Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Nurse Whitney 1987



I'm not winning the originality contest by saying that I love 1971 Steffie headmold. I love it not only for the striking beauty of its features or the serenity of its expression but also for the versatility. Steffie has given a face to Barbie's numerous friends, such as Tracy, Whitney, P.J. as well as Midge or Teresa on occasion and even Christie. Steffie looks great as a blonde, a brunette or a redhead. She's been given multiple nationalities and racial features, so we've seen her as a Caucasian, a Hispanic, an African American and even an Asian.

It follows that such a face must be universally loved and an object of desire to many collectors. I'm not different and amongst such a wide variety of Steffie-faced dolls I have my favorites. The Dream Date P.J. remains out of my reach for her crazy price, but I've taken a great liking to Nurse Whitney. That liking, slowly increasing, made me forget about P.J. and many other versions of Steffie. What a surprise and joy when it turned out a collector was selling her and almost round the corner.




It follows that such a face must be universally loved and an object of desire to many collectors. I'm not different and amongst such a wide variety of Steffie-faced dolls I have my favorites. The Dream Date P.J. remains out of my reach for her crazy price, but I've taken a great liking to Nurse Whitney. That liking, slowly increasing, made me forget about P.J. and many other versions of Steffie. What a surprise and joy when it turned out a collector was selling her and almost round the corner.



The date on her box (yes!!! she's got a box!!!) states 1987 and she remains my oldest doll, for now. Nurse Whitney is the embodiment of a dolly perfection! She's a brunette, has beautiful blue eyes with minimal blue eye make-up and pink pouty lips.




But it's not only the beauty of the doll itself that has charmed me. The whole line is a stroke of genius on the part of the old Mattel. The series also includes Doctor Barbie and Doctor Ken and reminds me of the Day to Night Barbie. Nurse Whitney, for instance, does her rounds during the day and in the evening, when she's of duty, she hits the town with a style! She's perfectly dressed and equipped to perform both roles. The below commercial presents Barbie and Ken as well as the Barbie Play and go Hospital/Doctor's Bag Playset 1987. There's no Whitney though.




My Whitney has lost some of her pieces, and good that she has, otherwise she'd be equally unattainable as P.J. for her price. But Whitney's nurse outfit originally included a headpiece, a white ruffled blouse (which my doll is missing both of them) and a dress (yes, it's a one-piece ) with a white plain bottom and a lacy lavender top with a single metal snap. So in order to transform, she just puts on a pleaded iridescent lavender overskirt tied with a ribbon at the back and voila! The white pumps match both outfits and Whitney's also wearing a 'diamond' ring and a pair of matching earrings.



Now her accessories! Oh my goodness! Mattel used to be generous, but I feel totally spoiled with the amount although my doll has lost many of them. But she originally came with a stethoscope, an adhesive strip box, a scale, a cast, an otoscope, a clipboard, a watch, a reflex hammer, a blood pressure gauge, 4 bottles, a tray, a notepad and a real working doctor's bag to put all the accessories inside! And of course, there's the brush that my Whitney’s hair has had no contact with whatsoever and some punch-outs. Here are the accessories I've got.



Whitney’s off to work. The background is the 2017 Pet care center.





Ooups, I guess Whitney went slightly overboard last night and now she needs to wear the cast. As a registered nurse, she’s fully qualified and skilled to put it on herself! Of course, for Whitney even the cast must be color-coordinated.


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