Happy Birthday to Barbie!

On March 9th, 1959, the Barbie doll made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York City. And the rest is history, or more accurately, HERstory.

Co-creator Ruth Handler said in a 1977 interview with The New York Times, "Every little girl needed a doll through which to project herself into her dream of her future. If she was going to do role-playing of what she would be like when she was 16 or 17, it was a little stupid to play with a doll that had a flat chest. So I gave the doll beautiful breasts. And Barbie kept pace with the times. During Camelot, she sported a Jacqueline Kennedy hairdo. During the 1970's, her career choices and outfits began to change to include a doctor, astronaut, and veterinarian, among others. My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, a girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices."

Barbie has become one of the world's most popular dolls and owes its success to adapting to the ever-changing markets of various cultures and countries by launching Barbie dolls of shapes, colors, and sizes, and customization to the inhabitants of certain regions. Because Barbie has often been criticized for representing an unattainable beauty ideal for girls and women, the doll has evolved both in style and shape over the years. The Barbie brand also honors pioneering women from throughout history.

According to Forbes, "Mattel successfully reframes how we think about Barbie Dolls. That Barbie Dolls are not about what the doll looks like, but about how a child looks at the dolls. In other words, Barbie Dolls are a means, not an end. When we see a child playing with a Barbie Doll it's not a buxom babe projecting negative influence onto the child. It's imagination at work, a blank slate, a world of possibilities shaped like a doll. Better yet, the Barbie Doll is a conduit for the development of a child's self-image. A professor, a veterinarian, a businesswoman. Not a bimbo, as many adults have been conditioned to believe, but a businesswoman. The controversies surrounding Barbie Dolls were never initiated by kids. They were always the product of adults."

Here are some interesting facts about Barbie. Her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, and she is from a fictional town in Wisconsin. March 9th is celebrated each year as National Barbie Day, because that was the day she was introduced at the American Toy Fair in New York City in 1959. Barbie recognizes careers in which women are traditionally under-represented to show girls that they can be anything and to encourage discovery and exploration through play, and since her inception, she has had over 250 different careers.

According to Mattel, "Barbie traveled into space in 1965, four years before man walked on the moon. In 1973, Barbie saved lives as a surgeon, at a time when very few women were in the operating room. In 1985, she took to the boardroom as "Day to Night" CEO Barbie, just as women began to break the glass ceiling. In 1992, Barbie ran for president for the first time. In 2016, she ran with the first all-female ticket. To encourage more girls to explore the STEM field, Barbie has been a computer engineer, video game developer, Mars explorer, and robotics engineer. In 2016, to better reflect the world girls see today, Barbie introduced three new body types: curvy, petite, and tall. The launch of the new body types landed Barbie on the cover of TIME Magazine. And in 2018, Barbie shined a light on empowering role models from the past and present to inspire more girls. The campaign honored extraordinary women from around the world and launched on International Women's Day featuring Frida Kahlo, Katherine Johnson, and Amelia Earhart."

SHARE THIS: Barbie's career line reinforces the brand's purpose to inspire the limitless potential in every girl. ~Mattel #NationalBarbieDay #YouCanBeAnything #DebbieLaskeysBlog

Barbie is sold in 150 countries worldwide, and more than 100 Barbie dolls are sold every minute. A Barbie Dreamhouse is sold every two minutes and was first introduced in 1962. Barbie has products in over 50 categories including food, fitness, and clothing. In addition, the Barbie Fashionistas line includes a Blind Barbie created in partnership with the American Foundation for the Blind, a black Barbie with Down syndrome in partnership with National Down Syndrome Society, and a Barbie with Type 1 Diabetes and outfitted with medical devices, such as a wearable insulin pump, commonly used by people with the condition. 

As a result, there's no wonder that the Barbie brand enjoys over 99 percent brand awareness globally.

Happy birthday to Barbie!

Image Credit: Mattel.