25 Days: The Barbie Dream Boat

One of the best gifts I remember getting for Christmas as a little girl was from my older half-brother, Brian. He's eleven years older than me and was in high school when I was in elementary, so he always got us cool presents. One year he bought my sister a red Mustang for her Barbies - it expanded from a two-seater convertable to a four-seater. Whitneigh never let Ken drive it since it was Barbie's car - and when Barbie double dated, both guys had to sit in the back. No muscle cars for Ken at our house.

Anyway, the coolest thing Brian ever gave us was the 1994 Barbie Dream Boat.

This one sold on ebay for $85.

First, it was pink. About three different shades of pink. It had tons of cool decals to decorate it with stylish monograms. And it had a pool, who needs a boat with a pool? Barbie, that's who.

Second, it had a blender. A blender! Do you see that pink transparent thing in the middle of the boat? A Blender. It's on a hot pink battery-powered base with a pulse button that would mix your drink. Come to think of it, who thought it was a good idea to put a blender on a little girl's toy? Were we supposed to be making margaritas or something? It even came with two pink plastic cups (you can see them on top of the boathouse in the picture). Whitneigh and I used it to make chocolate milk - it was the only beverage we knew of that you had to mix before you drank it. It made for a pretty sticky boat.

Now the boat is in my parents' basement, along with the red Mustang, waiting for the day when we have daughters of our own and can give them our embarrassingly old-fashioned plastic toys to play with. 

In the bottom photo here you can see that in the back of the Dream Boat is a kitchen and a fold-out patio that reveals a set of super comfy looking twin beds (those stick-on pillows look especially inviting). Judging by the table on the patio the boat came with a set of pink candlesticks and a golden ice bucket with a pink bottle of champagne. Apparently Barbie drinks now? I guess that explains why it was okay for there to be a blender...