Barbie and her feet--I never gave the feet a second thought

I always thought it was stupid that Barbie couldn’t wear anything but high heels. But then again, I never really played with Barbies (or any dolls for that matter) so maybe I wasn’t the target market. My kid never played with Barbies either and only owned one that someone gave her for her birthday or something. Once you took those stupid little shoes off they would never stay on anymore and they would always get lost.

My first Barbie was a Ballerina Barbie, so at the time I thought her feet were shaped like that for ballet. As I got older, I understood that it was a little weird that her feet were shaped like that, but, eg, I had Roller Skating Barbie and you could put roller skates on her feet just fine, so I didn't think of it as limiting or anything.

I always wondered why Barbie had feet in such an unnatural arch. 

For myself I was never allowed to own or play with Barbie dolls. My German mother thought they were horrible for little girls, and not appropriate at all. I always thought it had to do with the fact that Barbie is a grown up female with boobs, but watching that video just now I learned that the original Barbie doll was inspired by a German doll that was made for adults to give each other as gifts! Barbie's manufacture Mattel didn't change the original model from the German doll (once they bought the rights) much at all. I finally get it! 

Instead we (my sister and I) played with Liddle Kiddle dolls when we were kids-we had such a blast with those little dolls!

My actual real human feet are shaped much like Barbie feet. I have a naturally very high arch. When I exit the pool all you see is the wet imprint of my toes/ball of the foot and a small part of the heel on the pool surround/ walkway. I've always worn heels as they're more comfortable to me. My mum's feet were similar though her arch wasn't quite as big. (shrug)

     It wasn't my Oma it was my mother. She was born and raised in Germany and moved to the USA in 1965 at the age of 25-so she must have been very aware of the adult doll that Barbie was modeled after. Only she never told me that's why we never could play with Barbies-because they were modeled after an adult doll. Even after I was all grown up and married. She's now 83 and I'm 63. Next time I see her (she lives in the same town as I do) I'm going to ask her about this. She'll probably say she doesn't remember. 

Back then the only thing she'd say was that they weren't appropriate for little girls. 

If it's wasn't for library lady posting this video about the history of the Barbie doll I still wouldn't know, so thanks so much library lady!

PS  Oma is the German word for grandmother 

I remember Liddle Kiddles. Who'd have thought there'd be so much fun in dolls that were only 3 inches tall? Also recall their even smaller sisters, Locket Kiddles.