Barbie Dolls have been one of the most collectible toys in history. She comes in many themes including the always popular, Holiday Barbie Dolls, Pop culture Barbie Dolls, and Fashion & Designer Barbie Dolls. What ever theme you like to collect we have it. We even have a large selection of Disney Dolls. Bill Bam's Collectibles is an authorized Barbie Doll Dealer.
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Believe it or not, Barbie originally was a real person. Her name was Barbara (Barbie) Handler and her mother and father were Ruth and Elliot. In the early 1950's, Barbie's mother watched her and her girlfriends play with adult female dolls more than they did the baby dolls. Her mother knew it was just as important for young girls to imagine what it would be like to be grown up. Since most of the adult dolls available at that time were paper or cardboard, Barbie's mother decided to make a three-
dimensional female adult doll. -American doll, is introduced in 1968. Barbie also speaks for the first time this year. At the pull of a string, she utters six phrases, including "I have a date tonight!" and "I love being a fashion model!" Ken disappears for the entire year of 1968. He returns in 1969 with bigger muscles, bendable knees, and a speaking voice. One that was lifelike enough to serve as an inspiration for little girl's dreams of the future. She took her ideas to the ad executives at the Mattel Corp., the company that she and Barbie's father had founded in the garage many years prior. The all male committee rejected the idea saying it would be too expensive and with little market appeal to the mass. She had gone on a trip to Europe and returned with a Lillie doll, modeled after a character in a German comic strip. She then spent lots of time designing a doll (Barbie) to resemble Lillie and even hired a clothing designer to make realistic clothes. The result was the Barbie Doll. Mattel finally agreed to back her efforts and Barbie debuted at the American Toy Fair in New York City in 1959. Girls went wild over her and set a new sales record for Mattel the very first year at 351,000 sold at $3.00 each. Since then the Barbie Doll's popularity has rarely waivered and today, with over one billion of her lookalikes sold, the product line is one of the most successful in the history of the toy industry. As you can see, Barbie was blonde with a pony tail, zebra-striped swimsuit, open toed shoes, sunglasses and earrings. Barbie had lots of accessories available. The silly buyers at the industry's annual Toy Fair in New York were not impressed but the little girls sure were! That's all it took to take the retailers by storm! Mattel was so swamped with orders that it took several years for supply to catch up with demand! And now you know the rest of the Barbie History.
TIMELINE
1959 Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler introduces Barbie at New York City's Toy Fair. The doll is 11 1/2 inches tall and features a movable head, arms and legs. "Barbie #1" is known for her sly sideways glance and her black-and-white striped swimsuit. Fashions from Barbie's first year include the "Wedding Day Dress" and the Dixie-themed "Plantation Belle." In the first collection, blondes outnumber brunettes by two to one.
1960 Ken makes the scene, sporting a head of fuzzy hair. Two years later, his hair is replaced with blond or brown paint.
1964 Barbie's little sister Skipper is introduced. She is joined by Miss Barbie, the only doll in the collection whose eyes open and shut.
1965 Barbie gets bendable legs. This is convenient, since this is also the year that Barbie suits up as Miss Astronaut. Barbie was always ahead of her time since this was years before women are actually accepted into the space program.
1968 Barbie's girlfriend Christie, an African-American doll, is introduced in 1968. Barbie also speaks for the first time this year. At the pull of a string, she utters six phrases, including "I have a date tonight!" and "I love being a fashion model!" Ken disappears for the entire year of 1968. He returns in 1969 with bigger muscles, bendable knees, and a speaking voice.
