Where’s the party?

Tuesday Taylor, the 11 1/2 inch fashion doll made for Generation X, turned 50 years old this year and nobody threw her a party. That’s just sad.

When her rival Barbie turned the big 5-0 in 2009, it was a global event. Organizers threw a party in Malibu, built a lifesize dollhouse, and commissioned custom gowns from Vera Wang and other top designers. Barbie was created for Boomers in 1959. 

This reminds me of that time the Boomers scored the cover of Time Magazine because they were turning 40. They also won Person of the Year distinction in 1967. 

The one time Generation X appeared on the cover was in 1990, in an article titled “twentysomethings.” The cover lines read: “Laid back, late blooming or just lost? Overshadowed by the baby boomers, America’s next generation has a hard act to follow.” Thanks. 😑

We also made the cover in 2009, for over-parenting, like it was a bad thing. Did you know that if your goal is to make your children happy, you’ll rob them of the resilience they need to endure hard things? I learned this today on the Mel Robbins podcast.

1986

1990

Rotating Scalp

The one thing that made Tuesday Taylor so iconic was her rotating scalp. It sounds horrifying but it was actually genius. You twisted the top of her head to make her a blonde or brunette.

By the way, Tuesday Taylor was often confused with her 19-inch counterpart, Tiffany Taylor, forerunner of the American Girl doll.

Tuesday Weld

I think Tuesday’s name may have been partly inspired by the glamourous actress Tuesday Weld (1943-). I can’t prove it, but at the time the doll was produced in 1975, there was only one Tuesday on earth who was a household name and it was Tuesday Weld. Also, the name worked great as a counterpart to Tiffany. If you’d like to learn more about the beautiful actress check out ⭐ Karine Alourde’s YouTube special. I guess she was quite the scandalous sex kitten, which makes IDEAL’s choice of doll names slightly perplexing.

A Penthouse in the Age of Penthouse Magazine

Another thing that is also a bit disconcerting is Tuesday Taylor’s Penthouse Apartment playset. The word penthouse was closely associated with Penthouse Magazine, which first hit newsstands in 1965. It was a loaded word in the 1970s, and a provocative choice for IDEAL to make given these were toys for young girls.

I also read a blog post that suggested Tuesday’s changing hair indicated she led a double life. That adds a whole new layer to her Penthouse Apartment playset. Yikes. Also, I’m not linking to the post because the site doesn’t have a security certificate and generates a warning.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Strauss and Howe, the historians who wrote The Fourth Turning, Generations and 13th Gen, etc., theorized that each generation absorbs culture created by the previous one.

Taylor Jones

In 1976, IDEAL released Tuesday’s friend Taylor Jones, a Black doll sharing the same mold and flip‑scalp feature. Taylor’s hair could be switched from black to red. She is the rarest of the Tuesday Taylor brand of dolls which also includes a boyfriend, Eric, and a little sister, Dodi. Taylor sells for about $400 on eBay.

Heartland Lag

Back in the 1970s, everything arrived in Rural America a year or two after it hit the coasts. I didn’t discover Tuesday Taylor until I was 10 years old and found her in the toy aisle at a Ben Franklin store in a small town in the Arkansas River Valley. I thought she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Even prettier than Dawn Dolls, which I was totally enamored with. Plus, Tuesday Taylor tanned when you put her in the sun.

I loved walking the aisles of that Ben Franklin store. It was 1978, and for a brief time that summer we ended up homeless and looking for shelter in Fort Smith. I wish I was exaggerating. It took me decades to realize just how crazy all that was.

Barbies In My Head

One thing I learned to do that summer was play Barbies in my head. All of our things were stored in some building or shack behind a local business. I was lonely for my dolls so, I’d close my eyes and daydream about them. It actually worked and I was very happy to be with my dolls again even if only in my mind. 

Another thing I learned is how something relatively small, such as a doll that tans in the sun, can lift your spirits out of absolute despair. That’s how it was for me, anyway. Literally broke and homeless and nearly squatting in someone’s canned ham, my older sister Becky set up a little fireworks display for me in the middle of some street. One glass bottle and a package of bottle rockets and we were good to go. I was in heaven watching them burst into beautiful colors in the sky. To this day I consider this one of the most amazing things anyone has ever done for me.

Small Miracles

Tuesday Taylor was with me in the days following the tumult of that summer. I played with her every day until I was 14. A bit odd, I know, but it was my grand escape from reality. I’d watch soap operas and then go play with my dolls. Also, I still have her. She’s packed away in a small box of childhood memories including a purse shaped like a lion and a clown my grandmother made me. Considering how turbulent my childhood was, it feels like a small miracle that all four of us survived.  

Happy Birthday, Tuesday Taylor!