1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lauren 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Vogelbaum here. On July twenty fourth of nineteen fifty two, 3 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: a curvaceous bombshell named Lily graced the pages of a 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: German tabloid for the first time. A character created by 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: cartoonist rein Hard boyteen, Lily was single and in search 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: of a rich boyfriend. I think of the character as 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: a modern working girl version of Scarlett O'Hara from Gone 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: with the Wind. Deprivations brought on by the Second World 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: War had worn down her spirit, except for a determination 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: to be amply provided for a passion. No longer motivated dating, 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: she was simply on a quest for the wealthiest suitor. 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: Lily was, in short, a gold digger, but with mile 13 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: long legs, a generous bus line, and scant clothing. A 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: cartoon Lily nonetheless charmed the magazine's largely male readership. Her 15 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: brassy personality and pin up figure wooed men so effectively 16 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:06,839 Speaker 1: that the character was transformed into a doll in nineteen 17 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: fifty five. The Lily Dolls, which came in seven inch 18 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: and eleven inch sizes, that's seventeen and twenty seven centimeters 19 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: weren't marketed to little girls. They were intended for adult men. 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: At that time, girls played with baby dolls and prepubescent 21 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: shaped fashion dolls. Lily, on the other hand, depicted a 22 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: worldly woman with impossibly petite feet in black spike heels 23 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: supporting a distinct hourglass frame, crimson lips puckered slightly in 24 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: a flutatious pout, and big, thickly lined eyes that gazeduggestively 25 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: to the side. With advertising taglines such as whether more 26 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: or less naked Lily is always discreet, and a wardrobe 27 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: consisting of neckliges, tiny tops, and tight pants. Lily dolls 28 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: were essentially adult novelty toys. People gave them as bachelor gifts, 29 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: and men drove around with Lily on their dashboards. But 30 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: when an American woman named Ruth Handler spied a Lily 31 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: doll in a store while vacationing in Switzerland, she didn't 32 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: see it as a prurie and novelty. Instead, she thought 33 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: it would be the perfect toy for her daughter, Barbara. 34 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: Handler had observed Barbara and her friends playing with paper 35 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: dolls that depicted teenage girls or adult women, and Handler 36 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: that was their way of practicing for adulthood. Yet, aside 37 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: from these two dimensional paper dolls, no other dolls available 38 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: in stores portrayed the mature female body. For that reason, 39 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: she bought two Lily dolls for Barbara during that Switzerland 40 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: trip in nineteen fifty six and one for herself. By 41 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: the time Ruth Handler encountered the Lily doll on her 42 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: vacation in Switzerland, the toy company that she and her 43 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: husband had founded, Mattel had started turning a prophet. The 44 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,919 Speaker 1: United States was in its post World War two economic 45 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: boom that fueled widespread concus zumorism, and adults weren't the 46 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: only shoppers who advertisers targeted a Thanks to television and 47 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: the launch of shows like Howdy Duty in nineteen forty 48 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: seven and The Mickey Mouse Club in nineteen fifty five, 49 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: the children were a new market and source of revenue. 50 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: If youngsters saw a new toy on television, they might 51 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: nag their parents into buying it for them. Mattel seized 52 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: upon this opportunity as a chance to expand their stake 53 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: in the toy industry. With Lily as her muse. Handler 54 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: convinced her husband and the all male design team at 55 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: Mattel to follow her lead in filling the as of 56 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: yet empty market niche for a more mature female doll. 57 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: Mattel began crafting Handler's dream doll by nineteen fifty seven. 58 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: They kept Lily's general figure, but scrubbed off some of 59 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: her makeup, relaxed her smile, and used soft vinyl instead 60 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: of hard plastic to construct her. A fashion designer, Charlotte 61 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: Johnson was hired to create a tasteful, yet chic wardrobe 62 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: for Mattel's new doll. This was where Lily's extreme hourglass 63 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: shape was a practical aesthetic bonus. Johnson was working with 64 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: the same types of thick fabrics that were used in 65 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: human sized garment making, so the doll's unrealistically narrow waist 66 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: and large bust actually helped the tiny garments look sharp 67 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: and shapely at scale, the final product standing at eleven 68 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: and a half inches that's twenty nine centimeters. The debuted 69 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: at the nineteen fifty nine New York Toy Fair didn't 70 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: look drastically different from Lily A. Sporting a black and 71 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: white striped swimsuit, open toads, toilettos, and gold hoop ear rings. 