One of Barbra Streisand’s reasons for writing her latest memoir was to reveal secrets and facts about her that the public doesn’t know, among which is her love for antiques. She admitted to having an almost magical collection, which she adores and keeps in her own “store” at home.
She claimed that she never owned a doll growing up, so she makes up for it by filling a section of her home to the brim with them. “I love to collect, I love antiques. I didn’t have a doll, so I put hot water into a hot water bottle, which felt like a real person,” she told CBS’ Gayle King.
All kinds of dollies
The basement of Barbra’s Malibu home is a dream come true for antique lovers. She has her own private mall named “Bee’s Doll Shop,” which contains different kinds of dolls displayed in museum style. “Wow, Barbra. I think that you’ve made up for not having a doll when you were a child,” Gayle exclaimed as she looked around the room.
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Further into the mall, Barbra showed off her wardrobe of classic pieces, thrift clothing, and vintage wear, some of which she wore to meet President John F. Kennedy and the Queen of England. “These are things I bought in the thrift shop. Feel the velvet. This was ten bucks! I feel right in something that had a life in it. In other words, something from the past that I felt like I was once there,” she gushed.
Barbra had a tumultuous childhood
On top of lacking dolls, unlike most little girls her age, little Barbra experienced a rocky childhood, having lost her father early. “I was angry that I didn’t have a father. I remember saying to my mother, ‘Why didn’t you ever tell me about my father?’ And she said, ‘I didn’t want you to miss him,’” she said, referencing her mother, who became a widow with two kids at 34.
In her new release, she described her mother as cold and unsupportive. She recounted a conversation with her mother to Gayle, saying, “I said, ‘Mom, how come you don’t ever, like, hug me? Or say the words, I love you?’ And she said, ‘You know, my mother and father, they never hugged me, but I knew they loved me.’ Now, I said, ‘Well, I didn’t know you loved me.’”