A lot of books were written and toys were created to fulfill the need of a writer or inventor’s child. That is exactly the way the Barbie doll came into existence.
In 1945, a partnership was formed between Ruth and Elliot Handler and Harold “Matt” Matson. They called it Mattel Creations, and they sold picture frames. Later, they added dollhouse furniture to their line. Matt became ill and sold out to the Handlers. The Handlers had a daughter named Barbara and a son named Ken. Ruth Handler noticed that Barbara and her friends preferred playing with paper dolls that were grown-up and liked to give the dolls grown-up roles to play. Baby dolls were really the only dolls around at that time. Ruth brought the idea of a grown up doll to her husband and the Board of Directors, but they turned down the idea. They felt it would be to costly to make a doll like that and there may not be enough of a demand for such a doll.
In 1956, the Handlers went on a trip to Europe where Ruth found a grown up doll named Lilli. She was just what Ruth had in mind. She bought several dolls and brought them back with her. She again met with some people who looked the Lilli doll over and decided that a doll could be done.
In the meantime, Mattel had continued to grow and expand their line. In 1959, Barbie was presented at the American Toy Fair in New York and became a hit with 351,000 Barbie dolls being sold the first year. In fact, today the Barbie line is sold in 45 different nationalities and 1 billion fashions have been produced since her introduction in 1959. Statistics show that a Barbie doll is sold every second somewhere in the world.
As Ruth Handler proposed, the Barbie doll obviously fulfilled a need for girls to be able to role model. Little girls playing with Barbie can imagine themselves in one of the 80 careers that Barbie has represented over the years, including running for President. Barbie has also allowed girls to think about going to college or joining the service.
Besides Barbie’s extensive wardrobe, she has had 43 pets through the years, including things like a panda, a zebra, and a giraffe. Of course, she has had a large selection of dogs and cats as pets as well.
Barbie and her friends are also big collectors’ items. In fact, doll collecting is second only to stamp collecting as the most popular collectible item in America. A 1959 Barbie doll in mint condition has been known to sell for up to $10,000.
Besides all the cars, houses and accessories that you can buy for your Barbie, you can outfit your own child in Barbie clothes, sleepwear and accessories.
One Mother’s goal to supply a need she saw in her own child’s life turned into a $1.5 billion dollar a year industry. Hasbro saw the success of the Barbie doll and came up a male alternative – the G. I. Joe. But that is a whole new story! This year Barbie turned fifty and is still going strong.
