"The Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel), whose own daughter was called Barbara. Barbie was introduced to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The doll was intended to be a teenage fashion doll. There has been some controversy over Barbie's figure when it realized that if Barbie was a real person her measurements would be an impossible 36-18-38. The Ken doll was named after Ruth's son. Barbie first had bendable legs in 1965."(http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbarbiedoll.htm)
"Girls went wild over her and set a new sales record for Mattel the very first year at 351,000 sold at $3.00 each. Since then the Barbie Doll's popularity has rarely waivered and today, with over one billion of her lookalikes sold, the product line is one of the most successful in the history of the toy industry." (http://www.billbam.com/barbiehistory.html)
"Ruth continued with her idea. She traveled to Europe and when she returned she brought a German doll named "Lilli" with her. Redesigned, Lilli became Barbie, and Ruth continued to pester the Mattel executives until they agreed to produce the doll. The original patent date is 1958. Ruth even hired a fashion designer, Charlotte Johnson, to create a fashionable wardrobe for the doll." (http://www.loti.com/barbie_mattel_1959.htm)
"At first, Barbie was a teenaged fashion model, but she's had over 80 careers since then, from astronaut to a medic in Desert Storm and Two Barbies are sold every second around the world"(http://www.loti.com/barbie_mattel_1959.htm)
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