Barbies setting up house at Lincoln Parish Museum

With all due respect to Mattel, Barbie has a new Dream House for the holidays.

Thanks to a generous community supporter, the Lincoln Parish Museum will be home to a special exhibit of 35 Holiday Barbies. It’s an idea Museum Director Rick Godley said took root during last year’s holiday season.

“It was the night of the Century Next Bank exhibit and Museum Open House,” Godley said. “ Someone walks up and said she had a lot of old Barbie stuff if the museum would be interested. But I wanted to be sure whatever we brought into the museum is something of value for Lincoln Parish and it kinda stalled.”

However, Godley then was approached with another Barbie idea. Ruby Pye just happened to have a personal collection of Holiday Barbies dating from 1988 to present. She asked if he was interested in putting them on display, and the answer was yes.

“The train exhibit last year was phenomenal, magical, mystical,” Godley said. “So when she offered the Barbie exhibit, I thought it would be a great idea for this holiday season.”

The Holiday Barbie Collection will be part of the Lincoln Parish Museum Sponsor/ Member Open House Party scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 6-8 p.m. The exhibit will also be available Dec. 4-6, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Dec. 7, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Admission is free.

In addition, guests can expect lots of pink touches to enhance the festive “Barbie Takes Over” occasion. A pink phone booth will be on site for party pics and selfies and the museum will be bathed in pink spotlights as part of the celebration. Furthermore, a limited number of pink hand-printed “Barbie Takes Over the Lincoln Parish Museum” T-shirts are available from Cotton Top in Ruston. Orders are being taken now.

Godley said the collection of Holiday Barbies will be displayed in various rooms to help funnel guests through different spaces of the house. Pye indicated she was thrilled to share her collection with the community.

“I have always loved Barbie and started collecting them after I saw the very first one,” Pye said. “Having received one from my husband (Jerry) every Christmas, I am delighted to share them with the public so everyone can see the beauty of Barbie and enjoy them as much as I have.”

For Godley, the interesting thing about the exhibit is that it will appeal to different aged people, beginning with those who grew up with Barbie.

“You have older people who grew up with the first Barbies and then they will bring their children and grandchildren,” Godley said. “When I announced this at the Downtown Main Street meeting, there was literally a collective gasp in the room. You could tell people were excited.”

However, Barbie won’t be the only feature on display. Among the festive decorations, there will still be a few trains to help with the holiday spirit. Plus, Godley has multiple upgrades he is excited to unveil for the public.

“We have new displays that students from the history department at Louisiana Tech just finished,” Godley continued. “ We’ve done some renovating and sprucing up the rooms and it’s looking really good.”

Among the new exhibits, displays and collections are the Davis-Long-Green Room, the Mary Moffett Room, Clarence and Louise Faulk Art of Ruston Collection, Ruston Rifle Regiment from the Spanish American War, and the “Walls that Talk” 2.0. Yet while the upgrades are significant, Godley emphasizes they are just getting started.

“I look around and envision maybe this time next year, another part will be complete so that we can have even more exhibits,” Godley said. “Or in a couple of months we’ll have one more thing done. It’s all very exciting. Well, it’s really awesome. Just like the Barbie Exhibition. The magic of this place just continues.”