9/28/2023 0 Comments Little girl models imagesBarbie has been many things… but not a parent “And then all of a sudden you have this blond bombshell in your playroom and it’s like, what are you supposed to make of this? And what is she telling your children?” 2. “She came out in 1959, so a lot of women were still homemakers and wearing more traditional clothing,” said Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, a curator at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. Geared at kids rather than adults, Barbie’s trendy fashions, high heels and bachelorette lifestyle were still often a shock to parents who considered such things too risque for little girls. When Barbie became a massive success for Mattel and the Handlers, Lilli’s toymaker tried unsuccessfully to sue for infringement, later selling the rights to Mattel. Handler’s discovery of Lilli led to the design for Barbie, a cool, trendy doll that was named for their daughter. WATCH: A Brief But Spectacular take on designing toys for kids “I only saw an adult-shape body that I had been trying to describe for years, and our guys said couldn’t be done.” “I didn’t know who Lilli was or even that its name was Lilli,” Handler told Lord in an interview for her book. The doll was based on a lascivious comic strip character with a witty sense of humor who was depicted sleeping with wealthy men for money and gifts. Unbeknownst to Handler, Lilli was a gag gift that men would buy for each other, Lord said. ![]() A teenager at the time, Barbara immediately wanted one. Then, during a trip in Europe in the 1950s, the family came across a set of Bild Lilli dolls in a store window. She had observed her daughter, Barbara, playing with paper dolls and imagining their lives in an adult world with jobs and relationships, and Ruth wanted to make a 3D version for Mattel. Barbie was based off a gag gift for adultsĪfter Mattel’s early hit toys ( like a kid’s ukulele and their Burp Gun), co-founder Ruth Handler had the idea for something new. To understand Barbie’s staying power and long (curvaceous) shadow, here are six things you should know. The doll has also been the subject of an Andy Warhol painting and Aqua’s hit pop single “Barbie Girl.” In 2021 alone, after several years of decline, Mattel sold 86 million dolls, totaling a record high of $1.7 billion in annual sales. Since 1959, the toy line has made billions for Mattel. READ MORE: 8 things you didn’t know about Super Mario Bros.Īcross the last 64 years, the toy line has remained a powerhouse. “Barbie” is also the latest entry into a wave of films cashing in on valuable toy brands and merchandising opportunities. Alongside the movie, creator Mattel has launched an extensive marketing campaign, complete with Barbie clothes and accessories and gear sold by several different retailers for fans to play dress-up for themselves. Now the plastic plaything has been brought to life in a new major motion picture by Oscar-nominated writer and director Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Lord wrote in 1995 in “ Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll.” “The doll functions like a Rorschach test people project wildly dissimilar and often opposing fantasies on it,” author and Barbie scholar M.G. It was more like a boom, sending children and parents (and subsequent generations) scurrying to possess this icon of femininity and setting off a decadeslong debate about impossible beauty standards, gender roles, race and role models. ![]() ![]() When Barbie debuted in the American toy market in 1959, clad in a black-and-white bathing suit, she didn’t just make a splash.
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