It was on this day in 1959 that the world was introduced to the Barbie doll. It happened at the American Toy Fair in New York. She has remained popular since her introduction and was the subject of Barbie – The Movie. I did not see it, but a lot of people said it was good. I can’t say.
Since this blog is more about the doll itself, here is a little history:
In 1945 Ruth Handler and her husband Elliot founded the toy company Mattel with their close friend Harold Mattson. The idea for Barbie came about after Ruth watched their daughter Barbara cut dolls out of magazines and carefully choose clothes and accessories to clothe them in. All other dolls on the market at the time were baby dolls, but Ruth realized there was enormous potential in a doll with adult features, allowing children to act out their dreams. Barbie, named after their daughter, made her debut at the New York Toy Fair in March 1959 and took toy stores across the US by storm – more than 351,000 dolls were sold that year at $3 each. Today Barbie is the best selling toy in the world – more than one billion dolls have been sold since 1959 in 150 different countries.
In 1997, the Scandinavian group Aqua released the song Barbie Girl. Songfacts.com says:
Although the lyrics seem meaningless, they could be making a statement about the inflated value of sex appeal in society. With abnormally tiny waists and enormous breasts, Barbie dolls are unrealistically proportioned, which her critics claim leads to self esteem and body image issues in young girls. Barbie’s maker, Mattel, responds to these charges by pointing out that Barbie is not supposed to be realistic, and that her outlandish shape is designed so make her easy to pose and dress.
There was quite a legal battle over the song.
Mattel sued the band, saying they violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a “Blonde Bimbo.” Aqua claimed that Mattel injected their own meanings into the song’s lyrics. In 2002, a judge ruled the song was protected as free speech under the first amendment, and also threw out a defamation lawsuit Aqua’s record company filed against Mattel. The judge said in the ruling that “The parties are advised to chill.” The case was dismissed, and in the process, it garnered loads of media attention for the song and the band.
Even though “Barbie Girl” wasn’t feature in the 2023 Barbie film, it still returned to the UK Singles chart Top 40 in the week after the movie’s release. Fans of Aqua expected the song to be featured in the movie, but thanks to the legal issues, it was not. The closest it got was a sample of the song in Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World” on the soundtrack. I’m not a fan of “Barbie World,” and I suppose “Barbie Girl” isn’t much better. However, here is Aqua to celebrate Barbie’s debut.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 