![]() By 1961 Mattel also launched red-hair Barbies, and the same year Mattel introduced Ken (named after Ruth Handler's son), a male fashion doll model. The original price was $3, but depending on accessories, additional $1-$5 could be added on top. First dolls were sold in two versions, brunette or blonde, and were sporting a stripy black and white swimming suit. The first Barbie doll was officially shown at the New York Toy Fair in 1959.īarbie was introduced as a successful teenage fashion model from Wisconsin and was catered to the young teenage girls. Ruth got inspired by this doll during the creation of her first prototype of Barbie and even bought the rights to Bild Lilli. This doll was based on a strip-comic in the Bild newspaper and was catered rather as a fashion doll for adults. She forwarded the idea of the toy to her husband, who was at the time the cofounder of Mattel, an American toy company founded in 1945.Īfter a quick research, Ruth found out that there is an adult-bodied doll on the German market, so called Bild Lilli. Ruth saw her daughter roll-playing with her toys and thought of toy that could fill in the niche as nothing similar was available on the American market. ![]() It was named after creator Ruth Handler’s daughter who inspired her to make a doll that was based on a full grown character rather than a baby. Barbie was first introduced to the public on March 9th, 1959, at the American International Toy Fair in New York. ![]()
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