair band (that was really dried out) because she had so many stray hairs and because I didn't want it to fuse forever to the hair. I hope I didn't devalue her terribly, but I just couldn't stand to leave it alone.
*Update: I just checked an online reference that said that number 8's were produced through 1966...so now I'm thinking she might really have been a dressed doll wearing Travel Togethers. I know Mattel sometimes put old dolls into new outfits and sold them in their factory store or even at regular retail shops. But I don't get the red bow in her hair - which totally looked like it came from the factory that way and matched the outfit perfectly. Why go to the trouble if she wasn't a store display doll.....Mystery doll!
I've wanted a later ponytail with this coloring since 1993 - when I saw one on the cover of Barbie Bazaar. I didn't collect back then, but I always remembered that photo.
