I'm so old I Remember when:

[RedwoodCoastChick]

If I remember correctly…The Ken dolls didn’t have anything underneath to hide, did they?

It was just a lump. Like a camel…

Yup, just smooth plastic. Mom said one of her friends peeked under Ken's swim trunks at the store to make sure he wasn't "anatomically correct" before buying him for her little girl. Of course now Barbs/Kens/et al. are hermetically sealed in tough plastic cases with a million wire twist-ties binding the doll to the box vs. theft/tampering...no peeking possible!

 

[member 655102]

Yup, just smooth plastic. Mom said one of her friends peeked under Ken's swim trunks at the store to make sure he wasn't "anatomically correct" before buying him for her little girl. Of course now Barbs/Kens/et al. are hermetically sealed in tough plastic cases with a million wire twist-ties binding the doll to the box vs. theft/tampering...no peeking possible!

She sounds a lot like one of my aunts who always freaks out over garage sales.

Please tell me that she doesn’t steal condiments from fancy restaurants too…

ETA: The aunt I’m talking about never even wanted to allow us to play with the Barbie’s she bought us cause they were considered “too valuable” to her…

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

She sounds a lot like one of my aunts who always freaks out over garage sales.

Please tell me that she doesn’t steal condiments from fancy restaurants too…

Oh, my!

Alas, she passed away many years back; this was in the early 60s. She was a fun but protective mom to her 3 girls; can't imagine her ever stealing anything. She just wanted to make sure Ken wasn't going to teach her little girls any anatomy lessons a bit too soon!

(This was suburbia, whereas kids who grow up around livestock learn about the "mysteries" early on!)

 

[member 655102]

‘Bout time I made the rest of what I’ve got:

 

[The Moonshiner]

Turnabout's fair play. A bunch of us schoolgirls (maybe 4th or 5th grade?) used to look at the Sears catalog men's underwear section together, trying to figure out the mysteries of What Lies Beneath.

Our Ken dolls were no help whatsoever. [Our group had no brothers or just baby/little ones, and weren't into the "I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours" game.]

 

[Sally PB]

What did he use the Sears catalog for

As a kid, it was for the outhouse. My mom said they used the B&W pages first. The colored pages were stiffer.

 

[Brooks_]

THAT'S CREEPY! And I'm pretty jaded.

I know! Pretty great isn't it?

 

[member 655102]

I know! Pretty great isn't it?

 

[Nomadicus]

I remember the "Chamber Pot" in my grandparents bedroom as well as coal oil lanterns to read by at night. By the time I was old enough to know what a grandparent was they were in really bad shape.

 

[theoldchick]