Barbie rocked the toy industry when she strolled into toy stores in her high heels, striped bathing suit and perfectly made up face in 1959. At first, the toy industry scoffed at the idea of encouraging young girls to play with an adult doll.
Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, wanted her girls to be able to play with something other than a baby doll, which was the most popular toy for young girls in the 1950s. After much debate with her husband and analysis of market research, Mattel decided to introduce Barbie to young girls in the United States. The original Barbie debuted in 1959 as a “Teenage Fashion Model” who allowed girls to immerse themselves in fashion, imagination and aspirations without leaving their homes.
“My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be,” Ruth Handler said. “Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.” (“The Barbie Story”, 2014) Please view the following video to see an interview with the founders of Mattel to better understand the creator’s intentions.
HISTORY OF BARBIE
The inspiration for Barbie came while Ruth Handler was on a skiing trip in Europe in 1956. She discovered a doll named the Bild-Lilli while shopping. The Bild-Lilli was a German doll based on a saucy cartoon character. She wore suggestive clothing, pursued rich men and was targeted towards adults. The sexy German doll became the inspiration for the original Barbie. (Eaves, 2009) Bild-Lilli is pictured on the left.
Handler decided that an adult doll would be an important addition to a child’s toy chest because she observed that “little girls just wanted to be bigger girls.” (Eaves, 2009) Ever since her introduction in 1959, Barbie has become a role model for young girls who dream of growing into beautiful women.
Today, Barbie is the most popular doll in the world as well as The Most Collectible Doll in the World.® (“The Barbie Story”, 2014) According to Mattel, the parent company of Barbie, girls between the ages of three and six own an average of 12 Barbie dolls and 90% of girls ages three to 10 own at least one Barbie doll. (“Barbie Fast Facts”) The original Barbie had a price tag of $3 and sold 350,000 dolls during the first production year in 1959. Since her debut at the New York Toy Show, more than one billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide. (“Barbie struts her stuff”, 2006)