First sold on March 9, 1959, Barbie is the world's best selling doll.
Ruth Handler had noted that her daughter Barbara preferred playing with paper dolls that looked like adults rather than like children. When in Europe, she noticed a German doll named Lilli and bought it for Barbara.
Lilli was a gold-digging character from a "racy" comic strip drawn by Reinhard Bentheim for Das Bild, and the Lilli doll began to be sold in Germany in 1955. It was marketed to adults, not children: M. G. Lord, in her Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll, characterized the original doll as a "gag gift for men, a pornographic character."
Ruth Handler says that when she bought Lilli for her daughter, she was ignorant of its adult nature. Ruth Handler and Elliott Handler, the co-founders of Mattel, bought the rights to market Lilli: with a hair color change from blonde to brunette, and a name change to Barbie (after Ruth's daughter Barbara) she was sold in the United States starting in 1959 at New York's annual Toy Fair.
The first Barbie doll has a black-and-white striped swimsuit and signature ponytail. In the suceeding years, Mattel fashion designer Charlotte Johnson designs Barbie doll’s fashions in the beginning off of the Paris fashions.
Ruth Handler had stated that she thought it "was important to a girl's esteem that she play with a doll with breasts," and Barbie was certainly qualified to be that doll. If the doll originally marketed were human-sized, her measurements would have been 39"-18"-33". These measurements were based on male fantasy rather than actual human metrics, and the unrealistic size of Barbie has been controversial, with many suggesting that playing with Barbie decreases rather than enhances a girl's self-esteem. In response to criticism, Mattel adjusted the chest measurement down, and the waist measurement up, though the proportions are still uncharacteristic of most women.
Redesigned by Jack Ryan and manufactured by Mattel, this one doll is a $1.9 billion dollar a year industry, with two Barbies being bought every second.
Her fictional biography has developed as her sales continued. She has been given the fuller name Barbara Millicent Roberts, and a family and friends have been manufactured for her, starting with her permanent beau Ken. Additions to the family tree included Skipper (debut 1964), Tutti, Stacie (1992), and Kelly (1995). Barbie has dated Ken since 1961, and has long broken ties with her best friend Midge. Barbie is still said to attend Willows High School in Willows, Wisconsin.
Barbie has been used in an effort to promote gender equality, showing that women can work at anything. Career woman Barbie has taken up many occupations over the years, they include:
- Amateur athlete at the Olympics (including swimming, figure skating)
- Fairy tale characters/princesses (including Rapunzel, Nutcracker)
The best selling Barbie was one released in the early-1990s, Totally Hair Barbie, with stylable hair for head to toes.
| Table of contents |
|
2 Controversies 3 Related Merchandise 4 Terminology 5 Timeline 6 External Links |
Over the years, Barbie has evolved. Originally available as either a blonde or brunette, Barbie has changed the color of her hair many times since her introduction in 1959. Today there are ethnically diverse versions of Barbie that feature different skin tones, facial characteristics, as well as different hair colors and make-up.
One of the most publicized changes happened around the turn of the century, as Barbie's ultra-thin waist widened to more natural proportions. This change, rallied for years by some parents' and anorexia groups, is to encourage young girls not to be as hyper-actively concerned with their weight, and thus to eat more healthily and avoid eating disorders.
The enormous range of available accessories relating clothes, hair, make-up, parties and looking pretty give rise to the accusation that Barbie encourages young girls to focus on shallow trivia. Her accessories reflect a lifestyle that is unobtainable for most of the girls who play with her. She also portrays an unrealistic body image; in real life she would be towering over most men and have an impossible breast size. For most of her life she was available only as a white Anglo-Saxon (and presumably Protestant).
However at the time Barbie was released, most dolls were baby substitutes, rather than adult dolls, and it could be said that Barbie's very existence encouraged girls to play outside the traditional role of housewife and mother. The range of professions for which Barbie accessories can be bought has been expended recently, including doctor, politician, US Marine and paralympic athlete. Barbies with different racial characteristics have also become available in recent decades.
Because Barbie is a cultural icon in the United States, and the dolls are inexpensive and easily obtained, artists have referred to Barbie and her accompanying products, either as homage or as parody. The Mattel Corporation disapproves of many of these uses for the dolls, and has used trademark and copyright claims to attempt to suppress them.
"Barbie" is often used as a derogatory slang word to mean that a person, particularly a girl or woman, is stupid, as in "Barbie brain" or "Barbie head".
The mid-1990s saw a line of early novels, featuring her adventurous exploits. By the late-1990s, Mattel had moved to featuring her in interactive 3D video games for both gaming consoles and personal computers. In recent years, she has taken the computer animated movie industry by storm, guest appearing in Toy Story 2, and later her own direct-to-video movies, Barbie's Nutcracker and Rapunzel Barbie, both of which were accompnied by small product lines, including a doll of Barbie in the costumes portrayed in the shorts. Though not feature length, they are fairly abundant in plot, for the younger audience, of course.
Collector Edition - Dolls produced in limited quantities. Designed for collectors and display. Usually they come in showcase packaging [a stand and a Certificate of Authenticity].
Customized - Dolls created exclusively for a specific store. Usually they come in showcase packaging [a stand and a Certificate of Authenticity].
Limited Edition - Dolls produced in limited quantities worldwide. Limited to specific retailers. Featuring special fabrics and details. Designed for collectors and display. They come in showcase packaging [a stand and a Certificate of Authenticity included].
Modern Barbie - Dolls produced after 1972.
OSS - Dolls with original swimsuit.
Ponytail - This denotes the age and type of Barbe a particular doll is. There are five types:
Twist 'N Turn Waist - A moveable waist of mid-1960s and later Barbie doll [or a variation].
Vintage Barbie - All dolls produced before 1972.
Barbie's Physical Evolution
Controversies
Barbie is often looked upon as an icon of Western childhood. Her popularity ensures that her effect on the play of Western children attracts unusual scrutiny.Related Merchandise
Terminology
Timeless Treasures™ - Celebrity or character dolls. Timeline
External Links
