How Barbie’s pal got her baby
QUESTION Has there ever been a pregnant Barbie doll? In 1945, Ruth and Elliot Handler began a small toy company with their friend Harold Matson. By combining ‘Mat’ and ‘Ell’ from their names, they created Mattel, which went on to become a global toy-making giant.
In 1959, the company caused a sensation when it introduced the Barbie doll at the American Toy Fair in new York City. She was touted as a teenage fashion model and caused controversy with her outrageously shaped body and sultry sidelong glance.
Her pneumatic proportions were designed so she could wear impeccably tailored dresses and suits.
In 1961, Mattel gave Barbie a boyfriend, Ken Carson, but the relationship was mostly platonic.
Fans clamoured for more friends and, in 1963, Barbie’s red-headed, freckled best friend Midge was introduced, making her shelf debut wearing an orange and lime two-piece bathing suit. In 1964, Mattel released Skipper, Barbie’s younger sister.
Barbie never had children, but Midge did.
The 1964 Midge and Barbie dolls used the same body mould — both had straight legs that could not bend at the knee — but Midge was plainer; she had a fuller, gentler face that was considered to be less sexually intimidating.
In 1965, a Midge with bendable legs was introduced. She sported a shorter, bobbed hairstyle and a one-piece bathing suit.
Midge was romantically linked with Ken’s best friend, Allan Sherwood. Both were discontinued from 1967 until 1991, when Midge and Alan (with the new spelling) were reintroduced for their wedding.
In 2002, Alan and a pregnant Midge were reissued through the Happy Family line with their three-year-old son, Ryan.
The pregnant Midge doll was rather odd. She had a magnetically removable egglike tummy that revealed a baby (called nikki) upside down within. The doll was soon discontinued.
Ally May, Barnstaple, Devon. QUESTION Considering the amount of chewing gum stuck to pavements, has any chemical manufacturer created an agent to clean it up? CHEwIng gum is made from synthetic polymers that come under the catch-all term ‘gum base’. This comprises 25 per cent of the product, the remainder being bulking agents and flavourings.
The gum base may contain various chemicals, including petroleum, lanolin, glycerin, polyethylene, petroleum wax, stearic acid and latex, with polyvinyl acetate being the most widely used.
while the bulk of the chewing gum degrades quickly, the gum base is nonbiodegradable. This forms the hard sticky mass that adheres to pavements.
without treatment, chewing gum can remain as a smear on the ground for years, even decades, before it is eventually worn away by mechanical action.
In 2017, Keep Britain Tidy found 99 per cent of main streets and 64 per cent of all roads and pavements were stained by gum, and estimated the cost of removing it was upwards of £60 million a year.
Chemical products that can remove gum include Craftex, Cleenol and Diversey. These use freezing agents, such as dimethyl ether or tetrafluoroethane, or combinations of solvents (usually some form of ethyl alcohol) to penetrate the gum base, enabling it to be wiped off.
Solvents require long-term application. Freezing is faster, but more expensive. And there is the problem of spreading chemicals in the environment.
Jim Finch, Milton Keynes, Bucks. QUESTION Has any naval expert calculated how many submarines are patrolling the world’s oceans at any given time? ACCoRDIng to the global Firepower Index, not including small submersibles, there are around 500 military submarines in the world: 141 are nuclear powered and the rest are diesel powered. The U.S., China, Britain, France, and Russia all have nuclear-powered subs.
Britain operates seven fleet submarines of the Trafalgar and Astute classes (with four planned or under construction) and four ballistic missile submarines of the Vanguard class. All are nuclear powered.
The U.S. has the biggest fleet with 71 subs. north Korean capability is uncertain: estimates range from 65 to 85.
The secretive nature of their deployment means it’s impossible to know how many subs are deployed at any one time. However, a rule of thumb is that one-sixth of a submarine’s life is spent on deployment, so it can be estimated there are 85 submarines patrolling the seas at any one time — 25 nuclear and 60 conventional.
Alan Ritchie, Bangor. QUESTION Was Play-Doh originally developed as a wallpaper cleaner? What other products have taken on a different role than intended? FURTHER to previous answers, 60 years ago I was friends with Roy Elliott, whose father, Harry, was a research and development engineer for the firm Decca in Raynes Park, South-west London.
Two of his colleagues were developing a substance for use as an adhesive or coating. They were unsuccessful, but discovered their concoction had the smell and texture of a men’s hair product.
They asked Harry to leave his job to join them in developing this product, but he was married with a young family to support, so declined their offer.
The two proceeded without him and produced Brylcreem. Denis Compton, the cricketer, advertised it and will forever be remembered as the Brylcreem man. The rest is history. David Collins, North Warnborough, Hants.
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