I have for you some vintage Barbie commercials to enjoy that provide a nice early stage evolution of the popular toy that girls have played with through the ages. Scroll down and check out the original Barbie commercial, the introduction to her friend Midge, and then the exciting release of the Twist and Turn Barbie. I believe the girl in the third commercial is the young Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormic) from the Brady Bunch.
Bud do you know what's so sad about the third commercial? Girls are encouraged to bring their old and unwanted Barbies in for the new "Twist and Turn" Barbie. Don't you feel sorry for the old ones?
Located on an intermediate level
that separates the main floor of an old Victorian two story home from the
second floor is an area that has been referred to as "then den",
"the office", or the "rec room". Names for this
intermediate level have been designated by the various families who have lived
in that old Victorian two story throughout the many decades. You see; families
move in and then move out some years later. And they do so out of their own
will, not because of what some might immediate conclude to be a haunting. Old
Victorian homes, after all, that have stood a century or more must surely be
haunted, right?
Well this doesn't hold true for
all historic homes—especially this one.
Oh, but there is one peculiar
thing about this home to mention. It's on that intermediate level that we were
just discussing in the above paragraph. There's a closet in the corner that is
nearest the radiator that might have been intended to be used as storage. But
over a hundred years ago it was considered ideal to be a small play area for a
young girl who lived there. Outlined with a couple rows of wooden shelves, it
was home to her prized collection of dolls that sat on them. A wool carpet had
been fitted and laid on the floor so that the young girl could have a nice
place to sit and play with her dolls. To this very day her collection remains
in this closet. It's unclear as to why the original family had left the dolls
there upon moving out. Perhaps they felt that the next family might have a
young girl who would enjoy playing with them. Isn't that nice?
Strange you might comment?
Well it just so happens that the
next family who moved in did have a young girl who was delighted to discover
the closet full of dolls. She added her own collection of dolls that were
received on birthdays, Christmas, or when Father would travel on business and
bring back a doll as a gift. But eventually this young girl was too old to play
with dolls, and the closet door remained shut for a number of years until her daughter was introduced to the
dolls. And just like before, this new girl added her own collection to the doll
closet and played with them in there. These were the happiest times for the
dolls; to have a human play with them. Unfortunately, it was followed by some
years or a few decades of being closed up in the dark until someone new would
discover them.
And so this went on for many,
many decades—over a century, actually. The collection of dolls accumulated and
was passed down from child to child whether it be daughter, granddaughter, or a
new girl who moved in. By the time that closet reached the modern age, it
included newer Barbies, Brats and the likes.
Today there is a young girl who
lives in that old Victorian two story home named Shelly. But unlike the girls
who lived there before her, she wants nothing to do with the dolls. For her,
the doll closet is used for punishment. You see, Shelly doesn't like the dolls
in that closet. They're old, creepy, and give her an eerie feeling. Mother and
Father usually find some way to integrate the creepy doll closet into dished
out punishment. And with as much of a dreadful phobia that Shelly has of dolls,
one would think that she would be on her best behavior.
Shelly tries her best to avoid
punishment and is sure not to do anything wrong at home. But if she didn't know
any better, the dolls can come to life and do all sorts of mischief just to
frame her and get Mother and Father to punish her. And when Mother and Father
punish Shelly...
Uh oh! It's about to happen
again!
"Shelly!" Father yells
up the stairs to his daughter. "Shelly, come down here!"
Shelly is in her bedroom and
practicing her violin for an upcoming concert. And with the tone of her
father's voice, she immediately gets nervous. What could it possibly be now?
"I'm coming!" yells
Shelly as she scampers out of her bedroom, through the hallway and down the
stairs. She passes the intermediate level; the office as Mother and Father have
named it which contains a desk, and some file cabinets. And don't forget the
creepy doll closet next to the radiator!
Shelly reaches the main level.
Father has a stern look on his
face. "Now I'm only going to ask you this once, and I want an honest
answer."
Shelly grows all the more worried.
What did those blasted dolls do this time?
"Come in here!" orders
Mother.
Shelly carefully enters the
kitchen and sees Mother standing over a collection of items on the linoleum
floor which had apparently fallen out of her purse.
"Do you know anything about
this?" asks Mother.
"No!" answers Shelly.
"Well my purse was up on
the counter a few minutes ago." explains Mother. "It was knocked on
the floor, and my stuff came out of it."
"And don't forget the forty
dollars!" reminds Father.
"I was getting to
that!" snaps Mother. "Where is the money? You took money from my
purse!"
"No I didn't!" defends
Shelly. "I wouldn't do something like that! Why would I need money?"
"Bring it back right
now!" demands Mother.
"Mom, I didn't take your
money!" cries Shelly. "And I wasn't going through your purse! Why
won't you believe me?"
"Well who would knock my
purse over?" asks Mother.
"Yeah..." chimes in
Father. "Do you think it was one of the dolls from the creepy doll
closet?"
"Daddy, stop it!"
snaps Shelly. "You know I don't like those dolls!"
For over five minutes, Mother
continues to demand that Shelly return her money. In that time, poor Shelly is
accused of being a little thief who would one day go to jail. Mother is
terribly disappointed in her daughter for not only stealing but repeatedly
lying. Unsure of what to do for the moment, Mother sends her daughter back
upstairs to her room.
"She'll fess up
eventually." promises Father with a mischievous smile on his face. He says
this while Shelly storms her way over to the stairs.
"Daddy, what did you?"
demands Shelly.
"You'll find out..."
answers Father in a spooky, mysterious voice.
