July 29th, 1992. The Baltimore Sun runs a feature about a surprise candidate in the upcoming presidential race: Barbie. The 11.5-inch icon of girlhood and glamor is running for office – and flying off the shelves. But how did a plaything become important enough to make national news? To answer that question, we take you on a journey through doll history, from French porcelain beauties to cherubs that stood for women’s suffrage. And of course, the doll who taught us how fun life in plastic could be. How did these dolls revolutionize play and even politics? And what do they have to tell us about ourselves?
Special thanks to our guests: Florence Theriault, doll expert and founder of Theriault’s antique auction firm; Pat Wahler, author of The Rose of Washington Square: A Novel of Rose O'Neill, Creator of the Kewpie Doll; and Robin Gerber, author of Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A War on Women
Jazz on the Record
Freedom Rides Down Under
The Capitol Attack of 1861
INTRODUCING: The Food that Built America
Sitting In for Civil Rights
Houdini Defies Death
The Capitol Riots in Context
The First VP of Color
Off With Her Head
Declaring War on Poverty
Best Stories of 2020
A Scrooge for the Ages
The Thalidomide Disaster
The Crown Steps Down
Wartime Weapon Turned Medical Miracle
A Toxic Turkey Day
The Inca's Last Stand
The Muppet Revolution
Stealing the Presidency
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Food That Built America
Not What You Thought You Knew
Letters of Love in WW2