February 20, 2024

Barbie Celebrates 65 Years: A Look at The History Behind the Beloved Doll

About Nicole Pajer

Nicole Pajer is a Los Angeles-based freelance published in The New York Times, Woman's Day, AARP, Parade, Wired, Glamour, People and more.

Happy birthday, Barbie! And wow, you sure don’t look 65.

The iconic 11-inch plastic fashion doll made its debut on March 9, 1959. Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel (along with her husband, Elliot). It wasn’t long before Barbie took the country by storm and the doll was a staple in just about every little girl’s dollhouse.

Happy birthday, Barbie! And wow, you sure don’t look 65.

Even though Barbie has taken plenty of criticism over the years for her perfect figure, unrealistic body proportions and for promoting materialism (parading fancy cars, houses, and clothes), nothing stopped the doll’s 6+ decades of success. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbies, making it the company’s best-selling toy. And a big part of Barbie’s success was due to the fact that she was an adult doll with an adult body, as opposed to most dolls in that era that were those of babies or children.

Due to popular demand, in 1961 Mattel introduced Ken, Barbie’s ultimate accessory. The power couple were named after The Handlers’ children, Barbara and Ken. In 1963 Barbie’s best friend, Midge was introduced and in 1964 Mattel added Barbie’s little sister, Skipper. Over the next few years, other siblings and Barbie-friend dolls appeared, along with more diverse dolls. And in 1980, Barbie herself was released in African American and Latina incarnations.

The original 1959 Barbie had a black and white striped swimsuit and the signature Barbie ponytail. Over the next few decades, Mattel introduced other versions including the Astronaut Barbie, Day-to-Night Barbie, Malibu Barbie, Olympic Skier Barbie, Totally Hair Barbie and the Air Force Pilot Barbie. And due to consumer demand, Mattel changed the body mold for Barbie on several occasions, giving her smaller breasts, a wider waist, and slimmer hips. In 2016 the company released three additional sizes of Barbie: petite, tall, and curvy.

Today, Barbie is more inclusive and available in a variety of skin tones, body types and disabilities. Mattel’s current collection includes a line of fashion dolls sporting a range of clothing – from workout attire to formal wear with accessories – and a line of career dolls with over 250 careers long. Mattel has also made a variety of inspiring playsets, all of which serve to remind girls that they can be anything they want to be.