In a humble, wooden 1912 schoolhouse in Davie, Barbie expert Constance Ruppender, a longtime resident of Wilton Manors, carefully arranges her exquisite collection of 300 dolls, for her exhibit: Barbie Girl: A Collector’s Showcase. Without being aware of it, Ruppender not only beat a large, famous museum to the punch by two days, her doll collection is almost double the size of the one being touted globally by the famous Design Museum of London.
On July 5, the Design Museum of London debuted Barbie: The Exhibition, where thee British are proudly featuring180 dolls.
But at the Old Davie School Historical Museum, Ruppender, inspired by Barbie’s 65th anniversary, is exhibiting 300 dolls.
Making this even more of an amazing accomplishment; is that Ruppender is the sole collector of the dolls and arranged the entire show.
And while she played with Barbies as a child, she says didn’t begin collecting until she was 34.
Born in Hopewell, Virginia, she has lived in Florida since she was 24 years old. For the last 37 years, she has been a key volunteer and citizen in Wilton Manors. She has served on the town’s Planning and Zoning Board and is now on the Budget Review Advisory Committee. Ruppender was a board member of the Central Area Neighborhood Association of Wilton Manors and was deeply involved with the local theater scene. She is also president and a founder of the nonprofit Art Gallery 21.
Though very busy with her civic work, Ruppender always finds time for her favorite obsession: Barbie.
“As a kid in the 1960s, I played with Barbies. Around age 11, I stopped,” she said. “But when I was 34, I spotted a Malibu Barbie at a Deerfield Beach flea market and bought it for $5.”
She was hooked.
Ruppender asked her mom to search for any Barbies still at home. Her mother found six Barbies loose in a Dream House along with two Ken cases and three Barbie cases, which were stored in a coat closet.
“I became a collector, and it became an obsession. This was in the mid-80’s and it was not only me. A lot of women in my age group rediscovered Barbie,” says Ruppender, adding that she’s been collecting the dolls and fashion outfits for 40 years.
She says that the 2023 movie invigorated her as a collector and has “probably seen it with different friends 15 times. (Director) Greta Gerwig’s a genius.”
In 2011 and 2016, Ruppender curated Barbie Girl showcases at the Old Davie School, where she also arranges the annual sellout garden party, Tea with Barbie. High school students from Cooper City and Nova Southeastern University will model in a runway fashion show on Saturday, July 27, the finale being a bride in a wedding gown.
“I love seeing mothers, aunts, grandmothers bring little girls in tiaras and patent leather shoes. It’s a riot,” Ruppender said.
Ruppender wouldn’t want to hold her custom Barbie events anywhere else, having started at Old Davie School as a volunteer and then serving as its executive director for almost three years.
She noted that the Old Davie School’s significance goes way beyond a collection of six historical buildings over 10 acres, founded in1918. Ruppender emphasized how the special ambience on campus comes from a collaboration of longtime friends with shared values and exceedingly deep roots in Broward County. The antiquated structures inspire younger generations to learn about local history and customs, she said.
Even as Ruppender took a job for 15 years at the Central Broward Water Control District, she stayed closely involved with Old Davie School. She made sure to recruit her new boss, Michael Crowley, to the board of the Davie School Foundation.
One of Ruppender’s proudest moments came when she and current Old Davie School Executive Director Leslie Schroeder teamed with Soroptimist International of Davie and the City of Davie, to help save the 1912 Viele House from being demolished. The Dade County Pine home was moved over three days in 2004 from its original location in an orange grove (at what is now 70th Avenue and Griffin Road) to the Old Davie School grounds. (Crowley figured out how to move the home without filling in a canal, which Ruppender had mistakenly called, “a ditch.”)
Similar to Ruppender, Schroeder has also been a friend to the Old Davie School for decades. She joined its board in 1980, becoming executive director in 2010.
Both women have a deep attachment to local institutions. “This place is pretty special to me and my family,” Schroeder explained. She and all her siblings attended Old Davie School, as well as her mother and grandmother. An ancestor worked near the Panama Canal in 1910 and others came to Davie via a houseboat, after they saw ads for “muckland.”
“The school was going to be torn down to be a school bus lot. My family and many dedicated volunteers helped save the school,” she added.
Schroeder noted that Griffin Road is named for her grandmother, born in 1914 in Davie.
Assistant Curator Christine McDonough’s 23 years at Old Davie School make her a relative newcomer, compared to Ruppender and Schroeder, but she is equally as admiring of Ruppender’s curatorial skills and their significance to the community at large.
“Constance not only has a special passion for her collection; she is meticulous with the dolls. Every hair is in the right place, she positions every hand perfectly,” McDonough, who grew up in nearby Plantation, says.
Ruppender says that her Barbie showcase is about more than pretty dolls in beautiful clothes and lovely settings. The exhibit encourages girls to imagine, without limits, what sorts of adults they can become. It serves another purpose, attracting families to the Old Davie School campus and thereby being a gateway to learning about local history.
“This is a very eclectic collection and there is a flow so people will know the story of Barbie. She was not always a tall blonde, she is brunette and a redhead, has different skin tones and later body types. She’s held hundreds of jobs,” says Ruppender. “I hope visitors experience the show and are charmed and then learn more about Davie history when they see the house and artifacts, especially the children that come.”
McDonough agreed, “This community is made of people who have really invested time into the town. This exhibit will bring in younger generations. We get them face to face with history and they will see what we do here goes beyond Barbie.”
Ruppender declared, “The message of this exhibit is: ‘You can be anything you want to be.’”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Barbie Girl: A Collector’s Showcase” on view through Friday, July 26, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; last entry at 3 – 4 pm.
FINALE EVENT: “Tea With Barbie”
WHEN: Saturday, July 27, 2 to 4 p.m.
COST: $25
INFORMATION: 954-797-1044 or olddavieschool.org
EXTRA: Enter to win a Barbie Dream House; winner will be pulled at the Tea and need not be present. $5: > Purchase raffle tickets.
