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Happy 50th Birthday Allan!
I was poking around vintage Barbie history summaries and discovered that Allan was released in the same year as Skipper, 1964. So while Mattel has acknowledged Skipper hitting the big five-oh with a really nice (and now rare) repro of her in her birthday outfit, there really is not much mention of Ken’s best buddy Allan also hitting this milestone.
A little history for all you non-vintage doll people. Barbie, in her early years, was criticised for being too much of a sex symbol so Mattel brought in a bunch of family and friends characters to help bring Barbie down to a relatable level. This was most evident in having Midge, proclaimed best friend of Barbie, having more naturalistic tones in her make up and more welcoming expression, as well as the addition of Skipper, whom parents wanted a child character for Barbie to look after.
Allan was introduced at the same time as Skipper was, 5 years after Barbie’s introduction. Allan’s addition to the line was threefold. First and foremost as another doll to share clothing with Ken (and thus make parents buy more clothing), as a dating candidate for Midge and the possibilities of double dating, and lastly as Ken’s ‘buddy’. He was advertised as both Midge’s boyfriend and Ken’s buddy.
Allan was quickly discontinued in 1965 after the second version of him was sold, but he was still available in limited quantities until 1966. This coincided with the fact Ken was discontinued in 1966 and didn’t make a reappearance until 1969 with a completely different mold and a more muscular body.
Sadly enough, both Allan and Midge were dropped from the line completely to make way for the Mod era dolls and a slew of new friends for Barbie and Ken.
Allan is named after Allan Segal, Barbara Handler’s (daughter of Ruth Handler) husband, though when Allan was reintroduced in 1991 his name was shortened to Alan.
Allan’s full name is Allan Sherwood, and within the Happy Family continuity has three children named Ryan, Nikki, and Cassandra.
Happy 50th Birthday Allan!
I was poking around vintage Barbie history summaries and discovered that Allan was released in the same year as Skipper, 1964. So while Mattel has acknowledged Skipper hitting the big five-oh with a really nice (and now rare) repro of her in her birthday outfit, there really is not much mention of Ken’s best buddy Allan also hitting this milestone.
A little history for all you non-vintage doll people. Barbie, in her early years, was criticised for being too much of a sex symbol so Mattel brought in a bunch of family and friends characters to help bring Barbie down to a relatable level. This was most evident in having Midge, proclaimed best friend of Barbie, having more naturalistic tones in her make up and more welcoming expression, as well as the addition of Skipper, whom parents wanted a child character for Barbie to look after.
Allan was introduced at the same time as Skipper was, 5 years after Barbie’s introduction. Allan’s addition to the line was threefold. First and foremost as another doll to share clothing with Ken (and thus make parents buy more clothing), as a dating candidate for Midge and the possibilities of double dating, and lastly as Ken’s ‘buddy’. He was advertised as both Midge’s boyfriend and Ken’s buddy.
Allan was quickly discontinued in 1965 after the second version of him was sold, but he was still available in limited quantities until 1966. This coincided with the fact Ken was discontinued in 1966 and didn’t make a reappearance until 1969 with a completely different mold and a more muscular body.
Sadly enough, both Allan and Midge were dropped from the line completely to make way for the Mod era dolls and a slew of new friends for Barbie and Ken.
Allan is named after Allan Segal, Barbara Handler’s (daughter of Ruth Handler) husband, though when Allan was reintroduced in 1991 his name was shortened to Alan.
Allan’s full name is Allan Sherwood, and within the Happy Family continuity has three children named Ryan, Nikki, and Cassandra.