- Barbie celebrates her birthday on March 9 – six decades after she was first unveiled at the 1950 New York Toy Fair by Ruth and Elliot Handler of Mattel, Inc.
- Ruth Handler created Barbie after a German R-rated novelty toy and named the voluptuous doll after her daughter Barbara; Ken was named after her son, Kenneth
- Zsa Zsa Gabor’s ex-husband, a defense contractor, was hired to develop the doll
- Critics have for decades targeted Barbie’s unrealistic body proportions – equating to 36-18-33 on an adult woman – and for feeding into gender stereotypes
- Ruth Handler was indicted on ten counts of fraud after falsifying financial statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1978
- More than 100 dolls are sold every minute worldwide, with 58 million dolls sold annually – and Barbie is more recognized than The Queen of England
Barbie, the fashion doll famous around the world, celebrates her 60th anniversary on Saturday with new collections honoring real-life role models and careers in which women remain under-represented.
It is part of Barbie’s evolution over the decades since her debut at the New York Toy Fair on March 9, 1959. To mark the milestone, manufacturer Mattel Inc created Barbie versions of 20 inspirational women from Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka to British model and activist Adwoa Aboah.
The company also released six dolls representing the careers of astronaut, pilot, athlete, journalist, politician and firefighter, all fields in which Mattel said women are still under-represented. Barbie is a cultural icon celebrated by the likes of Andy Warhol, the Paris Louvre museum and the 1997 satirical song “Barbie Girl” by Scandinavian pop group Aqua. She was named after the daughter of creator Ruth Handler. Barbie has taken on more than 200 careers from surgeon to video game developer since her debut when she wore a black-and-white striped swimsuit. After criticism that Barbie’s curvy body promoted an unrealistic image for young girls, Mattel added a wider variety of skin tones, body shapes, hijab-wearing dolls and science kits to make Barbie more educational. Barbie is also going glamorous for her six-decade milestone. A diamond-anniversary doll wears a sparkly silver ball gown.
