| Barbie is a best-selling doll launched at the American | | | | to look forwards rather than sideways. Barbie was |
| International Toy Fair on March 9, 1959. The doll is | | | | one of the first toys to have a marketing strategy |
| produced by Mattel, Inc. Barbie dolls and related | | | | based extensively on television advertising, which has |
| accessories are manufactured to approximately 1/6th | | | | been copied since by many other toys. Today the |
| scale, which is also known as playscale. [1] | | | | Barbie doll is a $1.9 billion a year industry, with Mattel |
| Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara at play | | | | claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second. |
| with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed | | | | Barbie products include not only the range of dolls |
| giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's | | | | with their clothes and accessories, but also a huge |
| toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing | | | | range of Barbie branded goods such as books, |
| that there could be a gap in the market, she | | | | fashion items and video games. Barbie has appeared |
| suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her | | | | in a series of animated films and makes a brief guest |
| husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy | | | | appearance in the 1999 film Toy Story 2. Almost |
| company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as | | | | uniquely for a toy fashion doll, Barbie has become a |
| were Mattel's directors. | | | | cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare |
| During a trip to Germany in 1956 with her children | | | | in the toy world. In 1974 a section of Times Square |
| Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler discovered a | | | | in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for |
| German doll called the Bild Lilli doll in a shop window. | | | | a week, while in 1985 the artist Andy Warhol created |
| The adult-figured Lilli doll was exactly what Handler | | | | a painting of Barbie. |
| had in mind, so she purchased three of them. She | | | | Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, and |
| gave one to her daughter and took the others back | | | | over the years she has been given many |
| to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a popular | | | | companions, the best known being her beau Ken |
| character appearing in a comic strip drawn by | | | | (Ken Carson), who made his debut in 1961. Like |
| Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper Die Bild-Zeitung. | | | | Barbie, Ken shares his name with one of Ruth |
| Lilli was a working girl who knew what she wanted | | | | Handler's children. Barbie and Ken have a famous |
| and was not above using men to get it. The Lilli doll | | | | on-off relationship and they announced a split in 2004 |
| was first sold in Germany in 1955, and although it was | | | | which seems to have been only temporary. Other |
| initially sold to adults, it became popular with children | | | | longstanding friends in Barbie's ethnically diverse social |
| who enjoyed dressing her up in outfits that were | | | | circle include Hispanic Teresa, African American |
| available separately. On her return to the United | | | | Christie and Steven (Christie's boyfriend), and Kayla. |
| States, Handler reworked the design of the doll (with | | | | For a full list of Barbie's companions, see the List of |
| help from engineer Jack Ryan) and the doll was given | | | | Barbie's friends and family. |
| a new name, Barbie, after Handler's daughter Barbara. | | | | According to the Random House novels of the |
| The doll made its debut at the American International | | | | 1960s, her parents' names are George and Margaret |
| Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959. This date is | | | | Roberts of Willows, Wisconsin. Barbie has been said |
| also used as Barbie's official birthday. Mattel acquired | | | | to attend Willows High School in Willows, Wisconsin |
| the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and production of | | | | and Manhattan International High School in New York |
| Lilli was stopped. The first Barbie doll wore a black | | | | City (based on the real-life Stuyvesant High School). |
| and white zebra striped swimsuit and signature | | | | Barbie has thirty-eight recorded pets, including cats |
| topknot ponytail, and was available as either a blonde | | | | and dogs, horses, a panda, a lion cub, and a zebra. |
| or brunette. The doll was marketed as a "Teen-age | | | | She has owned pink convertibles, trailers, jeeps and |
| Fashion Model", with her clothes created by Mattel | | | | more. She also holds a pilot's license, and operates |
| fashion designer Charlotte Johnson. Barbie's | | | | commercial airliners when not serving as a flight |
| appearance has been changed many times, most | | | | attendant. |
| notably in 1971 when the doll's eyes were adjusted | | | | |