Barbie turns 65
9.3.2024
Translation: machine translated
The first Barbie doll was presented in New York 65 years ago today. She was modelled on a doll that Ruth Handler had previously seen in Switzerland. We say "Happy Birthday"!
As a child, I loved Barbie dolls. Then I passed them on to my little sister. I still have a few that my sons play with today. Somehow Barbie was always there. She's a universal toy - like a racing car or a teddy bear.
In fact, Barbie is already a proud 65 years old today: on 9 March 1959, the US company Mattel presented the Barbie doll at the American Toy Fair in New York. Ruth Handler, wife of Elliot Handler, who had founded the Mattel company together with his partner Harold "Matt" Matson, invented Barbie that year. She travelled to Switzerland with her family in 1956 and saw a doll in Lucerne for the first time in her life that did not exist in this form in the USA: not a cute baby doll, but a smartly dressed adult with feminine curves. The model for the doll was the comic figure Lilli: she was created from a caricature in the Bild newspaper. This was so successful that the Axel Springer publishing house decided to bring her out as a doll.
Source: Foto: Mattel
The first Barbie wore a black and white swimming costume, had long hair and was 29 centimetres tall. She had movable limbs so that she could be presented in various poses. And Barbie was a huge success: the doll sold more than 300,000 copies in her very first year. Barbie is now one of the most successful children's toys: three Barbies are sold somewhere in the world every second.
Hi Barbie, hi Ken!
One year after the launch, the fashion designer Barbie came onto the market, followed by the flight attendant Barbie in 1961 and the astronaut Barbie in 1965, followed by clothing, accessories and furniture. In 1961, Ken, Barbie's boyfriend, was introduced, and in the 1970s, friends and Family members were added, for example Skipper, Barbie's little sister, and Barbie's friend Christie.
Barbies appearance changed constantly
Barbies unrealistic body image and her stereotypical portrayal of femininity were often criticised: blonde hair, busty and long legs. This is why Mattel started to bring more diversity to the Barbie range in the 1990s: Dolls with different skin colours, hair types and body shapes conquered children's rooms. In 2016, the "Fashionistas" line was introduced, which included dolls with four different body types, seven skin tones, 22 eye colours and 24 hairstyles. Over time, the Barbies have become increasingly unusual and diverse: there are now dolls that sit in a wheelchair or a Barbie with Down's syndrome.
Last summer, we even saw "Barbie" on the big screen: the film directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling received eight nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards, including "Best Film".
Fun facts about Barbie
Finally, a few interesting facts about Barbie:
- Barbie's real name is Barbara: Barbie was the nickname of Ruth Handler's daughter Barbara. Unsurprisingly, Ken is called Ken because the Handlers' son is called Kenneth.
- The Barbie of 65 years ago was unbeatably cheap from today's perspective: it cost 3 US dollars, which was very expensive at the time.
- Some well-known fashion designers have already designed clothes for Barbie - including Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar de la Renta, Moschino, Christian Dior, Versace and Christian Louboutin.
Header image: Anne Fischer
A true local journalist with a secret soft spot for German pop music. Mum of two boys, a dog and about 400 toy cars in all shapes and colours. I always enjoy travelling, reading and go to concerts, too.