Holiday Barbie 1989 - Establishing Her Place

I don't have too much to say about 1989, the second year of Holiday Barbies, and tentative confirmation that this is indeed about to become “a thing.”
Advertisement for 1989 Holiday Barbie

I’m not saying she wasn’t fancy and well-designed for the times, just that it was only the second year and Mattel really didn’t have to try too hard just yet. Put her in a big poufy ball gown, give her some pageant hair and makeup and slap her in big old box that makes a decent display case and there you have it: One more doll that slipped through my young collection-loving fingers. The only Holiday Barbie worth any real money today is the first one (and mind you, by real money I mean could maybe pay for some minor car repairs if you're savvy about selling, not could pay for the new car itself or anything), but 1989 still seems to be a little harder to find in mint condition than successive years.

What I had forgotten about is that, while not any sort of holiday-themed Barbie, we also got the Unicef Barbie this year. Not a holiday Barbie, but I remember her appearing around the same time, she adhered to the same sparkly-ball-gown/pageant-hair aesthetic and you can bet your ass I had a big circle around this item in my 1989 Sears Wishbook as well.

I think my favorite thing today looking at the Unicef Barbies is how for some reason they seemed to be packaged in more interesting poses than most Barbies past:
Blonde Unicef Barbie posed in package
"Oh DAH-ling, it's Unicef, and here I am in all these SPAH-kles! Well there simply must be a parade right? Let’s see if I remember… elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist… Oh yes, I’ve got it, pass the blue eyeshadow please!”
African American Unicef Barbie posed in package
"I'm wearing lots of bead! And we're donating proceeds. Unicef, Vogue!!"

And my personal favorite:
Hispanic Unicef Barbie posed in package

"HOLY POOP! IT'S UNICEF!!"


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