Nostalgia Nook—Polly Pockets

It’s that time of the month again! Time to go back in time and remember something fun from my youth. Last month at my birthday, a group of us recalled our Polly Pockets. We even looked up pictures of them to remember them! So, let’s dive into the world of Polly.

Polly Pockets were so called because they could fit in one’s pocket. It made transporting easy—stick it in a pocket, stick it in a bag! You could take it to your friends’ houses or on trips. You could play with them on an airplane or in the car. They were easier to clean up than Barbie and all her accessories. The compact cases came in various shapes and colors. The main shapes were square, round or floral. They came in many bright colors: pinks, blues, greens, yellows, etc. In essences, they screamed “GIRLS!”

Opening the compacts revealed Polly’s little world. You could have a house—kitchen, tables, beds, and other rooms. Or it could be a park, a school, a daycare center, a stable, etc. In each compact came one Polly Pocket. She was plastic and had plastic blonde hair, usually in a ponytail. She wore a painted on outfit, fitting the theme of the compact. There were some Polly’s that came with outfits that you could change—these were usually skirts. She was only a couple inches tall and could only bend forward and backward. In retrospect, there wasn’t much to do with her. She could sit, she could lie down and she could form a pyramid. Otherwise, not much else. Polly’s feet were fused together and she was glued to a circular stand. This allowed Polly to fit into special grooves in the compact so she could stand around.

Polly did come with some friends, just like Barbie. You knew who they were because they were either male or not blonde. She also had non-human friends as well. Dogs, cats, dolphins, horses—you name it, she had it. These were fun to collect because if it was furry in real life, it was fuzzy in the Polly Pocket world. And I loved the fuzzy items! My friends I remembered one Polly Pocket set in an artic world, complete with a polar bear. That poor bear was soon brown from all of us rubbing it.

It’s amazing we were entertained by Polly and her world. We came up with exciting stories for Polly and her companions. Rivalries, friendships, romances, fun and missing babies were to be expected.
Were there downsides to Polly? Of course! She was only a few inches tall. We lost more pieces to the vacuum than anything else. Also, pieces broke off. Compacts broke. My friend recalled her water park Polly Pocket. If you put water in it, Polly was supposed to float along a lazy river or enjoy a hot tub with a push of a button. It never worked and was wet.

Recently, I saw the new Polly Pockets. They are huge! The whole appeal of Polly was that she was portable. Now she’s like lugging a Barbie around! While I’m sure there are more ways to play with Polly, I’ll stick to my original inches tall Polly.

Next time on Nostalgia Nook—Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealers.