Original Publication: The Kenyon Collegian
Original Date: April 17th, 2025
Written By: Mercer Thomas ‘27 and Alexandra Hofacre, ‘27
When we decided to visit the Melanie’s Barbie Collectibles & More Museum together, we might as well have been from different Barbie Worlds:
Alex: As somewhat of a Barbie connoisseur as a child, I was delighted to see many of the Barbies from my childhood at the museum, but I hardly expected how many more I would find.
Mercer: Going into the visit, my Barbie knowledge was largely derived from Trixie Mattel, the Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse TV show and “Barbie,” which I thought was… fine.
Pulling into the small parking lot, in Mount Vernon, we would have known we were in the right place even without the large “Melanie’s Barbie Collection” sign from the pastel pink of the building. It was exactly what you would want from a small-town Ohio attraction. Melanie Mowery herself ushered us into the first room, an event space for parties and a play area for smaller children along with a few display cases, and collected the tour fees ($12 for students). One of these displays featured various Barbie cars and the other contained special edition Barbie collaborations with the Hard Rock Cafe and Harley Davidson. On a high shelf lining the walls were vintage Barbie travel cases for Barbie and her friends and family. Melanie, as she introduced herself ot us, began the tour here and just from this room alone, visitors to the museum have no clue what lies in the other rooms: 2,010 dolls, to be exact.
The tour began in earnest in the first real display room, which contained a wide variety of celebrity look alike Barbies such as Madonna, Taylor Swift, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, Jennifer Lopez, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Dolly Parton and Stevie Nicks — Melanie’s most recent addition to the celebrity collection. There was also a sporty Barbie section featuring NBA Barbies representing teams and cheerleader Barbies waving pom-poms for colleges around the United States (but, sadly, no Kenyon Barbie). Also included among these shelves were many movie, TV show and brand collaborations and recreations of various media characters like Maria from “The Sound of Music,” DC Comics superheroes, characters from I Love Lucy— dolls Melanie made sure to acquire due to her love for the show — and, of course, the special edition dolls released during the “Barbie” hype in 2023. Also notable about this room was the collection of additional Mattel toys that were given out by McDonald’s from the 80s through the early 2010s.
From this first room, it was clear that for Melanie, the collection and museum were incredibly personal and charted not only the history of Barbie but also Melanie’s life and memories. It was as much a tour of her life as a tour of the dolls. Most of the McDonald’s collection, for example, was from her time working for the company. For many of the other dolls, she recalled exactly who had given them to her and for what occasion. Melanie had dreamt of opening a museum for years, and explained that the opening had been a long time coming. She bought the property for the museum in June 2023, but it took longer to open than anticipated. “I did open the museum last year (2024) and gave tours,” Melanie said. “Then I was going to do parties, but I had to get this approved by the fire department.” (As of 8/28/25, Melanie is approved to hold parties at her museum and will soon be sharing the pricing for her party packages and rental.)
Walking into the next room, Melanie explained the origin story of the Barbie doll. Beside a display case filled with the dolls that served as Ruth Handler’s inspiration for the original Barbie, she told us that “[Handler] was in Germany and saw these. They’re called Bill Lilly dolls, these three in front and that’s how she came up with Barbie, and she later on bought the rights so that she could make Barbie.” Melanie also told us that Barbie’s immediate popularity sparked attempts both from Mattel and other companies at recreating this success with other dolls. This particular display case was fascinating to see due to the inclusion of other dolls made by Mattel despite them not having stayed in the public eye for long enough to be as popular as Barbie remains to be. There was also a section devoted to what Melanie termed the “controversial Barbies,” which have since been discontinued — some, like Earring Magic Ken, Growing Up Skipper and Pregnant Midge, were recognizable because of their cameos in “Barbie,” while others, like Tattoo Barbie and Sports Illustrated Barbie, are lesser known.
Winding our way between the rows of display cases, we found ourselves among some of the most vibrant Barbies, wearing artfully crafted outfits. Although this room continues the collection of movie characters, it also holds the Holiday Collection Barbies and Angel Barbies. But we were immediately drawn to the large amount of collector’s edition dolls with clothing made in collaboration with fashion designer Bob Mackie including fairies, mermaids, butterflies and Barbies dressed for themed events like masquerades or specific time periods. In addition to the line of Mackie dolls, there were dolls from Dior and Coach, among others. The dolls in these boxes donned mini couture gowns and exemplified Mattel’s interest in creating collections aimed at adults, thus diversifying their audience. “I think my favorites are the angel ones. And I love Bob Mackie. He’s one of my favorite,” Melanie said. These fashion dolls could have been heading to the Met Gala — and this was one display where it felt particularly disappointing that all the dolls were still in their boxes, leaving them behind both plastic and the glass of the display cases. Seeing them walking a red carpet or posing would have gone a long way to break up the monotony of sealed box after sealed box.
…
As the tour continued, we saw the second to last room, containing around-the-world Barbies, the more recent career Barbies, and inspirational figures like Frida Kahlo, Rosa Parks, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Keller, Maya Angelou, Eleanor Roosevelt and Susan B. Anthony.
As soon as Melanie unlocked the door to the final room and we walked in, it was clear why she had been saving it for last. When we stepped into the room, we were greeted with a central display containing two of the very first Barbie dolls ever created, as well as the closely following generations of the doll — even one signed by creator Ruth Handler. Within the other display cases were the original Kens, Alans and Skippers, a variety of vintage Barbies in the clothes they were released in and wedding Barbies spanning decades.
Despite the small imperfections of the museum, the collection surpassed our expectations and is well worth the visit. So if you’re looking for something to break up your regular Gambier routine, consider saying “Come on, Barbie, let’s go party!” to your friends, putting on some pink and going to the Dreamhouse.”
