“I’M GOING TO HAWAII… CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?”: EDITED ORIGINAL TYPESCRIPT OF BARBIE’S HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY, WITH A FIRST EDITION OF THE PUBLISHED BOOK
MAYBEE, Bette Lou. Barbie’s Hawaiian Holiday (typescript). WITH: Barbie’s Hawaiian Holiday (book). New York: Random House, (1963). Typescript: 111 leaves of typing paper, typing on versos only; housed in contemporary mailing envelope and custom chemise with mounted pictorial label. Book: Octavo, original pictorial boards.
Original, heavily edited typescript of Bette Lou Maybee’s novel about the iconic fashion doll—one in a surprisingly “revolutionary” series of books depicting Barbie as an intelligent and independent young woman—accompanied by a first edition of the published book.
The Barbie phenomenon has long encompassed far more than the doll herself (created by Mattel in 1959). “With the 1961 debut of Barbie magazine, the Barbie Fan’s Club official publication, Barbie took shape as a character in stories by Bette Lou Maybee and Cynthia Lawrence, two Carson/Roberts [an advertising agency working with Mattel at the time] copywriters who were then in their thirties… The stories and novels, which were published in book form by Random House between 1962-65, were revolutionary: In them, Barbie doesn’t model herself on Mom, a self-abnegating slave in financial thrall to Dad; she finds a female mentor who points the way to independence…. What stands out in the fiction of Bette Lou Maybee… is Barbie’s fierce democratic tendencies. Life is portrayed as a meritocracy: Rich kids who exploit their parents’ wealth or social position do not get ahead, they get their comeuppance” (M.G. Lord, 132-33, 144). This heavily edited typescript, 111 leaves in all, appears to reflect the final text of the novel as it was published in 1963. Typescript proceeds from page 70 to page 72; no text missing (compare page 112 in the published book). Manuscript corrects, additions and typsetting instructions throughout. Mailing envelope bears a label addressed from Random House to Maybee. Pencil notation on book’s first leaf indicates the book comes from Maybee’s own library.
Typescript in excellent condition with light wear to first and final few leaves. Book fine with slight rubbing to extremities, a few minor abrasions to front board. A desirable addition to any collection of twentieth century American children’s literature.