Outraged, Shelly stamps up the
stairs. Apparently, Father sneaked away while Mother was scolding her, and did
something that involved the dolls. Maybe he put her schoolbag in the creepy
doll closet. Shelly would have to go in there to retrieve it if she wanted to
do her homework. Or maybe he took a dozen or so dolls and scattered them on her
bed. Shelly would be expected to put them away which, of course, would involve
touching the old, creepy dolls while spending time in their musty closet. Oh, what
sort of horrible thing did Father do this time?
Shelly enters her bedroom and
doesn't initially see anything out of the ordinary. But then she discovers that
the violin is missing.
"Daddy! Where is my
violin!" shouts Shelly down the stairs.
"I'm pretty sure you know
where it's at." answers Father in his spooky, mysterious tone of voice.
Mother chimes in, "And if
you want to be ready for your concert, you better make sure you keep
practicing."
Reluctantly, Shelly descends the
staircase to the intermediate level. Cautiously she approaches the door to the
creepy doll closet and opens it. She is immediately greeted by the musty old
smell which would remind anyone of antique dolls. As for light, it is necessary
to walk inside to the center and pull the chain so that the light bulb
illuminates. You see; the creepy doll closet is about the size of a large
walk-in closet. I suppose in olden times it could have been used as a small
bedroom for, perhaps, a newborn. Instead, it was used as a play area so that
girls could spend time with their dolls. How anyone would want to spend time in
that closet and actually touch those dolls is beyond Shelly's comprehension.
People must have been very strange way back then.
As Shelly scopes out the area
for her violin, the dolls all stare back at her from the shelves and the floor
where they sit against the walls. Who has her violin? Father brought it in here
a few minutes ago and hid it underneath a group of dolls. Within a few seconds,
Shelly sees her violin case being used as seat for about a dozen of dolls.
Shelly would never touch those
hideous dolls! She uses her foot, and kicks them out of the way so that she can
finally reach the violin. While lifting it off the floor, Shelly hears the most
dreadful sound; the closet door slamming shut!
Shelly lets out bloodcurdling
screams while dashing over to the door with violin case in hand. But the violin
was the least of her worries. You see; the doorknob would not turn. Mother or
Father was on the other side and gripped the knob so that Shelly could not get
out.
"Daddy! Let me out!"
screams Shelly while pounding and desperately pulling at the doorknob.
"Please let me out!"
"The money..." answers
Mother. "As soon as you tell us where the money is, we'll let you out.”
"I didn't steal your
money!" cries Shelly. "You have to let me out of here! Please let me
out!"
"Not until you tell us
where you hid the money." reminds Father in his spooky, mysterious voice.
Just then, Shelly sees something
out of the corner of her eye. It looks like one of the dolls jumping off the
shelf and onto the floor. Startled and still crying, she looks over. And there
on the floor is an old doll with a pair of twenty dollar bills lying nearby.
It's just as Shelly suspects; the dolls had been in Mother's purse and took her
money so that Shelly would be blamed.
"The money is in
here!" shouts Shelly. "Please let me out!"
With that, the door to the
closet is partly opened. Father peaks his head in. "Where is it?” he asks.
"Shelly points over to the
doll with the money lying nearby."
"Oh..." exclaims
Father in his spooky, mysterious voice. "So one of the dolls went through
your mother's purse and took the money. Then she brought it back in here to the
creepy doll closet."
Mother slips into the closet and
snatches up her money. "We're not done in here!" she declares.
"You're not getting off Scott-free after taking my money. As punishment,
you can stay in here for the next half hour and practice your violin with the
door shut."
"Mommy, no!"cries
Shelly. "I didn't take your money!"
"I'll tag another half hour
onto that for lying." warns Mother.
Defeated, all Shelly could do
was cry. She hates those stupid dolls. Even more, she hates the way Mother and
Father never believe her. She cries all the more once Mother exits the closet
and closes the door behind her.
"Stop your crying!"
yells Mother. "And start practicing your violin!"
Shelly kneels down and opens her
violin case. Then she screams upon discovering that Father had placed one of
the dolls in there before hiding it.
"What's wrong?" asks
Father through the door with his spooky, mysterious voice. "Was there a
creepy doll in your violin case?"
Shelly ignores him. Instead of
answering, she smacks the doll out of the case and picks up her violin with
bow. Then she starts playing.
Now in that half hour, something
strange happens in the closet. No, the dolls don't come to life and torment
Shelly. Rather, they remain motionless with eyes fixed on her, seemingly
admiring Shelly's ability to play such beautiful music on the violin. They seem
to really like Shelly; seem to wish that she would be their friend and play
with them.
***
Later that night, Shelly sleeps
soundly in bed. But she is startled out of her sleep about a minute to midnight
from the sound of an eerie music box that plays on her bedroom floor. Being
that Shelly plays the violin, she is familiar with classical pieces and
recognized the song coming from the music box. It is Nocturne—opus nine, number
two from Chopin. Very frightened, but at the same time curious, Shelly
carefully looks down towards the floor that receives just enough illumination
from a nearby nightlight. And there in the middle of the room is one of the
creepy, old dolls sitting next to a music box. Shelly recognizes this box as
being the one that sits on one of the shelves in the creepy doll closet.
The doll misses the days of many
decades ago of when a little girl used to dress her up like a ballerina, and
help her dance to the music that came from the music box. Couldn't Shelly do
the same with her now? She is, after all, a talented musician and surely has an
appreciation for the fine arts.
But Shelly screams in horror at
the sight, and runs out of the bedroom.
"What's wrong?" asks
Father. "Did one of the creepy dolls come out of the closet to play with
you?"
To be continued…?
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