Barbie has become one of the most successful fashion dolls since its launch on March 9, 1959. This doll is designed, produced and marketed by Mattel. For nearly half a century, the Barbie doll has enjoyed tremendous success in the fashion doll market. There have been plenty of rival products introduced during this period. Barbie has also had to put up with several lawsuits and controversies over the years. These were mostly concerned with the parody and lifestyle of this elegant doll. Barbie has been dressed in various styles from the granny dress to the prairie look.
Ruth Handler, an American entrepreneur, has been credited with the creation of Barbie. The keen eyes of this businesswoman observed that her daughter, Barbara, sometimes gave adult roles to her paper dolls. In those days, all toy dolls represented infants not the adult figure. Later Ruth discussed this idea of a doll in an adult form with her husband Elliot, who had co-founded the Mattel toy company. Inspired by Bild Lilli, a German toy doll, Ruth worked on the design of an adult-figured doll known as Barbie. She named the new doll after her daughter Barbara. On March 9, 1959, the introduction of Barbie formally took place in New York at the American International Toy Fair. Even now, 9 March is still celebrated as Barbie’s birthday.
In 1964, Mattel bought the rights to the Bild Lilli doll and stopped the manufacture of this pioneering toy. Appearing in a swimsuit with zebra stripes, the first Barbie was offered as a brunette or blonde. The beautiful toy had a trademark topknot ponytail. These initial dolls were made in Japan where the dolls’ clothes were stitched by hand. In the first year, sales amounted to nearly 350,000 dolls. At this time, many parents were disappointed about the visible cleavage on Barbie’s chest. These sorts of complaints and new ideas led to several changes in the design of Barbie. In the early 1970s, the dolls eyes were designed to look straight ahead instead of the earlier sideways glance.
A major factor in the success of this doll was the large-scale marketing of Barbie on television. The sales of Barbie have been estimated to be more than a billion dolls sold in at least 150 countries. These dolls are always sold with a matching set of clothes and accessories with dress outfits, shoes, eyewear, and fashion jewellery. Doll furniture and equipment such as kitchen appliances increase Barbie’s play appeal for a young girl. Barbie has a wide range of pets including a dog, a panda, a lion cub and a zebra. She even has vehicles like cars, jeeps and trailers and comes in several professions such as a pilot, an astronaut and a vet. The present merchandise range for Barbie includes animated movies, video games, comic books and novels.
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