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Barbie Facts

Barbie Facts
Barbie is a fashion doll that was first introduced by Mattel, Inc. in 1959. Barbie was designed by Ruth Handler, inspired by Bild Lilli - a German doll. Ruth Handler had watched her own daughter play with paper dolls, often giving them adult character roles while most dolls at the time were infants. She realized there was a gap in the marketplace and suggested to her husband, the co-founder of Mattel, Inc, that they create such a doll. After a trip to Germany in which Ruth saw the Bild Lilli doll, she worked with an engineer named Jack Ryan to create a new doll. The doll was named Barbie, after Ruth's daughter Barbara. Barbie launched in 1959 and to date has sold more than
Interesting Barbie Facts:
Barbie is only the doll's nickname. Her real name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, after Ruth Handler's daughter Barbara.
Ruth Handler and her husband Elliot Handler (co-founder of Mattel, Inc.) also have a son. His name is Kenneth (think Ken and Barbie).
Barbie was 'born' in Willows, Wisconsin, according to her biography.
The first Barbie was $3 to buy and she was dressed in a black and white striped bathing suit.
A woman named Blondie Bennett spent at least $40,000 to look like Barbie. She had numerous plastic surgeries to make the changes to her body. She has also been reported to be trying to make herself more dumb to be more authentic. She poses in toy stores as a side career for money.
Ken and Barbie broke up in 2004. They eventually reunited. Because the two were never married officially there was never a need for a divorce.
There are more Barbie dolls sold each year than there are babies born around the world - a total of 24 times more Barbie dolls sold than babies born. There are roughly 4 million babies born each year.
Saudi Arabia banned Barbie dolls because of religious beliefs.
If Barbie were a real woman she would weigh 110 pounds. She would be 5'7" tall, and her measurements would equal 32-16-29 - a very unrealistic shape that has been criticized because it would look ridiculous in real life. Her neck would only be 9 inches in circumference. The doll is 11.5 inches tall.
Barbie had a pony tail when she debuted in 1959. She had a pet horse named Dancer.
Barbie has had at least 180 different careers since she was created. Some of these careers included film director, architect and computer engineer, as well as astronaut.
The most popular Barbie released was the 1992 Totally Hair doll. The doll had hair from her head to her toes.
More than 100 people work on every Barbie doll design and character creation before she is released. This includes fashion designers and makeup artists.
A woman named Bettina Dorfmann has the largest Barbie collection in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. She has more than 15,000 different Barbies.
Barbie has over 1.2 million followers on her Instagram channel. She also has 240,000 Twitter followers and 13 million Facebook fans.


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