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Barbie is 50 years old!

by nehalarya | March 9, 2009 at 03:53 am

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Barbie, whose real name is Barbie Millicent Roberts, was created by US businesswoman Ruth Handler who's inspired by a German doll called Bild Lilli.

New York, March 09: Happy birthday, Barbie! Yes, the world's most iconic fashion doll that has had careers like astronaut, army medic and presidential candidate, turned 50 on Monday.

But, Barbie, introduced at a toy fair in New York on March 9, 1959 as a teenage fashion model, has been the subject of numerous controversies and lawsuits, often involving parody of the doll and her lifestyle.

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Paschen

flagged this story as Needs Improvement

at 03:31 on March 10th, 2009

nehalarya, Please fix this post. (You might want to check out our J-Tips for more help.)

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mtammas

at 09:42 on March 9th, 2009

I LOVE the 50-year old Barbie pic! And I loved my Barbie when I was 10. Little did I realize how it would taint my image of what a woman should look like. Thank goodness for the saner women and men in my life who taught me that there is so much more to a person than their appearance.

And for those who are beautiful, don't let the grumpies get you down because you have that gift. But do develop your brain, your compassion, and your heart. In the end, that's what people really 'see'.

Paschen

at 22:03 on March 9th, 2009

In the beginning Lilli was a German cartoon character, created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid Bild-Zeitung in Hamburg, Germany. In 1953 the Bild-Zeitung decided to market a Lilli doll and contacted Max Weissbrodt from the toy company O&M Hausser in Neustadt/Coburg, Germany. Following Beuthien's drawings Weissbrodt designed the prototype of the doll which was on sale from 1955 to 1964 when Mattel acquired the rights of the doll so the German production had to stop. Until then production numbers reached 130,000. Today Lilli is a collector's piece as Barbie is, and commands prices of several thousand Euros.