Eighties Kids
  • News
  • Celebrity
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Television

Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll created by businesswoman Ruth Handler and produced by Mattel, Inc since 1959.

Inspired by a German line of adult-bodied fashion dolls named Bild Lilli - initially, these were made for adults, but eventually Lilli became popular with children - Handler sought to make an adult doll that her pre-teen daughter, Barbara, would be interested in playing with.

At the time, the dolls that were marketed towards children largely were made to resemble infants. Seeing a gap in the market, Handler took her idea to husband Elliot Handler and his business partner Harold Matson, who together owned Mattel, Inc. Mattel had been founded by Matson and the Handlers in 1945, having started out selling picture frames and, later, dollhouse furniture.

With approval from her husband and Matson, Ruth created Barbie, named after her daughter and built in the style of an adult fashion doll that children could dress up and use to act out their futures beyond childhood. The first Barbie mould was designed by Jack Ryan, the head of research and development at Mattel who had formerly been a missile engineer working for the Pentagon.

The first Barbie doll hit the market in 1959. Despite initial reluctance from Elliot and Harold, the toy not only became Mattel's biggest product, but the best-selling toy in history, having been successfully marketed through Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club TV show.

Barbie was so successful that, in 1961, a 'boyfriend' doll was concocted by Mattel as a companion product: Ken, named after the Handlers' son.

Though the Handlers were forced out of Mattel in 1974 over apparent financial mismanagement, the pair lived on to a ripe old age. Elliot passed in 2011 at the age of 95, while Ruth died in 2002 at the age of 85, but not before having been inducted into the US Business Hall of Fame, in 1997.

With Barbie having been on the market now for 60 years, it's estimated that more than a billion dolls have so far been sold. Mattel claims that three Barbies are sold every second.


STORIES

  • Nostalgia

These Toys Were Banned For Being Seriously Dangerous

  • Nostalgia

These Toys Were Banned For Being Seriously Dangerous

  • Nostalgia

50 Childhood Toys So Dangerous They Ended Up Banned

  • Celebrity

20 Celebrities With Surprising Hobbies

  • Nostalgia

8 Modern Toys All 80s Kids Should Ask For This Christmas!

  • Nostalgia

10 Barbie Toys That All 80s Girls Should Remember

  • Nostalgia

10 Dolls Only True 80s Girls Will Remember

  • Nostalgia

The 10 Most Disturbing Toys Of The 1980s

  • Nostalgia

30 Childhood Toys So Dangerous They Ended Up Banned

  • Nostalgia

15 Gorgeous Dolls All 80s Girls Should Remember

  • Nostalgia

Argos Have Revealed Their Best Selling Christmas Toys Of The Last 45 Years!

  • Nostalgia

12 Toys All 80s Girls Wanted Santa To Leave Them!

  • Nostalgia

12 Must Have Toys From The 1980’s

  • Nostalgia

The 20 Most Valuable Toys from Your Childhood – Do You Have Any Of These?

  • Nostalgia

35 Things Girls Had In Their Bedrooms

  • Nostalgia

10 Barbie Accessories That Every Girl Wanted

  • Nostalgia

Your Old Happy Meal Toys May Be Worth More Than You Think!

  • Nostalgia

44 Awesome Toys That Every 80s Kid Will Remember!

  • Nostalgia

20 Short Lived Cereals From Our Childhood

Eighties Kids
  • About Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policy
  • Contact Us

© 80s Kids 2022 All Rights Reserved