The Ken Doll – Then and Now | Dolls

Barbie’s now ex-boyfriend Ken Carson is a single man.  For decade, you knew them as Barbie and Ken.  Now after all these years they are on their own.  Barbie has held her own in the spotlight all this time, but what do really know about Ken Carson?  Let us explore a little more about the Ken Doll- then and now.

The Ken doll was introduced after Barbie; he is a younger man.  This may have been the start of him following in her shadow all these years.  Ken has not had it easy.  When people talk about him, he has been referred to as a dork, or a “dweeb”.  This is including dedicated Barbie collectors! However, most Barbie collectors have a soft place in their heart for Ken somewhere.  Without Ken, what would Barbie do with all of those fantastic wedding dresses that the fine designers at Mattel have created for Barbie over the years?

Ken was introduced to children in 1961. This was Mattel’s introduction:

“Here he is…the Boyfriend for Barbie the Teen-Age Fashion Model. All Barbie fans will want Ken and his smartly-tailored wardrobe of finest quality materials for perfect fit and finish…with miniature accessories…plus a special arm tag identity for the only genuine Ken Doll.”

That first year, Ken was available with outfits including pajamas, a tuxedo, a terry robe and a very natty looking letterman sweater outfit called “Campus Hero.” Throughout the years, Ken has been dressed for nearly every occasion. His hobbies have included skiing, disco, scuba diving, hunting, camping, baseball and roller-skating. His careers have been varied as much as Barbie‘s.  Ken has been, well just like Barbie, nearly everything nearly.  He has occupied such careers as an astronaut, actor, pilot, doctor, cowboy and more.

In the 1960s, Ken was the boy next door, and his persona and outfits reflected that. First, he came with flocked hair and red swim trunks. In 1962, he received more practical molded hair (since the flocked hair easily rubbed off or came off totally in water and suddenly he was all the same color) and a red and white striped robe. By 1965, he had bendable legs for the first time, and by the end of the 1960s, Ken was talking.

In the 1970s, Ken began a journey of style transformation, like the rest of America.    First, he became a suntanned sun worshipper (remember Malibu Ken?) and then by the middle of the 70s, became quite the hip guy; “Now Look Ken,” produced in 1975, had hair down below his shoulders.   By the end of the 70s, Ken was a bit scarce in toy stores, and he was back to sun tanning (Hawaiian Ken) and shaving (Sport & Shave Ken). Ken came roaring back in the 1980s, and celebrated the disco era with wild abandon. The look of some of the mid-1980s Kens can lead even a lover of the fashions of that decade into gales of laughter–after all, “Jewel Secrets Ken” from 1986 wore a light blue silver lame jumpsuit with a striped shirt and an iridescent bow tie and cummerbund! “Super Star Ken” from 1988 got treated to an all-silver suit with, um, a baby pink bow tie and cummerbund.

By the 1990s, Ken’s journey came full circle, and he found his way back to manly outfits (denim and a checked flannel shirt for “Camp Fun Ken” in 1993), and promising careers. Ken also got back into sports in the 1990’s.   Winter Sports Ken came with his own skis and snowboard (1994).   In  2001 Ken starred as the Nutcracker/Prince in “The Nutcracker” ballet.   To celebrate Ken’s 40th birthday, Mattel has created a commemorative, tuxedo-clad Ken that comes with a mini-Ken: a tiny replica of the very first doll, wearing a red bathing suit, cork sandals and yellow towel (just as 40th Anniversary Barbie came with a mini replica of the #1 Barbie doll from 1959).

Now collectors and Ken doll fans will wait to see what is in store for Ken next.  We do not have to worry about him too much.  He has a set of friends just like Barbie.  Barbie and Ken’s publicist never said they were going to stay apart permanently, only that they needed “some time.”