I just read your old article about doll magazines from the old Wordpress site, highlighted above. Really interesting and informative . Someone in the comments there mentioned the Miller’s Fashion doll magazine line. I really have enjoyed those, having just discovered them last spring *accidentally* at a local, family owned used bookstore, which also carries records, dvds, cds, magazines, greeting cards, paper dolls, everything! The one that really caught my eye is the January 2000 edition with the 3 leading ladies of the late 1960s era : the Mods, with the tnt and rooted eyelashes. In-depth coverage of the hair colors with all the names, ie light blonde, ash blonde, and corresponding box marked named ie “ sun kissed,”” summer sand. “
Also loads of high quality color pictures, including a Barbie pullout insert of Pumps and purses, Barbie Doll Accessories from 1959- 1972. Just fun to use as a reference for the tiny minutiae which you may come across accidentally at thrift stores, back then, lol or the like.
There is also a profile on the Wonderful World of Dawn dolls, Part 1 lots of text and pictures, including the majorette line. Gene dolls and Gene clubs. Barbie’s talking friends, including Stacey, Christie , PJ and all their iterations with text. Oh! And get this! 4 diagrams of the Speaker hole patterns with the various shapes and sizes of the holes between male and female talkers. Japanese Barbie exclusive is featured as well. A Spanish style costume which has or had not been mentioned in a Japanese Barbie booklet. Text and photos by Shinichi Yanagimoto.
My Pet Peeve about online material is that I find it hard to read, especially at night. I have glasses which are made to cut the blue light effect, but no doubt about it- electronic media interferes with sleep and sleep patterns so we are advised to shut off all devices before bedtime. Online for me is just not relaxing and keeps me up. I also love the paper pages, and I am able to adjust my posture better with actual print media.
I bought the four magazines
and found them to be an enchanting world into what life for collectors was like before widespread internet usage. Doll want ads, dolls for sale, pen pals, the like.
Ok, continuing because I do not know how to edit on the substack format, lol….yes, I wholeheartedly agree that the doll magazines of today are sorely lacking, judging from what I have seen from samples handed out at the doll shows. And I have only been attending since 2022. I did not even know doll shows existed, but for the volunteer doll museum curator who mentioned it to us. I was with my husband at the time.
As far as the average age of active doll collectors being “ older” ie 40’s onwards , I’ll have to write on this more at another time. Lol. I think it’s more of a mix of life cycle patterns, and new modern society “norms.”
Very interesting! I live in Spain, where we have very few doll magazines. Actually, I can only think of one right know and I'm pretty sure it has been discontinued. The magazine was called MuñeCas and it covered antique dolls, miniatures, doll houses... I love physical media, so it's very sad to see magazines disappear, but I still buy doll books. I find them very informative and they always help me to catalog my collection. Do you have doll books? It would be great to see them here or on YouTube! Thanks again for the post! :)
I just read your old article about doll magazines from the old Wordpress site, highlighted above. Really interesting and informative . Someone in the comments there mentioned the Miller’s Fashion doll magazine line. I really have enjoyed those, having just discovered them last spring *accidentally* at a local, family owned used bookstore, which also carries records, dvds, cds, magazines, greeting cards, paper dolls, everything! The one that really caught my eye is the January 2000 edition with the 3 leading ladies of the late 1960s era : the Mods, with the tnt and rooted eyelashes. In-depth coverage of the hair colors with all the names, ie light blonde, ash blonde, and corresponding box marked named ie “ sun kissed,”” summer sand. “
Also loads of high quality color pictures, including a Barbie pullout insert of Pumps and purses, Barbie Doll Accessories from 1959- 1972. Just fun to use as a reference for the tiny minutiae which you may come across accidentally at thrift stores, back then, lol or the like.
There is also a profile on the Wonderful World of Dawn dolls, Part 1 lots of text and pictures, including the majorette line. Gene dolls and Gene clubs. Barbie’s talking friends, including Stacey, Christie , PJ and all their iterations with text. Oh! And get this! 4 diagrams of the Speaker hole patterns with the various shapes and sizes of the holes between male and female talkers. Japanese Barbie exclusive is featured as well. A Spanish style costume which has or had not been mentioned in a Japanese Barbie booklet. Text and photos by Shinichi Yanagimoto.
My Pet Peeve about online material is that I find it hard to read, especially at night. I have glasses which are made to cut the blue light effect, but no doubt about it- electronic media interferes with sleep and sleep patterns so we are advised to shut off all devices before bedtime. Online for me is just not relaxing and keeps me up. I also love the paper pages, and I am able to adjust my posture better with actual print media.
I bought the four magazines
and found them to be an enchanting world into what life for collectors was like before widespread internet usage. Doll want ads, dolls for sale, pen pals, the like.
Ok, continuing because I do not know how to edit on the substack format, lol….yes, I wholeheartedly agree that the doll magazines of today are sorely lacking, judging from what I have seen from samples handed out at the doll shows. And I have only been attending since 2022. I did not even know doll shows existed, but for the volunteer doll museum curator who mentioned it to us. I was with my husband at the time.
As far as the average age of active doll collectors being “ older” ie 40’s onwards , I’ll have to write on this more at another time. Lol. I think it’s more of a mix of life cycle patterns, and new modern society “norms.”
Very interesting! I live in Spain, where we have very few doll magazines. Actually, I can only think of one right know and I'm pretty sure it has been discontinued. The magazine was called MuñeCas and it covered antique dolls, miniatures, doll houses... I love physical media, so it's very sad to see magazines disappear, but I still buy doll books. I find them very informative and they always help me to catalog my collection. Do you have doll books? It would be great to see them here or on YouTube! Thanks again for the post! :)
We do have a bunch of books. My mom and I covered a few a while back-- a long while-- but maybe it's time to revisit them!