Barbie Dolls Where Did They Come From

Barbie Dolls Where Did They Come From?

Summary: Barbie dolls have probably been on Christmas wish lists for several generations of girls. In fact Barbie has become a household name for many years. Who created the first concept of the Barbie doll?

Barbie, Barbie doll, Barbie Ken, Mattel, Ruth Handler, Lilli

Article Body: Dear Santa, Please can I have a Barbie doll for Christmas?

Barbie dolls have probably been on Christmas wish lists for several generations of girls. In fact Barbie has become a household name for many years. Who created the first concept of the Barbie doll?

The story started with the birth of Ruth Mosko in Denver Colarado in . Ruth married Elliot Handler in . Elliot Handler and his business partner Harold Matt Matson formed the company Mattel. The name was created by a combination of their names Matt-Ell. Mattel originally manufactured picture frames, but after making dolls furniture from scraps decided to focus on toy manufacturing for which Mattel is now famous.

Ruth Handler noticed that her young daughter Barbara was more interested in playing with adult dolls, than the baby dolls that were available at that time. While traveling in Europe she saw a German doll called Lilli which she bought for her daughter. The original Lilli doll was not a childrens toy, but a joke style gift for men.

Mattel bought the marketing rights for Lilli. They changed the dolls name to Barbie, named after Ruths daughter Barbara. Barbie was first released for sale in the United States in and became a hot seller. Barbies boyfriend Ken was introduced in . Ken was named after Ruths son Kenneth.

The Barbie doll was first displayed at the New York International American Toy Fair on March , . This date became Barbies official birthday .There is now a fictional biography of the life of Barbie with additional family and friends created and sold as separate dolls.

By Barbara White