She has just passed her twenty-fifth birthday. A pert miss, young, attractive, and popular. Possessing more threads in her closet than could be found on your Singer Sewing Machine’s spool. She is a doll. She is rich and famous. Her name is Barbie.

Her boyfriend is tall, dark, and handsome. His tennis outfit would make Jimmy Connors’ eyes turn green with envy. His tailor-made gloves would make the likes of Michael Jackson drool with jealousy. His well-tailored suits are a model for budding executives on Broadway. He is Ken. Like Barbie, he, too, is a doll.

Ken and Barbie are not real. They do not spring into action when the department store closes for the night and the mannequins make merry.

Once upon a time, there were two dolls. In this chapter we look at their story, which begins in f…