Ode to Barbie

Ode to Barbie

Barbie’s official birthday is March 9, 1959, the day she was officially introduced to the world. In its first year, 300,000 Barbie dolls were sold for $3 each. Even if you never played with her before, you knew who she was. Her hand and footprints are even cased in cement on Hollywood Boulevard. Over the last 60 years, Mattel Inc. has sold over a billion Barbie dolls. Now a mint condition #1 doll can fetch more than $25,000. Every 3 seconds, a Barbie doll is sold somewhere in the world.

Barbie is based on German Bild Lilli doll, who has a story all her own: Her very mature figure was meant to appeal to adults not children and before she was ever a doll, Lilli appeared in a 1940’s adult comic strip as a buxom gold digger who seduced wealthy men. The doll was intended to be a gag gift and was only available for purchase at adult places like bars and “novelty” stores.  

For as long as the doll has been on the market, she has been known as Barbie. Just one name, no last name mentioned, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have one. On National Siblings’ Day in 2018, people were shocked to learn that Barbie and her sibs do have a last name.

Barbie is actually just her nickname. Her real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts and her parents are George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. They have seven children: Barbara, Skipper, Anastasia, Todd, Chelsea, Kelly, and Kristine. Barbie’s most popular sibling is her younger sister, Skipper, introduced in 1964, five years after Barbie was introduced. Some people thought that their last name was actually “Doll” since she is often referred to as a Barbie doll. Barbie lovers never realized that Barbie and her siblings had last names. Ken, too, has a last name. His full name is actually Kenneth Sean Carson. He was introduced two years after Barbie. For 49 years, he and Barbie were happily dating. Amid a rash of high-profile celebrity breakups, Barbie and Ken made news of their own in 2004 when they decided they were better off as friends. They shocked the world. After the breakup, Barbie had a new male companion doll named Blaine Gordon, a boogie-boarder from Australia, but after seven years apart, Barbie and Ken reunited, on Valentine’s Day.

Given Andy Warhol’s longtime fascination with iconic stars it came as little surprise that the Pop artist would get around to depicting Barbie. The inspiration for his 1986 painting. 

DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Barbie first ran for president in 1992, and has hit the campaign trail at least seven times since. In 1997, the company debuted Share a Smile Becky the first fashion doll to come with a wheelchair.    

To help young girls with cancer, Mattel produced a bald friend of Barbie named Ella. First manufactured in 2012, they were created in only a limited number and were distributed directly to hospitals. Responding to a petition from a cancer patient’s mother, Mattel agreed in 2014 to produce more ‘Ella’ Barbies. Ironically, the best-selling Barbie doll was the Totally Hair doll, debuted in 1992. 

The first hijab-wearing Barbie doll honors 2016 Bronze medal winner American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad who became the first US woman to wear the Islamic headscarf while competing at the Olympics.  She says the doll is “a childhood dream come true.”

https://medium.com/@social_28780/the-story-of-the-first-barbie-doll-gemr-8b1a9a38ee4dhttps://www.history.com/news/barbie-through-the-ages

3 Comments

  1. Karen

    My daughter played with her Barbie dolls from age 3 to 12. One day she was finished with them just like that.

    • Susan

      I preferred Tammy for some reason and would spend hours making her clothing.

  2. What fun facts! I had a barbie doll as a child but I remember Midge more, perhaps because she had darker hair and eyes like me. Thanks for the post.

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