Barbie has been an astronaut, a pilot and a doctor but in the 1960s, all she wanted to do was starve herself to lose weight.
The controversial ‘Slumber Party Barbie’ was released in 1965, and came with a set of pink scales permanently set to a tiny 110lbs (50kg) and a diet book entitled ‘How to lose weight’ containing just one instruction: “Don’t eat!”
The doll, which also came with pink silk pyjamas, high heel slippers, pink hair curlers and a mirror, has resurfaced after 47 years thanks to a British collector who has posted one for sale on auction website eBay at a price of $59.
The toy — which is outrageous by modern standards — obviously caused a stir at the time too. In 1966 the doll was re-released without the scales, but still toting the diet book with its starvation message.
Today, bedtime Barbie has been stripped of all reference to dieting to reflect our body image conscious society. Barbie Pyjama Doll, the current edition of the slumber party toy, comes with a lamp for reading, a telephone, an eye mask, face cleanser, a soft toy and a mug of hot chocolate.
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