Cool Shoppin' Barbie Box: Museum Object and Cultural History
Cool Shoppin' Barbie Box: Object Name: doll box. Object Name: box. Physical Description: cardboard (inner box material).
The object in the museum catalogue
Mattel manufactured Cool Shoppin’ Barbie in 1997. Cool Shoppin’ Barbie came with her own clothing store that sold shirts, skirts, sunglasses, shoes, perfume, and purses and had a working register and credit card reader. Barbie had her own MasterCard, which would say “credit approved” when swiped at the register. Parents and consumer advocates complained that Barbie should not encourage wanton spending and credit debt or advertise the MasterCard brand to young children. While Cool Shoppin’ Barbie sold well during the 1997 holiday season, the contract between Barbie and MasterCard was not renewed the next year—making the toy a sought-after collectible.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Object Name: doll box
- Object Name: box
- Physical Description: cardboard (inner box material)
- Physical Description: cardboard, mylar (outer box material)
- Measurements: overall: 12 1/2 in x 5 1/4 in x 4 in; 31.75 cm x 13.335 cm x 10.16 cm
- ID Number: 2013.3116.02
- accession number: 2013.3116
- catalog number: 2013.3116.02
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
Sources
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