The History of Barbie

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The History of Barbie

• Nicole Klemm
• Computers as a Teachers Aide
• December 3, 2003

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Table of Contents

• The Making of Barbie
• Barbie on our culture
• Barbie through the years
• Works Cited

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The Making of a Plastic Queen
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The idea of the doll came to Ruth Handler, the
co-founder of Mattel Toys, Handler formulated the
idea from her own daughter, Barbara.
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The purpose of the doll was so that little girls
could have a three dimensional figure to pretend
with. Little girls could pretend to be Barbie,
and make any dream come true. It was a futuristic
kind of doll.
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Ruth and her husband, Elliot Handler, created the
magnificent doll and it was revealed to the
world at New Yorks annual Toy Fair in 1959.
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At the time Barbie was made the selling world was
dominated by baby dolls and dolls made
specifically for toddlers. The Handlers believed
there needed to be a change one in which came
through the three-dimensional teenage doll.
With such a drastic change came a harsh reality
that the product could fail, but the company of
Mattel stood behind the doll one hundred percent
by producing television ad campaigns to get the
word out on the new doll.
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The campaigns helped create an image of the
perfect doll. Barbie became the most popular
doll among young girls and remains in that
position today.
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Every month, every year, every decade a new
fashion or new to do with our society is
formulated. Barbie changes as the styles change
and likes/dislikes of society change.
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Barbie On Our Culture
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Princess of the Incas Barbie
Princess of India Barbie
Multicultural Barbie Dolls
Dolls made for a different world
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Barbie is rapidly becoming a world wide product,
dolls are being made in Europe and Asia with
emphasis on France, Germany, Japan and England.
Princess of the Nile Barbie ?
? Princess of the Portuguese Empire Barbie
Princess of South Africa Barbie ?
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Princess of Ireland Barbie ?
? Princess of the French Court Barbie
These dolls show a new line of Barbie, it also
shows that Barbie is becoming more of a
multicultural doll rather than just an all
American doll.
Princess of China Barbie ?
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Since Barbie is one of the most popular dolls,
the sales and profits made by the doll is
increasing year after year. Sales have risen
steadily over her lifespan, and should surpass
2 billion when Barbie turns 40 next year.
The company of Mattel produces many products,
Barbie being one of them. Although even with its
popularity the doll does not make up all of the
companies profits. "When I first began
recommending Mattel stock, Barbie accounted for
200 percent of the companys profits, now
everything else they do is getting stronger"
says Sean McGowan, senior vice president of
research for Gerard Klauer Mattison.
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• Although Barbie is not everything to the company
  of Mattel the doll still accounts for one third
  of Mattels sales and more than half of its
  profits.

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• Being such a high powered selling product, any
  decline in sales would ultimately hurt the
  company of Mattel, which was proved in 1998, when
  Mattel reported a sixteen percent drop in first
  quarter Barbie sales. This was the first drop in
  sales in five years.

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The result of the drop was mainly due to over
ordering by the chain of Toys R Us toy stores.
Although no product is perfect. Barbie may posses
the image of being perfect but the flaws come
through the records of which dolls sell and
which dont.
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The Barbie doll has been created along with the
times. With every new advancement in our
society, Barbie always seemed to be at its side
and up to date which gives the reason why she has
lasted for decades instead of dieing out after
two years.
Barbie and the Rockers
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The products made in relation to the Barbie dolls
are relative to the advancements in technology,
fashion, and music.
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Such products made by Mattel relative to
technology, music and fashion are Talk with
me Barbie- although this product was the start to
the interactive and international markets, its
selling margin wasnt as high as the company had
hoped. With a high price, parents werent so
willing to go out and purchase this product. It
was a cool, high-profile idea, but it was not
easy for parents to grasp the coolness of it
from a 30-second commercial, says McGowan.
Hi Im Barbie!
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Software, such as CD-ROMS were made so that kids
could design Barbies fashion, hairstyles with an
added touch of interactive scenery to build a
story. Some other examples are the vacuum made
by Bissell that has been designed relative to
Barbie. A cordless phone with answering machine
is another product made by another company in
relation to Barbie.
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Barbie
Through
The
Years
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Francie
Jazzie
Stacie
Barbies Family Members
Kelly
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Barbies Friends

• Barbie ? Her Boyfriend Ken (1961-present)
• Barbie ? Her Best friend Midge (1963)
• Barbie and the Rockers (1986)
• Dana
• Diva
• Dee Dee
• Barbie and the Sensations (1988)
• Bopsy
• Belinda
• Becky
• Dance Club (1989)
• Kayla
• Devon

• Christie 68
• Stacey 68-70
• P.J. 69
• Jamie 70-72
• Steffie 72-73
• Kelly 73-76
• Cara 75-78
• Tracy 83
• Miko 87
• Whitney 87
• Teresa 88
• Nikki 89
• Kira 90
• Nia 90
• Tara Lynn 93
• Shani 94
• Becky 97

• Nichelle 99
• Laura 99
• Tori 99
• Ana 99
• Chelsie 99

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The appearance of Barbie has changed through the
years. Her facial features are now more defined
as compared to the beginning of her career. The
style of her clothes has changed based on the
look of the times.
The newer version of Barbie
An older version of Barbie

• Notice the differences between these two dolls
• the clothes
• the facial expression
• the details on the face

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The
END
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WORKS
CITED
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1. Alm, Helene. The History of Barbie.
http//hem3.passagen.se/helenealm/barbie.html
2. Barbie Collectibles. 2002. http//www.barbiecol
lectibles.com/index
3. Barbie Collectibles Store. 1996-2002.
http//www.barbiecollectiblesstore.com/bc/plsql/b
c1.home
4. Barbie. COM. 2002. Mattel. http//www.barbie.c
om/
5. Bissell Homecare Inc. 2000. Bissell.
http//www.bissell.com
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6. Blitman, Joe. 2002. Joes Fashion Dolls
featuring Barbie Dolls. http//www.joeslist.com/i
ndexnrfbmib.html
7. Brown, Donna. 2001. Welcome to Donnas Dolls.
http//www.donnas-dolls.com/
8. Humphreys, Christine. Barbies Big Business.
ABCNEWS.com June 11, 1998. http//more.abcnews.g
o.com/sections/business/dailynews/barbie980609/
9. Marl and B Inc. Simply the Best in Fashion
Dolls 2002. http//www.marlbe.com/
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10. North Shore Collectables. November, 2002.
Barbie-Current. http//www.northshorecollectables
.com/BarbieCurrent.htm
11. The History of Barbie. http//hem.passagen.se
/helenealm/barbie.html