Mattel reintroduces Barbie’s 1962 Dream House® — mine is on the way!

Barbie’s 1962 Dream House® — is back. I just found out. And I just ordered mine, for just $76.54 via Amazon. Note: Links in this story are Amazon affiliate links, meaning, if ya click and buy I earn a small commission (currently all going toward weebit’s law school fund — Mom so proud!)

I visited my longtime friend Pat Henry, publisher of Fashion Doll Quarterly, this past weekend, and she told me about this product revival — and, she also had one in hand for us to play with.  

As longtime readers may know, Barbie was quite a figure in my life. I loved the dolls and played with Barbie, Skipper, Midge — and all their houses an cars — avidly ’til I was like… 13. Oh. Ken, too. But frankly: Ken was always … an afterthought. 

• I’ve written lots of stories about Barbie.

Topping on the cake: I was born same year as Barbie — I am 17 days older  — and we have marked every major birthday together since. 

The 1962 Dream House is a cardboard marvel genius product. It is completely self-contained and portable…. It includes “Slim-line” midcentury modern furniture, also cardboard-engineered, that you put together … And you get a Barbie. But not just any Barbies: She’s also a 1960s design, including a 1960s dress. 

On Mattel’s Barbie blog, Barbie® Signature Principal Designer Bill Greening provided some history on the House and on the project: 

Barbie® debuted in 1959, but she didn’t move into her first Dream House until three years later, in 1962….

They were only able to find one sample in their archives with the furniture still unassembled, but that was enough. They scanned the “sheets” with the furniture and sent them out for development….

[The doll that comes with the house is] a vintage blonde ponytail Barbie, wearing a floral PAK sheath dress collectors know as ‘On the Go’ from that original Dream House era…. That makes the reproduction of the Dream House even more special, since the doll was sold separately back in the 1960s.

I am pretty darned excited to get my own 1962 Dream House.

• You can get yours, too, on Amazon here. 

More Barbie love:

• Pat Henry on Barbie Turning 50 — and answers my question: Has Barbie Used Her Power for Good or Evil?
• Reader Sumac Sue shares: Judi and Joni: Rulers of their Barbie Universe.
• Maryann Roy designs midcentury modern miniature furniture for Barbie and her clan.

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