Looking at life through a funhouse mirror
No female childhood in the 1960s was complete without a Barbie or three. In the beginning, there was only one version, with long dark hair in a permanent ponytail. Of course, the permanence of the pony tail was not initially evident. This feature was discovered when Carol, who lived next door, decided to style Barbie’s …
It wasn’t only bad news for oil on the Stock Markets this week, it was also very bad news for Barbie. Apparently retailers are still clearing out dusty Barbies from last year’s Christmas season, leading to a 21% drop in global sales this quarter, which is the fourth straight double-digit decline. And of course as …
When I was a kid, some years we would go and visit my grandparents for Christmas. They had a very old house, with a huge fireplace in the living room, a secret back staircase from the kitchen to the second floor, and a root cellar with a dirt floor. The fireplace was a very important …