This year, Barbie celebrated her 60th birthday, and Mattel really tried to worthily celebrate it. First of all, she organized a seven-month Barbie tour "Be Anything" (Be anyone) throughout the country with the participation of singer Kelsey Ballerini. I must say that Barbie herself looks great at her age, right? By the way, what facts from her biography do you know?
She was born March 9, 1959
This is the day of her first "appearance" at the New York exhibition of children's toys. Then Barbie was 28 cm tall, and she was wearing a swimsuit in black and white stripes. An adult woman as a child’s toy was a completely unexpected concept. Do you know what the doll didn’t have then? She had no belly button. It was added only in 2000, after more than 40 years.
Barbie was created by Jack Ryan, who worked for the Pentagon
A talented engineer worked in the field of rocket science, but then he was hired by Mattel to create high-quality and properly functioning toys. It is Jack Ryan that the doll owes its wasp waist and knees on special hinges.
Doll Build Lilly from Germany gave Ruth Handler an interesting idea
Although it was Ryan who developed Barbie, the original idea came from Ruth Handler, Mattel's co-founder. Once, Ruth traveled around Europe and in Germany saw a doll that was not intended for children at all.
Ruth immediately shared the idea with her husband Elliot, director of Mattel. Although subsequently the manufacturer Build Lilly even sued the Handlers, but in the end the owners of Mattel acquired a patent for the production. He cost them $ 21,600.
Barbie and Ken are the names of the children of the Handler spouses, after whom they named their legendary dolls
And Barbie even has a very branched family tree. In the Barbie world, her parents are Margaret and George Roberts from Willows, Wisconsin. Her sisters and brothers: Skipper, Tutti, Todd, Kelly, Stacy, Chrissy and Chelsea. Plus cousins Frances and Jezzie.
One of the Barbie sisters disappeared without a trace
Tutti mysteriously disappeared from the Roberts family in 1971 (more precisely, she was discontinued). But in 1992, Stacy's sister appeared.
Barbie fell into scandals and was the center of fierce debate over her figure
The doll was criticized for excessive thinness and rather large breasts. Particularly ardent critics pointed out that the proportions of Barbie did not correspond to the proportions of a living woman, since in real life she would then be physically unable to move, hold her head, and her internal organs would not function properly. Mattel reacted by releasing several dolls with different body types, hairstyles and skin colors.
In 1965, Barbie was published along with a book for losing weight.
There was such a fact in the doll’s biography! Barbie was accompanied by the book "How to lose weight," which contained tips like "Do not eat." And Barbie also had bathroom scales - then (according to legend) with a height of 1.75 m Barbie weighed 50 kg.
The original Barbie can cost a lot of money today
The first Barbie was sold for $ 3 (other accessories went for a separate price). Today, the original in excellent condition can bring up to 25 thousand dollars at auction. Many early Barbies are regularly on sale on eBay and in vintage items stores.
Many celebrities also visited the skin of Barbie
The first celebrity to appear as Barbie was Twiggy, a British fashion icon and model famous for her thinness. The Twiggy doll wore a miniskirt, leather boots and spider legs. In the future, many other famous women (writers, actresses and supermodels) also had personal versions of Barbie.
Barbie began her career as a model
Barbie began working as a model for teenagers, and then by whom she just did not work. The doll was the magazine’s editor, flight attendant, ballerina, nurse, astronaut, tennis player, surgeon, Miss America, actress, gymnast, journalist, rock star, UNICEF ambassador, rapper, cook, baseball player, scuba diver, paleontologist, pilot, zoologist and even presidents. And this does not end her track record - Barbie today has more than two hundred professions.
Her signature color is pink, of course
According to Pantone color models, her brand pink is classified as PMS 219 C. And, by the way, there is even a special Barbie in a dress from Pantone color samples.
