1961, what a year!  For little girls everywhere that was the year that their beloved Barbie doll had a trip to the beauty salon.And it wasn't pretend or play, this was for
real!

Barbie doll changed her hairstyle from a perky
Ponytailto a sophisticated Bouffant up-do. Collectors call this hairstyle The Bubble, or more often referred to as
BubbleCut Barbie doll.

his change in
hairstyle was very well received and millions of little girls, whether they had
Ponytail Barbie dolls
or were just buying their first doll, had to have a BubbleCut. Bubblecut Barbie doll was so popular that today she is one
of the most commonly found Vintage Barbie dolls.
There are literally hundreds of BubbleCut Barbie dolls for sale on eBay at any given
moment. And she is usually quite
reasonable priced.  As a matter of fact,
she's one of the cheapest dolls available for today's Vintage collector.

But, is this a bad thing? Absolutely not!  The BubbleCut is the doll that can look just
as good in a pair of blue jeans as she does in a beautiful evening gown. And
little girls enjoyed this doll's hair so much that they were seldom tempted to
give her a trim or restyle as they were on their dolls with longer hair. But a
BubbleCut wasn't always just a BubbleCut!  Even
with that basic bouffant hairstyle, many variations, visible to the trained
eye, can be found in the styles of her hair. You can easily find mini-versions of your favorite movie stars of the era when
looking at a BubbleCut Barbie doll.  We've seen Lucille
Ball, Jackie Kennedy, Doris Day and one of my personal favorites, the girl that
I privately refer to as the Annette Funicello. Ah, for the good old
Beach Party!

While the
BubbleCut Barbie doll
appeared to have one basic hairstyle, the Mattel,Inc. factory workers, bless
their artistic hearts, often played beauty salon with the dolls while they
rooted her hair.  Not only did the
BubbleCut doll come in a variety of colors and shades, her style changed
depending upon the worker who was installing her hair. Barbie doll's hair was normally rooted with the
hair inserted so that it swept to the left with no actual part.  But there are instances of dolls with full-parts
in their hair on the right side.

This
doll is referred to as the SidePart BubbleCut.  This doll has special thatching that makes a very tight part in the
hair.Chances are that if you have a
BubbleCut who has a part in her hair, she probably isn't a SidePart. The hair
of the common BubbleCut can be loosely parted to give the impression of a part.
And many children brushed their BubbleCut doll's hair that way. If you can
brush the part out of the hair, then that doll is not a SidePart!

There was
another style of BubbleCut hair that is extremely hard-to-find, even with all
of those Bubbles out there.  This is the
BubbleCut who has hair that is rooted from the left and her hair sweeps to the
right.  Lucky collector who owns either
one of these beauties!

The hair colors
for the BubbleCut Barbie were quite varied.  She came in some delicious, rich colors such as, Platinum, Titian (a
vibrant red), Brunette (referred to lately as the Fudge hair), Lemon
Blonde, and White Ginger.  There was
also Jet Black and the elusive Brownette who has hair color that can be
compared to that of a luxurious Sable mink coat!</span></p>

The BubbleCut
Barbie doll
was in production for seven full years. That's why we find so many of her today.  She has a timeless beauty that we can enjoy for many years to
come!