Barbie (thing)

Barbie is the world's best selling toy with more than 1 billion sold in 150 countries.

Barbie is named for the daughter of her creator Ruth Handler, co founder of Mattel. Ruth her daughter playing with paper dolls and wondered why there were no adult three dimension dolls for girls to play with. Ruth wanted to create a doll that would inspire little girls to think about they wanted to be when they grew up, hence Barbie the teenage fashion model doll. Certainly a great deal of the appeal (and perhaps some of the distrust on the part of parents and teachers) for Barbie comes from the fact that she is an adult, sexual woman for little girls (and accasionaly even little boys) to play with. Certainly I much preferred playing with adult dolls (of which there are still not very many) than baby dolls.

Barbie was based on a German doll Lilli in Ruth saw in a display case. Lilli was based on pinup girls from poster sold to soldiers during World War II. Mattel cleaned up Barbie’s image before releasing her.

Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. She is from Willows, Wisconsin and went to Willows High School. Barbie debuted with the now famous black and white swimsuit and pony tail at the American Toy Fair in 1959. More than 350,000 units were sold the first year leading to back orders. Barbie started with a retail price of $3.

Controversy:

Barbie has caused a lot of controversy through out her lifetime. She has been accused of furthering unrealistic images of the female body. While the exact figures differ depending on which version of Barbie one bases the numbers on no Barbie would be proportioned correctly if life size, and most would not even be able to stand. As a child I always thought Barbie was rather ugly when not fully clothed (thus hiding some of her unnaturalness) and even then only some what attractive, but apparently some people find her as an ideal body to aspire to. (At least that is the worry) I did come across a story on A&E of someone getting plastic surgery to look like Barbie.

On top of her inhuman proportions she has raised more objections when a talking version was released with Barbie complaining that “Math is hard”. This outraged feminists and educators because it furthered the assumption that women are not good at math and science. Barbie has also got in trouble for not being diverse enough. There are only a few non-white Barbie’s, even with the International Barbie’s, and those there are generally just white Barbie’s with the hair and body color change. They do not reflect real differences in appearance.

Barbie Timeline:

1960-

• Barbie 3 and 4 debuted.
• Number 4 is made of a new vinyl that does not whiten with age.
• “Solo in the Spotlight Barbie”, with a black sheath gown and tulle flares, a collector favorite first released.

1961 –

• Barbie was the hottest selling fashion doll of all time.
• Barbie 5 comes out with new hair colors.
• first Ken doll released. Ken is ½ taller than Barbie.

1962-

• Fuzzy headed Ken is replaced with a Ken with painted hair.

1963 -

• Fashion Queen Barbie has three interchangeable wigs.
• Midge Barbie’s best friend come up.

1964 –

• For one year Barbie has open and shut eyes.
• Skipper, Barbie’s sister is released.

1965 -

• Barbie gets bending legs
• Miss Astronaut Barbie released

1966 -

• Barbie’s family expands welcoming cousin Francie and little twin siblings Tutti and Todd.

1967 -

• Twist N’ Turn Barbie with a bendable waist, comes out. She has a softer face and a more “mod” look.
• London fashion model Twiggy is added to the Barbie world.

1968 -

• First Talking Barbie - she speaks both English and Spanish.

1969 -

• Ken comes back with muscles, a new head, knees that bend, and the ability to speak.

1970 -

• Living Barbie comes with elbows, knees, and ankles that bend and swiveling head, waist arms, hands and legs.

1971-

• Malibu Barbie’s debuts.
• For the first time Barbie looks straight ahead rather than demurely glancing to the side.

1974 -

• For Barbie’s sixteenth birthday a section of Times Square is renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week.

1975 -

• Barbie Gets-Up N’ Go as a doctor, surgical nurse, ballerina and flight attendant.
• Barbie gets a new yacht, the Barbie Dream Boat.

1976 –

• Barbie is named Doll of the Century for the bicentennial celebration and put in the time capsule to be opened in 2076.

1977 –

• Super Size Barbie at 18 inches tall is released.

1980 -

• The Barbie collecting craze begins with the fist Barbie convention
• First Black and Hispanic Barbies come out as well as the beginning of the international collection

1981

• Western Barbie with house Dallas released.

1984

• Barbie’s 24th Anniversary is celebrated. 1200 people attend an excusive gala in New York City. Barbie and Ken day is declared by Mayor Ed Kock
• Tiffany’s creates a sterling silver Barbie
• International Collection renamed Dolls of the World

1985 -

• Andy Warhol unveils his Barbie painting in New York City.

1986 –

• First Collectors Lines begun with the release of Blue Rhapsody Barbie. She is the first limited edition Barbie and the first to be made of porcelain.

1988-

• Happy Holidays Series debuts, it will continue for 10 years.

1989 –

• Barbie’s 30th anniversary is celebrated with a grand ball at Lincoln Center.
• Army Barbie released.

1990 -

• Air Force Barbie released

1991 -

• Navy Barbie released

1992 -

• First Barbie store opens at FAO Schwarz in New York City

1993 -

• Great Eras Collection begins with a 1920’s Flapper Barbie
• First edition Native American Barbie

1994 -

• 35th Anniversary celebrated with a reproduction of the original Barbie.
• Hollywood Legends Collection begins with Barbie as Scarlet O’Hara from Gone with the Wind.

1995 -

• Mattel’s 50th Anniversary
• Barbie as Rapunzel debuts the Children’s Collector Series

1996 -

• First Barbie web-site

1997 -

• Official Barbie Collector Club formed.
• Harley-Davidson Barbie released
• [Classic Ballet Series begins with Sugar Plum Fairy Barbie

1999 -

• Barbie turns fourty.
• Barbie is voted onto a stamp commemorating the 1960’s lifestyle.

2000 -

• Mattel introduces Barbie for President

2001 -

• Barbie stars in her first feature film, Barbie in the Nutcracker which aired on CBS Thanksgiving Day and quickly became one of the highest grossing children’s videos/dvds in history.

Sources:
www.barbie.com
www.barbiebazaar.com
www.barbiecollectibles.com