Barbie Dolls

Barbie was first introduced at the American International Toy Fair in New York in February 1959. She was created by Elliot Handler, the founder of Mattel, Inc., and his wife, Ruth. After noticing her own daughter's interest in paper dolls of adult women, Ruth Handler came up with the idea for an adult doll, which she named after that daughter, Barbara. The doll's womanly figure and painted face got mixed reviews at first—few would have guessed that more than 35 years later Barbie would still be one of the most successful and enduring toys on the market.

Barbie's appearance was modeled on a German doll, Lilli, who was herself based on a popular comic book character and originally marketed as a racy gag gift to adult men in tobacco shops. After Mattel began advertising their new toy on television, Barbie's sales skyrocketed, prompting the Handlers to add a boyfriend, Ken (named after their son) in 1961; a best friend, Midge, in 1963, and a little sister, Skipper, in 1964. A flood of Barbie-related merchandise followed, including a car and a Dream House.

Over the years, Barbie's voluptuous figure has sparked controversy. If she were human, her measurements would translate into a 36-inch chest, 18-inch waist, and 33-inch hips.

Because of this, she has been accused of instilling an unrealistic body image in young girls. On the positive side, many women saw Barbie as providing an alternative to traditional 1950s gender roles. She has had a series of different jobs, from teacher, astronaut, and veterinarian to soldier, singer, flight attendant, and model. She has even been an Olympic gold medalist and U.S. presidential candidate! Barbie also keeps up with the latest technology—she got her first computer in 1985.

To keep up with Barbie's ever-glamorous image, Mattel's in-house designers provide the doll with about a hundred new outfits each year. Clothing has also been created for Barbie by world-famous designers Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, Valentino, Perry Ellis, Oscar de la Renta, and Bob Mackie. Since 1959, over 105 million yards of fabric have been used to create Barbie's clothes, making Mattel a huge consumer of cloth, as well as America's fourth-largest maker of women's clothes.

Love her or hate her, Barbie is a bona-fide global icon--one that has helped make Mattel into America's top-selling toy company. More than half a billion Barbies--or more than one billion if sales of sidekick dolls like Ken and Skipper are included--have been sold in more than 140 countries. Each week, Mattel sells more than 1.5 million dolls, or two dolls per second. Ninety percent of all American girls in the last 40 years have owned at least one Barbie, and if every Barbie doll ever manufactured were laid end to end, they would circle the earth three-and-a-half times.

In 2007, with sales of Barbie flagging slightly, partly due to stiff competition from the more provocative Bratz dolls, Mattel launched its newest Barbie-related venture, a free Web site called BarbieGirls.com. The Web site allows kids to create their own virtual Barbie characters, design rooms for them, and shop for clothes in a cyber-mall. Billed as a safe place for children to interact online, BarbieGirls.com is one of many recent attempts by toymakers to appeal to kids who are growing out of toys more quickly and turning to other play options, such as iPods or online chatting.

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