Even on release, the adult-shape of the doll drew criticism from parents who disliked her womanly figure.īarbie has also been roundly criticized for being implausibly-proportioned, and setting unrealistic body standards for young women.

A Barbie Influenceīarbie is no stranger to controversy. Named after her own daughter, Barbie went on to sell hundreds of millions of units and to become Mattel’s biggest product line, although there were a few obstacles along the way. She bought three dolls back to the US, and had them partially redesigned. Ruth realized right away that Lilli was what she’d been looking for. She was also blonde, attractive, and shaped more-or-less like an adult woman. Lili had been marketed to adults -presumably to readers of The Bild-but had proven popular with children, who enjoyed dressing the doll in clothes that you could buy separately for it, a model Mattel would later use to reach spectacular sales volumes.īild Lilli was characterized as an independent working woman, not afraid to go after what she wanted. Lilli was based on a character from a comic strip in the popular German tabloid newspaper, The Bild. History could not have proven them more wrong! Barbie but She’s Germanĭuring a trip to Europe, Ruth came across a popular doll called Bild Lilli. Neither he, nor any of his colleagues were convinced of Ruth’s idea.

Ruth spotted a gap in the market and proposed an adult doll to her husband, the co-founder of the Mattel toy corporation. Barbie’s inventor, Ruth Handler, noticed that her little girl often gave such dolls adult roles when she played with them. They assumed that all girls wanted to take the role of mom to their toys when they played. Before Barbieīefore Barbie, dolls were always based on babies or children. Six decades and a billion dolls later, Barbie is as unmistakable as she is impossible to pin down. Barbie has gone from a fixture in the toy-boxes of generations of little girls, to a multi-billion dollar, cross-platform entertainment phenomenon. The brand has gone on to become a cultural icon. 1959 was a huge year in the world of toys, seeing the launch of the very first Barbie doll.

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