History of Barbies
History of BarbiesThe History of Barbies dates back to the late 1950's where her inventor discovered her almost by accident after patterning a doll after her own daughter. Barbies history has had a lasting and significant impact on American culture.  In the late 1950's a lady by the name of Ruth Handler was seeking a doll to pattern after her daughter and found a doll in Germany that was unusual for the times. Most dolls prior to this resembled baby dolls and were much larger and difficult to play with. She found the german doll named "Bild Lili" and wanted to bring it home to her daughter.She liked the smaller doll with a thin body and long blonde hair so much she had an idea she would like to start her own line of these dolls. The first of her production Barbies was offered to the public in 1959 and was a blonde ponytail doll she designed out of vinyl that resembled Bild Lili but with some changes to americanize her. She named the doll Barbie after her daughter Barbara Millicent Roberts and the rest of the story of Barbies was history. Barbies have evolved throughout history and have been representative of many eras and important stages of cultural changes in our society. Grandmothers have passed Barbies down to there daughters and again to other generations and many famous people in American history have been patterned after Barbies. Here is a timeline of the History of Barbies from
Barbies made in the late 1950's to today. Click on the date to find Barbies available for that year or click on links for the specific types of Barbies. 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Present |
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