Barbara Millicent Roberts, more famously known as Barbie, is an icon in pink.
Sixty-four years old, 11.5 inches tall, and with 250+ careers and counting, Barbie continues to live a fantastic life in plastic. The little doll who conquered the world has a pretty interesting history 鈥 here are some facts about her, each followed by a question to test or further your knowledge.
1. Barbie's origin
Born to Polish-Jewish immigrants, American entrepreneur and inventor Ruth Handler created Barbie, inspired by her daughter Barbara (Barbie鈥檚 boyfriend Ken would later be named for Ruth鈥檚 son, Kenneth). Ruth noticed toys marketed to girls were mostly baby dolls, where toys for Kenneth encouraged many diverse roles and careers. The only 鈥榞rown-up鈥 fashion dolls available were made of paper - and so Barbie was born in the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin, USA, with the intention of showing Barbara and other children what their future selves could aspire to.
What rule of creation does Barbie abide by?
a) Barbie must never be seen wearing orange
b) Barbie must always be a grown-up
c) Barbie can never change proportions
d) All of the above
It's b - Barbie must always be a grown-up
Ruth Handler was steadfast in making sure Barbie was a grown-up doll with a grown-up figure so girls could imagine their own futures at a time when women鈥檚 career options were limited.
Barbie can be seen wearing all colours of the rainbow - including orange. She also changed proportions several times throughout the ages, addressing criticism of her unrealistic plastic figure, and curvy Barbie was featured on the cover of TIME magazine.
2. Barbie put the world out of pink
You might have heard that there鈥檚 a worldwide pink paint shortage, and while production on Greta Gerwig鈥檚 Barbie film didn鈥檛 cause it, it contributed. Set designers cleaned out Rosco scenic paint鈥檚 supply of pink during a global chain shortage (caused by Covid-19 among other things) and had just enough for the sets to go ahead. And Gerwig certainly did her homework: the first glimpse of Margot Robbie as Barbie released to the world showed her wearing a black-and-white swimming costume, red lipstick and retro curls in a pony tail. This was Barbie鈥檚 first ever outfit, with no pink in sight - the colour wouldn鈥檛 become the doll鈥檚 signature until much later.
Which fascinating pink paint fact is true?
a) Pink is the oldest surviving pigment on Earth
b) The colour 鈥楶ink鈥 wasn鈥檛 named so until the late 17th Century
c) Mattel owns the rights to a colour called 鈥楤arbie Pink鈥
d) All of the above
All of the above is true!
Pink has a fascinating history. The oldest colour in the geological record is a bright pink pigment discovered in 1.1-billion-year-old rocks deep beneath the Sahara Desert in West Africa. This pigment comes from crushed fossilised clorophyll, thought to be from plants that inhabited an ancient ocean that no longer exists.
Fast forward to the 17th Century - until this point, 鈥榯o pink鈥 was a verb meaning 鈥榯o ruffle an edge鈥, and to be 鈥榩ink-eyed鈥 meant to have small eyes that appear half-closed. It鈥檚 thought that the noun pink came after the Dianthus flower, after its frayed edges and not its bright pink colour. Still, it entered the English language as a colour name, and then trendsetters such as Madame le Pompadour (a member of the royal French court) popularised pink fashion in the 1700s.
鈥nd now Mattel owns Barbie Pink, otherwise known as The global standardisation system for colours used in graphic design. 219. Right down to the chemical formula, the mix can鈥檛 be used for anything that isn鈥檛 Barbie.
3. The largest fashion empire on Earth
Barbie has worked with the most fashion designers of any toy brand. Barbie鈥檚 first collaboration was in 1985 with Oscar de la Renta, who created a series of jewel-toned dresses fit for the miniature runway. This was the first of many partnerships to come, and she鈥檚 always had celebrity friends, too: in 1967, supermodel Twiggy became the first celebrity Barbie doll, and other celebrity Barbies include Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis and Zendaya.
True or false: Barbie has another celebrity achievement - her name on Hollywood Boulevard.
It's true!
In fact, many non-human celebs are immortalised on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, including Donald Duck and Kermit the Frog. Barbie鈥檚 hands and feet were set in cement in front of Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard to celebrate her second acting role in Barbie As Rapunzel in 2002. Barbara Handler attended the ceremony with her.
4. A (sort of) living time capsule
Barbie has become an ongoing historical resource, reflecting fashions and cultural landscapes. Miss Astronaut Barbie was released during the Space Race in 1965, four years before Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. Barbie campaigned for equal rights in support of her oldest friend Christie, the first African-American Barbie released in 1968. The big hair craze of the early 鈥90s prompted Mattel to create the first Barbie with hair that goes all the way to her feet, sporting bold prints and loud colours.
However, not all Barbies are received with open arms. Mattel released the highschooler Teen Talk Barbie in 1992, whose button-activated voicebox phrase 鈥淢ath class is tough鈥 sparked controversy among the US National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, who worried about the doll鈥檚 impact on discouraging girls away from maths. This controversy even inspired a Simpsons episode in which Lisa Simpson teamed up with the creator of Malibu Stacy (based on 鈥70s Malibu Barbie, the first smiling surfer Barbie) to create a more progressive talking doll to girls.
But which of the aforementioned Barbies holds the title of best-selling Barbie doll?
It's Totally Hair Barbie
Totally Hair Barbie is the best-selling Barbie doll to date - Totally Hair Barbie was even re-released in 2017 to celebrate her 25th anniversary. There鈥檚 just something about that 鈥90s nostalgia.
5. They鈥檝e had break-ups and shake-ups but they always make up
Speaking of public relations, did you know power couple Barbie and Ken once broke up? That鈥檚 right - Barbie felt it was time she and Ken spent 鈥渢ime apart鈥 and separated from him on Valentine鈥檚 Day in 2004. Ken returned with a glow up in 2006, made over as a brunette by Hollywood stylist Philip Bloch. After Barbie had a brief fling with Blaine Gordon, a boogie-boarding doll from Australia, she and Ken reunited in 2011. We鈥檙e sure it had nothing to do with Ken鈥檚 starring role in Toy Story 3 the year before.
As for family, how many official siblings does Barbie have?
It's seven!
Barbie has had a whopping seven siblings over the years (Krissy, Skipper, Stacie, Kelly, Chelsea and twins Tutti and Todd), so she has plenty of family and friends to hang out with in her Dreamhouse - but only her younger sisters Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea remain in the spotlight. She also had a cousin from the UK called Francie Fairchild, who was the first doll to have rooted eyelashes.
This article was published in July 2023
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