72 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: It had Lily's racy curves, but a more demure style. 73 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,599 Speaker 1: Named in honor of Handler's daughter, Barbara, Mattel called the 74 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: new doll Barbie. Everyone knows the rest of Barbie's history. 75 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: She bade scores of friends and became the most popular 76 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: toy in history. But Barbie didn't receive a warm welcome 77 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: at that New York Toy fair, and before she hit 78 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: the stores, Mattel had to figure out how to sell 79 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: such a womanly doll to wary mothers. The thought of 80 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: having a doll with a prominent bust sitting around the 81 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: home did disturb some mothers. A Barbie's mature body seemed 82 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: borderline pornographic and potentially damaging to young girl's psyches, an 83 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: argument that continues disissle in today's culture. After all, if 84 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: the original Barbie were person sized, her measurements would be 85 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 1: thirty eight eighteen thirty four. In order for Mattel to 86 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: popularize Barbie, the company had to advertise in a strategic 87 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: way that would allay concerned mother's fears. Over the course 88 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: of six months, an advertising expert by the name of 89 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: Ernest Dieter studied the responses of girls and their mothers 90 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: to Barbie. From his extensive research, Dieter concluded that instead 91 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: of attempting to mitigate Barbie's mature qualities, Mattel should emphasize them. 92 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,679 Speaker 1: Barbie was well dressed and attractive. Mothers ought to consider 93 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: her a tool for teaching their daughters about the importance 94 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: of appearance and femininity, while some women, like my own mom, 95 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: would later take Barbie to task for imparting such lessons. 96 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: The advertising tactic worked in the nineteen sixties. Barbie's on 97 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: and off boyfriend Ken, hit stores in nineteen sixty one. Ironically, 98 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: Ken is named for Ruth Handler's son, which makes the 99 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: real life Barbie and Ken and siblings. The plastic couple 100 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: would go through a breakup in two thousand and four, 101 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: but reconciled in twenty eleven. Mattel's first black dolls appeared 102 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen sixties, and other skin tones hit 103 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: the shelves in the eighties. Meanwhile, the basic Barbie underwent 104 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: a significant makeover in nineteen seventy one with the release 105 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: of Malibu Barbie. For the first time, Barbie's eyes looked 106 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: straight ahead rather than to the side like Lily's. She 107 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: traded her honey brown locks for Platinum blonde and displayed 108 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: an open mouthed smile. In the twenty teens, the brand 109 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: released different body types for Barbie and Ken. Barbie has 110 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: also moved far beyond her original career ambitions of a 111 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: teen fashion model. She's held down more than two hundred 112 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: and fifty jobs to date, including paleontologist, astronaut McDonald's cashier, firefighter, 113 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: pro tennis player, game developer, and president during her pink 114 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: hued reign. Mattel estimates that an average of two Barbie's 115 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: have been sold every second across the world since the 116 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: first official Barbie convention in nineteen eighty. Barbie collecting has 117 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: remained a robust Niche rare and limited edition dolls, such 118 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: as the Dolls of the World collectibles can sell for 119 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: thousands of dollars, and, of course, in twenty twenty three, 120 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: the Barbie film, directed by Greta Gerwig, made a bit 121 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: of a splash, becoming the highest grossing film of the 122 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,679 Speaker 1: year at some one point four billion dollars, not bad 123 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: for a novelty. Today's episode is based on the article 124 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: who invented the Barbie Doll and Why? On How Stuffworks 125 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: dot Com, written by Kristin Conger. Brain Stuff is production 126 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and 127 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 128 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 129 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.