Barbie's Birthday

Yesterday Barbie turned 50! I love Barbie and had tons of them when I was a kid. Actually, the full name of Barbie doll is “Barbie Millicent Roberts.” She is from Willows, Wisconsin and went to Willows High School. In 1945, Ruth and Elliot Handler formed Mattel. In 1957 Ruth conceived of a three dimensional adult-like doll, which is hilarious though I'm not surprised. The body is based on German doll called "Lilli" which was sold as a sex toy for men. Barbie had her debut on March 9th, 1959 at the American Toy Fair in NYC, 50 years ago. Barbie’s best friend, Midge was introduced in 1963. In 1964 Barbie got bendable knees. The "Twist and Turn" Barbie is released in 1967, with swivel waist and hips. In 1971, Barbies eyes looked straight ahead for the first time, older Barbies eyes looked slightly down and to the side. The first black and Hispanic Barbie dolls were introduced in 1980. Barbie doll got a belly button for the first time in 2000. In 1997, Share A Smile Becky was introduced with a wheelchair. In 2002 Barbie got a new multi-cultural friend, Kayla. In 2007 the average 3 to 10 year old girl in the U.S. owned eight Barbies. Every second at least three Barbies are purchased somewhere in the world. Barbie has been busy!! She has had more than 80 careers, everything from a rock star to a paleontologist. Barbie represented a candidate for President in 1992 and ran again in 2000 with a platform of opportunities for girls, educational excellence and animal rights. Ahead of her times perhaps, she ran in 2004 as a female African-American candidate. Barbie doll represented an astronaut in 1965, 1986 and 1994. Barbie’s first pet was a horse named Dancer. Since then she has had over 43 pets including 21 dogs, 14 horses, 3 ponies, 6 cats, a parrot, a chimpanzee, a panda, a lion cub, a giraffe and a zebra. Barbie has five sisters, Skipper, introduced in 1964, Tutti, a twin introduced in 1966, Stacie in 1992, Kelly in 1995 who I totally remember coming out "Barbie's new baby sister Kelly!" Most recently, her sister Krissy was introduced in 1999. Her boyfriend, Ken made his debut two years after Barbie in 1961. Over 1 billion fashions have been produced since 1959 for Barbie and her friends. She has had more than a billion pairs of shoes and over one hundred new additions to her wardrobe annually. Barbie’s collection of couture includes designs by Givenchy, Versace, Dolce & Gabana, Vera Wang and Gucci. The first Barbie sold for $3.00 though today an original 1959 Barbie doll in mint condition has sold for up to $10,000. The best selling Barbie ever was Totally Hair Barbie, with hair from the top of her head to her toes, which I never had but I think some of my friends did. If Barbie was human sized, she would stand 5 foot 6 inches tall, weigh 110 pounds, and have a 39 inch bust, 18 inch waist and 33 inch hips. Though in 1997, her waist thickened slightly.