With Barbiemania hitting downtown Jefferson, the Greene County Historical Museum is also getting in on the act.

Greene County Historical Society Treasurer and Program Coordinator Margaret Hamilton says there will be an open house this Saturday from 9am-noon, where about 400 vintage Barbies, including some of the first ones made in the 1950s, will be fully on display. Hamilton tells Raccoon Valley Radio there will be several kid-friendly activities, including a scavenger hunt of various Barbies that are hidden in the museum.

“Yeah, this is something we really encourage children to attend. Our last Barbie open house we had children at it. And we encourage children to stop in. There will be refreshments, they can do the scavenger hunt, we’ll have a guessing how many Barbie accessories we have in a jar, there will be a number of little games for people to play and it’s something that kids could enjoy.” 

Hamilton invites youth and adults to see other parts of the museum while they are there checking out the vintage Barbie dolls on display.

“It’s a really good opportunity to stop into the museum, then you can look around the back if you want, there’s quite a lot there to see and people really enjoy it. It’s a good place to come with kids on a weekend. So if you’re looking for something to do in the summer, kids really enjoy it (coming to the museum). There are a lot of things that they can touch, they (the exhibits) have green dots, and children are invited to play with them and interact.”   

The museum has extended its hours this month to coincide with the nearly 600 Barbie dolls that the historical society has lended to Barbie By The Bells, in the former Sensibly Chic building. The hours that both locations are open are 1-4pm on Wednesdays, noon-5pm Thursdays and Sundays, 10am-5pm Fridays and Saturdays from 9am-5pm. While the museum admission is free, there is a $5 admission charge for Barbie By The Bells, with those proceeds going back to the museum.