The History of Barbie Essay

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This doll is one of the most famous toys in any country; her beautiful appearance and mobile parts of body attract the attention of so many children and even grow ups. Almost each girl on this planet is eager to have at least one of these beautiful dolls, which are known as Barbie dolls.

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However, not every one knows how long the history of Barbie is. Ruth Handler was the person, who presented Barbie to the world in far 1959. Barbie turns out to be a really significant part in the history and development of toy fashion. To my mind, it is quite captivating to investigate the creation of Barbie dolls, specify the impact of Handler’s daughter, and clear up why this very doll turns out to be so interesting for lots of people during such a long period of time.

In 1945, Ruth Handler’s husband, Elliot and his friend Harold Mattson decided to create their own company that would be soon known as the most successful doll’s creation company. So, that was the way of how the most powerful company within doll’s industry, Mattel, appeared (MATT – for Mattson, EL – for Elliot).

It is necessary to admit that Ruth and Elliot’s daughter, Barbara, and son, Ken, played a significant role in the development of the toy. Barbara liked to spend much time with her best friends, paper dolls, chose some adult cloth for them, and imagined numerous careers.

When Ruth and Elliot visited Switzerland, they came across another popular doll from Germany, Lilli. Telling the truth, this Lilli served as the major prototype of Barbie with its 11½ “or 7” in heights. However, from the very beginning, Ruth’s husband did not really believe that such dolls with adult bodies and intentions to work and develop may be interesting to young ladies.

Fortunately, Ruth found out enough powers and imagination to prove her position and start the creation of first Barbie dolls in 1959. “The Barbie doll’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts… She is from Willows, Wisconsin, and she is a graduate of Willows High School.” (Lind & Brzuzy 2008) So, this doll has her own story, has her birthday, March 9, 1959, and turns out to be quite multinational.

Toy Fair in New York City was the first place, where Barbie was really officially introduced to a wide public. More than 20 outfits were presented with this doll, and this collection could not but impress so may people. However, the received reception was a bit weak, because lots of toy buyers regarded this toy as a bit risky investment – her fresh style and not that young age were not quite typical for those times.

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But still, within only 10 years, more than $500 million were spent on Barbie dolls. It was mentioned that “two Barbie dolls are sold every second of every day in any one of the 150 nations the doll in marketed.” (Lind & Brzuzy 2008) So, no one can even doubt that Barbie should be considered as the #1 doll in the whole world.

The development of Barbie’s industry causes numerous misunderstandings among lots of thinkers and philosophers. Some of them even tried to disavow this toy and underlined that its view did not deserve so much attention and discourses. (Peers 2004) However, the image of Barbie cannot but disturb lots of young girls.

The major point is that Barbie’s behavior, her relations with a young man, Ken, her attention to her friends and the respect, she may achieve backwards – this is what makes this doll famous and desirable. “Nice girls like Barbie are neither combative nor strident; they are neither loud nor critical; they are good-mannered and respectable.” (Rogers 1999) With time, Barbie gets an opportunity to have pets, cars, and be able to develop even her own business within her doll town.

Barbie’s style, haircut, and cloth have been already changed for many times, and each time these changes were rather successful. The creators tried to take into consideration all consumers’ demands and present the best production only. The development of these dolls’ possibilities is rather noticeable.

Of course, Barbie dolls face certain competition with another line of fashion dolls, Bratz. But still, their abilities to take leading positions still exist, and even the death of Ruth Handler could not frustrate the plans to make Barbie dolls really significant and important for children.

If a person wants to make his/her baby happier, it is high time to go shopping and choose the prettiest doll in the world. Of course, this doll will be one of those, which was created by Mattel Inc. The members of this team put much efforts and love in this project, so, there are no doubts that so many people adore these dolls and prefer to present them to their children. To my mind, if a doll is made with love, it will be appreciated by lots of people of different ages and nations. The history of Barbie, its creation, and further development – all this proves how necessary these products are.

Reference List

Lind, A. & Brzuzy, S. (2008). Battleground: Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Greenwood Publishing Group.

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Peers. J. (2004). The Fashion Doll: From Bébé Jumeau to Barbie. Berg Publisher.

Rogers, M. F. (1999). Barbie Culture. SAGE.

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IvyPanda. 2018. "The History of Barbie." June 25, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-history-of-barbie/.

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