Barbie's first dreamhouse had no kitchen. The one-room, single-story 1962 home contained everything a teenager requires for fun, including a Hi-Fi TV console with a record player, a bed, a simple couch, and the obligatory closet. But there are also books, LPs and pennants identifying her as a college graduate.
By HGTV standards, Ms. Barbie Millicent Roberts' starter palace was dinky. It was also indisputably her own, popping in toy stores a full year before the Equal Pay Act was passed to protect women against pay discrimination in the workplace. More than a decade later, in 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act opened up access to loans and credit for women, enabling more unmarried women to purchase property without a male co-signer.
