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| Mattel Goddess of Spring Barbie |
I missed April Fool's Day. The first week of April is gone. I have yet to submit a "themes of the month" post. Well, here it is. Topics that might be covered in April - my source for these dates is the TimeandDate.com website, holiday tab.
We'll start with the obvious: Spring and Spring Cleaning. Yes, Spring started on March 20th, but we are just beginning to feel it here in Philadelphia. We survived this bitter cold and snow-suffocating Winter; now we are getting a few days of sunshine and warmth. (April showers, too, but hey, it's not slippery ice.)
Mattel's Goddess of Spring Barbie heads this post as my [once] only Spring-themed doll. Mattel has produced many other Spring Barbie dolls. That's a good theme topic: dress dolls and action figures in Spring fashions. Banish the coats and scarves and boots. Bright and airy fashions for all!
While Spring Cleaning is not a holiday, many people observe it by cleaning and clearing out stuff. This year, I intend to celebrate my doll enthusiasm by cleaning my fine figures and forwarding (i.e., selling and/or giving away) others. Perhaps, the Goddess of Spring Barbie was not my only Spring-themed doll. Time to go through my collection to see what I have and what I no longer want so that I can make room for new characters. Collecting is cyclical like the seasons: time now to do weeding and pruning to allow for new growth.
Here are more special April days that are or could be observed in playscale:
15th is the first day of Passover. Does anyone else find the absence of Passover Barbies odd given that Ruth Handler, Barbie's human mother/creator was Jewish? I am not making an argument for a Passover Barbie, just commenting. Dolls do not have to match the race or ethnicity or religion* of the person or people creating and distributing the dolls, right? Then again, just because Mattel has not formally created a Passover Barbie, others have.
20th is Easter Sunday Mattel has produced several Easter Barbies and Easter Kelly / Chelsea dolls. With no disrespect or malice meant towards any, I think of Easter Barbie and family as commercial, not so much religious as event-focused. Easter Bunny, Easter bonnets, egg hunts, chocolate eggs, and marshmallow Peeps aside, Easter is a religious holiday. Isn't it? Or can it be that Easter - like Christmas - has become ... more secular? I wonder.
21st is Patriot's Day. Whew, off the hot button of religion and collecting - don't ask why I open mouth and insert both feet at times - and on to a less volatile subject. I include Patriot's Day here although I drew a blank when I first read about it. It isn't a big Philly holiday - so I probably will not do any tributes here. Still, I mention it in case someone else is seeking an April holiday/observation.
22nd is Earth Day. Recycling holiday. Instead of lamenting the plastic gone into making dolls and action figures, we can make sure that none go to waste. Make something new and fresh with your dolls. One artist created her vision of an Earth Day Barbie that strikes me as bizarre because I think of Barbie as being plastic. And she's fine being plastic - that's the medium she began in and can stay in for my interests. So I'm thinking recycling projects for that day. And recycling links! Yes!
23rd is Administrative Professionals Day. As a former and possibly future administrative professional, I will acknowledge this day. Some of my ex-military action figures can have a new career.
25th is Arbor Day. Okay, tree day ... wooden furniture? Ouch! No! Dolls and action figures encircling trees? Yeah, right. Maybe playscale trees ... now that's better.
Will you be celebrating any days in April with your dolls and/or action figures? Share your links in the comments. Thanks!
*added religion to be more accurate.
