Barbie

A Superstar for Three Decades — The Keepsake Debut That Started It All

The 1993 Holiday Barbie Keepsake ornament arrived with an announcement: "A superstar for three decades, she makes her Keepsake Ornament debut in this new series that was inspired by the wonderfully detailed Barbie dolls offered during the holidays." The ornament is in The Henry Ford's permanent collection, recognized as a cultural artifact of American holiday tradition. Patricia Andrews sculpted it — the same Patricia Andrews who sculpted Gone with the Wind, Marilyn Monroe, and the entire Barbie Keepsake catalog across both series. The 1993 Barbie wears a red ball gown shimmering with gold glitter, a gold bodice with red poinsettias, poufy bow sleeves, and red crystal earrings. The bottom is flat so she can stand on a shelf as well as hang on the tree. The series verification number "1" is stamped on the bottom.

The first series ran for six consecutive years, 1993 through 1998, with each entry corresponding to that year's Mattel Holiday Barbie doll. Then the Hallmark/Mattel licensing agreement expired at the end of 2012, ending all Barbie Keepsakes — to the grief of the collector community, which had come to regard the annual Holiday Barbie as one of the most anticipated entries in any year's ornament catalog. "I don't believe that the true impact of this news will be felt until collectors see the gaping hole left by the absence of Barbie," a major ornament retailer noted at the time. The license was restored in 2015. A new second series began — a fresh #1, a new chapter, the same essential tradition: every year, a miniature of the holiday gown, sculpted in the Hallmark Keepsake style that has made these ornaments among the most collected in the catalog's history.

Patricia Andrews — The Sculptor Behind Both Series

Tips for the Collection

• 01
  The 1993 #1 is the collection's most historically significant and collectible entry. In The Henry Ford's permanent collection. The most collected, highest-valued, and most immediately recognizable entry in the Barbie Keepsake catalog. For any Holiday Barbie collector, this is the anchor of the entire collection — the ornament that Series #2 (2015) points back to when it restarts at #1 with the same tradition. Display it prominently.
• 02
  Display both series in parallel to see the tradition's evolution. The six original series entries (1993–1998, #1–6) and the ongoing second series (2015–2025, #1–11) tell the same story in two chapters, separated by a gap when the license lapsed. Arranged side by side — Series 1 on the left, Series 2 on the right — the collection reads as a thirty-two-year chronicle of Holiday Barbie fashion, with a deliberate intermission in the middle.
• 03
  Every Holiday Barbie ornament corresponds to that year's specific Mattel Holiday Barbie doll. This is the collection's most important quality for serious collectors: each ornament is not a generic Barbie figure but a miniature replica of a specific annual doll. Knowing which doll each ornament represents adds a layer of meaning — the ornament and the doll are the same design, at different scales, from the same year.
• 04
  The bottom of each ornament is flat — they can stand on a shelf as well as hang on the tree. A distinctive practical detail from the 1993 entry that has continued through the series: Holiday Barbie ornaments can be displayed upright on a mantel, bookshelf, or display case as well as hung on the tree, which gives collection displays more flexibility than most ornament series.
• 05
  All 17 Holiday Barbie Keepsake ornaments, 1993 through 2025, are at Already Christmas. Both complete series — the original six and the ongoing second series — are in the collection. The complete wardrobe of Holiday Barbie, from red poinsettias in 1993 to the latest gown in 2025.