The one thing that every little girl plays with for hours on end is a Barbie doll. Just think, that when it was first thought of Mattel did not want to manufacture it! It turns out that the decision to invest in Barbie was a wise one since it is now a globally known icon with all children.
Barbie has came a long way since it was designed in 1959 by Ruth Handler. Handler first saw the need for an adult doll that would allow girls to play with and dream of how it would be when they were adults. The only option at this time was to play with paper dolls. The first time that Handler took her product to the Mattel Corporation, that she was a co-founder of, she was turned down. The committee felt that it would not appeal to children and would end up costing them more to produce than they would possibly make a profit off. Barbie was modeled after a doll that Handler had brought from Europe, called Lillie. After which, Mattel finally agreed to back her efforts. Then later that year, Barbie was introduced to the world in New York City at the American Toy Fair.
The buyer's of the industry were not impressed with Barbie. However, the little girls went wild over the doll! Within the first year Mattel set a new sales record. It took several years for the supply of Barbie to meet with the demand of the dolls, since every little girl wanted Barbie and all her clothes and accessories.
Over the years Barbie has went through quite a few changes. Her appearance has been the cause of many complaints and even lawsuits. In 1971, Barbie's eyes were changed from the narrow, sideways look as they were designed with to give a look of allure. She was given the round, looking forward eyes that she still has today. Most notable, in 1997, Barbie was given new dimensions, since people worried that Barbie sent an unrealistic body image message to girls with her body measurements. After going through countless lawsuits against Mattel, they decided to take the measures and change Barbie's body.
The last 50 years Barbie has escalated to much more than a doll. Barbie is a trademark icon that all little girls have. There are books, games, movies and countless accessories that are all contributed to Barbie. There are dolls that are cousins and sisters to Barbie, making up the entire Barbie family, complete with a pink car and dream house. Barbie has managed to keep up with all the latest fashion trends and has inspired the imaginations of little girls all around the world. Barbie reinforced the idea that girls can grow up to be whatever they want with Barbie's of all sorts of occupations, such as veterinarian, scuba diving Barbie, or even Nascar driving Barbie.
Despite there being more and more competitors that are trying to imitate Barbie, there is still only one, true doll that can call itself Barbie.
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