BARBIE

THE DOLL THAT BECAME A GLOBAL ICON

Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel, and manufactured by Mattel. The original Barbie debuted on March 9, 1959, at the American International Toy Fair. Each doll was sold for only $3.00; in Barbie's debut year, Mattel sold 300,000 of the original dolls. The original Barbie is seen wearing a strapless, black-and-white zebra-striped swimsuit with a blonde or brunette ponytail and curly bangs. The 2 original dolls were pale with black and white eyes and red lipstick. Since then, Mattel has created tens of thousands of different Barbie dolls and variations since her debut, leading to over one billion dolls being sold globally.

Vintage Barbie teenage fashion model doll in striped outfit, in original box with illustration of fashion models.

MORE THAN A DOLL.
A NEW ROLE MODEL FOR PLAY.

Ruth created Barbie when she saw her daughter playing with paper made to look like adult women because she did not want to play with baby dolls anymore. She got inspiration for Barbie's body while on vacation from the German Bild Lilli doll. She used the doll's proportions for the Barbie mold and named the doll after her daughter Barbara. Barbie allowed young girls to imagine themselves as the dolls, Barbie encouraged imaginative and creative play by allowing them to pretend to be doctors, astronauts, teachers, athletes, businesswomen, and more instead pretending to be a parent to baby dolls. 

Group of diverse fashion dolls dressed in trendy clothing, with some wearing sunglasses and colorful outfits, set against a black background.
Pink starburst with the Barbie logo and the word 'MATTEL' underneath.
A smiling woman with blonde hair, wearing a blue polka dot headband and blue dress with white stripes, leaning on a pink toy car with a clear windshield, in a pink-themed environment with pink walls and orange flowers.