After World War II, there was a revolution in plastics and the toy industry had a "child-as-consumer" attitude (Lord, 27). Advertisements were made to appeal to younger children and consumerism was on the rise. Families of suburbia were buying more and more. Ruth and Elliott Handler, who were Southern Californians, were the first to own a Mattel, which then was a very small toy company.

In 1955, across the world from the beginnings of Mattel, in Hamburg, Germany, an artist was at work creating a character that would have great influence on the beginnings of the Barbie Doll. Reinhard Beuthhien, had created a character, name Lilli, for the Bild Zeitung, a newspaper. In August of that year, Lilli was given a third dimension and sold as an eleven and one half inch doll. Her character was portrayed as a ditz, gold-digger, and an exhibitionist. She always had a minimal amount of clothes on and was a symbol of sex and pornography for the men of Germany. She was often a gag gift and was a type of "fantasy doll" (Lord,28). The Lilli Doll was never meant for children.

Left: An image of the first Lilli Doll created by O.M. Hausser.

Right: This is a advertisement stating, "Whoever gives with love_thinks of Lilli."

Ruth Handler first saw Lilli on a trip to Switzerland. Her daughter Barbara, who Barbie was later named after, was in her mid-teens and was too old to play with dolls. However, Barbara wanted the Lilli Doll all the same. After the Switzerland trip, Ruth sent out one of her executives with a Lilli Doll on a trip to Japan, where business was conducted over the production of the Lilli. After many negotiations, a Japanese Company agreed to make a doll like Lilli.

This new doll was modified to look less like a street walker. Her body was made into a softer vinyl and her face was given a softer look. This was done by "rotation-molding", a process where the mold was turned slowly while the vinyl hardened. This process helped to create finer details in this new doll like fingers and toes.

The wardrobe of this Barbie doll also began to form with the help of many fashion designers. Charlotte Johnson designed Barbie clothes for over twenty years. All of Barbie's styles at this time were hygiene and homemaking influenced fashions. These fashions helped to exemplify the values and beliefs of the middle-class America at that time. However, underneath, Barbie's first wardrobe included two strap-less brassieres, one half slip, one floral petticoat, and a girdle. Some more of Barbie's first wardrobe were the wedding dress and football game apparel, which represented appropriate daydreams that children may have thinking about about their stereotypical future. Also, to keep Barbie from getting too old in her ideals, she also owned a tennis and ballerina outfit, which were safe recreational activities for Barbie to participate in. "Barbie appealed to a Donna Reed lifestyle, but added a vogue to it"(http). By 1958, the dolls were being made in factories in Japan and sent to America for final proofing.

At first, the dolls did not look innocent or American because of the heavy makeup on their faces. Mattel changed this problem by advertising slowly and eliminating or editing the less popular features. In 1959, Barbie made her first appearance at the American Toy Fair in New York City. At first she was condemned for her sexiness. After about a year of advertising intensely, Barbie's started to appear in the hands of many little girls begging their mothers to buy one. About this time, Barbie's face was remolded to appeal more to the public. Mattel gave Barbie a softer skin tone and new hair, which was a bubble-cut. This was the beginning of the Barbie Boom.

By 1961, Ken was released and became Barbie's needed boyfriend. In 1967, Barbie acquired eyelashes, a rotating waist, and bent legs.The sixties were times of protests, marijuana smoking, and rebellion. Instead of showing Barbie as a negative role model for the children, Mattel kept her away form the rebellion, but up with the items. She began to dress in the mini skirts, wear dangle earrings, and gogo boots. Also, to keep up with the times on issues of racial equality, Mattel released a black version of Barbie, named Francie. Francie did not do very well on the market. This could have been because parents were just not ready to show diversity to their children during that time period.

Barbie's new sixties image.

In 1971, during the sexual revolution, Barbie's look changed. Before, her eyes were cast down to one side, giving her a pure, innocent look. They were gradually changed to eyes looking almost straight ahead, which gave a look of more confidence. Mattel was going bankrupt and the Handlers had to leave the company. Changes were needed in Barbie. She acquired a grin in 1975 and a permanent smile in 1977.

Barbie also began not to be confined to just her sports car and dream house. She blossomed from the candy striper uniform into "Astronaut Barbie" in 1986 and "Dr. Barbie" in 1988. In essence, according to her themes, she transformed and grew from secretary to executive. In 1985, she portrayed a yuppie lifestyle with her "Day and Night" theme. Graduate Barbie showed that Barbie now was educated. Again, Mattel tried to break Barbie's ethnic barrier by bringing in Oriental, Hispanic, and Italian Barbie's. Mattel claims to have tried to keep the "same person, but with different color skin" (http). Evelyn Burkhalter, creator of a Barbie Hall of Fame, claims that "Throughout it all, Barbie has not aged. She's smart, like all women. She knows her face is in front of the world, so she changes too. The doll has kept up with everyday things that people are doing, so she still has stayed desirable in the eye of the public" (Witrogen, 5).