1961, what a year! For little girls everywhere that was the year that their beloved Barbie® doll had a trip to the beauty salon.  And it wasn't pretend or play, this was for real!

Barbie® doll changed her hairstyle from a perky Ponytail® to a sophisticated Bouffant up-do.  Collectors call this hairstyle The Bubble, or more often referred to as BubbleCut Barbie® doll.

This change in hairstyle was very well received and millions of little girls, whether they had Ponytail® Barbie® dolls or were just buying their first doll, had to have a BubbleCut.  Bubblecut Barbie® doll was so popular that today she is one of the most commonly found Vintage Barbie® dolls.  There are literally hundreds of BubbleCut Barbie® dolls for sale on the web at any given moment.  And she is usually quite reasonable priced.  As a matter of fact, she's one of the cheapest dolls available for today's Vintage collector.  But, is this a bad thing? Absolutely not!  The BubbleCut is the doll that can look just as good in a pair of blue jeans as she does in a beautiful evening gown. And little girls enjoyed this doll's hair so much that they were seldom tempted to give her a trim or restyle as they were on their dolls with longer hair. But a BubbleCut wasn't just a BubbleCut!  Even with that basic bouffant hairstyle, many variations, visible to the trained eye, can be found in the styles of her hair.  You can easily find mini-versions of your favorite movie stars when looking at a BubbleCut Barbie® doll.  We've seen Lucille Ball, Jackie Kennedy, Doris Day and one of my personal favorites, the girl that I privately refer to as the "Annette Funicello". Ah, for the good old Beach Party!

While the BubbleCut Barbie® doll appeared to have one basic hairstyle, the Mattel,Inc. factory workers, bless their artistic hearts, often played beauty salon with the dolls while they rooted her hair.  Not only did the BubbleCut doll come in a variety of colors and shades, her style changed depending upon the worker who was installing her hair.  Barbie® doll's hair was normally rooted with the hair inserted so that it swept to the left with no actual part.  But there are instances of dolls with full-parts in their hair on the right side.  This doll is referred to as the SidePart BubbleCut.  This doll has special thatching that makes a very tight part in the hair.  Chances are that if you have a BubbleCut who has a part in her hair, she probably isn't a SidePart. The hair of the common BubbleCut can be loosely parted to give the impression of a part. And many children brushed their BubbleCut doll's hair that way. If you can brush the part out of the hair, then that doll is not a SidePart!

There was another style of BubbleCut hair that is extremely hard-to-find, even with all of those Bubbles out there.  This is the BubbleCut who has hair that is rooted from the left and her hair sweeps to the right.  Lucky collector who owns either one of these beauties!

The hair colors for the BubbleCut Barbie were quite varied.  She came in some delicious, rich colors such as, Platinum, Titian (a vibrant red), Brunette (referred to lately as the "Fudge" hair), Lemon Blonde, and White Ginger.  There was also Jet Black and the elusive Brownette who has hair color that can be compared to that of a luxurious Sable mink coat!

The BubbleCut Barbie® doll was in production for seven full years.  That's why we find so many of her today.  She has a timeless beauty that we can enjoy for many years to come!