Barbie memories

Barbie's 50th birthday is being marked around the world with numerous pink-carpet events. But the most meaningful celebration of her milestone is in the stories shared by baby boomers who loved her as youngsters and collect her as adults.

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Stephanie Shareck Werner's Barbie family had an enviable life - a dream house, airplane, convertible and eternal youth. But those once-cherished playthings - like so many of their brethren - have been vanquished to a dull and dusty retirement in her mother's attic.

"This was all accumulated over many years - a delightful indulgence of my youth and a catalyst for my imagination," Werner recalled in an e-mail. "My friends and I would play together, combining our Barbie families and accessories to create soap-opera style scenarios where we seemingly worked out the injustices of our youth."

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Leslie Roman-Williams' younger sister cut off Barbie's ponytails, rendering them worthless as collectors' items.

"My best friend Debbie's mother was more insistent about keeping things pristine," recalled Roman-Williams. "Even as a kid, I laughed when I saw Barbie's outfits carefully hung to dry alongside the family's laundry."