Blonde Episodes

Love, Life, and Blessings

Barbie and Her Story

So I was looking for some fun images for my blog and came across a teacher Barbie doll. I was shocked! I have to have this. I am on the lookout for one. She is adorably vintage looking with glasses and everything! Let me know if you find one! Then, it dawned on me, I don’t know the history of Barbie. So here goes:
The Creators:
This story takes place in the 1930’s. It’s a story that starts out sounding like one we’ve all heard before.
A young girl meets a boy and they fall in love. The girl graduates from high school. She has visions of a great career success in the real world and wants to go to college. Her parents are not overly enthusiastic about college since it is more traditional for a girl to get married and raise a family. The girl goes to college anyway and marries the boy too. This married girl and boy are Ruth and Elliot Handler. They raise two children, Barbie and Ken.
In the mid 1940’s, the young ambitious duo Ruth and Elliot Handler, owned a company that made wooden picture frames. Elliot and his partner Harold Mattson built the samples and Ruth was in charge of marketing them. Elliot began to use the scraps of wood from picture frames to make doll furniture. This was the beginning of their toy business. It was in 1945 that Ruth and Elliot Handler joined with their close friend Harold Mattson to form a company that would be known for the most famous and successful doll ever created. This company would be named Mattel, MATT for Mattson, and EL for Elliot. Mattel continued to grow from a very profitable business into a corporate giant.
In the mid 1950’s, while visiting Switzerland, Ruth Handler purchased a German Lilli doll. Lilli was a shapely, pretty fashion doll first made in 1955. She was originally fashioned after a famous cartoon character in the West German Newsletter, Bild. Lilli was made of hard plastic with molded on shoes and earrings. She was available in 11 ½” or 7″ in heights. Her hair was long and pulled back into a ponytail. There was a large wardrobe available for this doll. Lilli is the doll that would inspire Ruth Handler to design the Barbie doll.
Ruth knew what she wanted Barbie to look like. With the help of her technicians and engineers at Mattel, Barbie was born. Ruth then hired Charlotte Johnson, a fashion designer, to create Barbies wardrobe.
It was in 1958 that the patent for Barbie was obtained. This would be a fashion doll unlike any of her time. She would be long limbed, shapely and beautiful, all of this and only 11 ½” tall.
Paper fashion dolls of the times would give way to a three dimensional beauty with a wardrobe of unsurpassed quality. Ruth and Elliot would name their new fashion doll after their own daughter, Barbie. Barbie dolls’ soon to be boyfriend Ken, would be named after their son Ken.
In March of 1959, Barbie doll would make her way to the New York Toy Show and receive a cool reception from the toy buyers. She would be viewed as risky to buyers since she was not the typical style selling baby doll of the times. Upon seeing Barbie on store shelves, the public decided differently. By 1960, the mood would change and the orders started pouring in to Mattel. It took several years for Mattel to catch up with the demand for Barbie. Within ten years, the public purchased $500 million worth of Barbie products.
Barbie has undergone a lot of changes over the years and has managed to keep up with current trends in hairstyles, makeup and clothing. She is a reflection of the history of fashion since her introduction to the toy market. Barbie has a universal appeal and collectors of all ages enjoy time spent and memories made with their dolls.
So now you know! Here are some images of the first Barbie’s. Enjoy!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Jessica Cangiano says

    Though few toys have been scrutinized and held up as highly as social markers as Barbie dolls, I think that for all the flack she’s received (“unrealistic body”, for example), Barbie was, and will always be, one of the best role models for girls and women alike. Strong, fashionable, career oriented, loving, always ready to hang out with her family, friendly, ambitious – Barbie’s positive traits far outweigh the fact that her body may be a bit unrealistically proportioned.

    Love this post, thank you for the reminder of a treasured childhood toy.

    Big hugs,
    ♥ Jessica

    Reply

  6. Ashley says

    I heart barbie and still have all my barbies from when I was a little one 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your old school movie night !!
    P.S I don’t think I have seen killer whales…let me know how it is 🙂

    Reply

  10. Kristen says

    What a cool post – Barbie has gotten kind of trashy in the past few years, but it’s so cool to see how she started out. Wholesome, yet glamorous. 🙂

    Reply

  13. Jen Chandler says

    That is so fascinating. I never knew the history of Barbie. Great memories 🙂

    Thanks for following my blog! Sorry it’s taken me a while to stop by. My computer at work tends to act up and won’t allow me to read as many blogs as I would like in one day.

    Jen

    Reply

  14. becky says

    Love barbies!I have all my girls barbies.I should get them down.

    The very first pic up there is my first barbie.The bouffant platnum blonde,lol.Brings back good memories.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  18. Danielle says

    I love my daily fix of Blonde Episodes! Thank you for such a beautiful blog Kori. Have to get my hands on the Barbie in picture one! Isn’t she sweet!! <3

    Reply

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