What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

Barbie empowered girls to be what they wanted to be. She had many professions like, astronaut, police officer, rocker, president, dentist, teacher and many more. The dolls allow the girls to play with their imaginations.

Paper dolls had clothes that fell off, didn't fit right,and were not varied in style and accessories. The cloth clothes of Barbie are easier to put on and take off and they were colorful and there are many accessories. Like the 1980's Barbie Rocker. She has a jacket, a shirt, earrings, a headband, bracelets, skirt, boots, and they come with free extras like cassette tapes. Paper dolls were bland and frustrating to play with.

1980's Barbie RockerCan you do that with a paper doll?

Words of Ruth

"'[Little girls]...want- someday- to have gorgeous clothes, be chic and look like movie stars," Ruth Handler said. Barbie is their hopeful mirror.

Who is Barbie?

The name Barbie comes from Ruth Handler's daughter, Barbara. When thinking of a name Ruth wanted Barbie to be called Babs, which was Barbara's nickname. But the name was taken. As well as the names, Barb and Barbara. But Barbie was available so that was the name they chose.

Barbara is the young girl on the bottom right.

             Guess who Ken is named after? Ruth's son Kenneth. He is seated to the left of Barbara.

Ruth Handler with Barbies.

The First Barbie Doll!

This Barbie was released in 1959.

           Barbie started out as a mother's idea to make her daughter's toys more convenient. The paper dolls that Ruth Handlers daughter, Barbara, played with were hard to dress and hard to play with. Ruth was inspired by the frustation of Barbara and her friends and the inconvenience she saw herself.
           Ruth noticed that when her daughter played with the paper dolls she mostly played with the adult women. They were playing with the most relatable doll. In a stereotypical family of a mother, a father, and a son and daughter they mostly played with the mothers. They wanted to imagine what they themselves were going to be when they grew up, not what they were going to do tomorrow. This is why they did not play with the children as much as the women. "'I knew that if only we could take this play pattern [paper dolls] and three dimensionalize it'...'we would have something very special.'" Barbie was going to be a 3-D paper doll.