Barbie

Ruth Marianna Mosko Handler was born in Denver, Colorado (November 4, 1916-April 27, 2002).  Handler was an American businesswoman and inventor.  She is best known for inventing the Barbie doll in 1959 and being co-founder of toy manufacturer, Mattel with her husband Elliot as well as serving as the company's first president from 1945 to 1975. Handler had 2 children and their names were .. as you might imagine, Kenneth and Barbara thus the Ken doll and Barbie doll were created.  

Ruth and Elliot met in high school, married and moved to Los Angeles in 1938 where she found work at Paramount. Elliot tried his hand at making furniture making as a hobby.  He decided to make their furniture out of two new types o plastics, Lucite and Plexiglass.  Ruth Handler suggested that he start doing this commercially and they began a furniture business.  Ruth worked as the sales force for the new business, landing contracts with Douglas Aircraft Company and others.

Ruth eventually saw the potential for an entrepreneurial endeavor.  She and Elliot went into partnership with Harold "Matt" Matson.  They combined Matson's last name with Elliot's first name creating the name, Mattel.  According to Elliot, the founders could not fit Ruth's name into the name of the company.  During WWII, furniture sales fell so Mattel began to manufacture toy furniture.  The success of this business caused Ruth and Elliot to move Mattel fully into toy manufacturing.

Ruth watched her daughter Barbara play with paper dolls and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles.  At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants.  Realizing there could be a gap in the market, she suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband.  He was unenthusiastic about the idea as were Mattel's directors. 

During a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children, Ruth came across a German toy doll called Bild Lilli.  The adult-figured doll was exactly what Ruth had in mind so she purchased three of them.  She gave one to her daughter and took the others back to Mattel.  The Lilli doll was based on a popular character appearing in a satirical comic strip drawn by Reinhard Beuthin for the newspaper titled Bild.  The Lilli doll was first sold in Germany in 1955 and although it was initally sold to adults it became popular with children who enjoyed dressing her up in outfits that were available, separately.

Upon her return to the United States, Ruth redesigned the doll (with help from local inventor/designer, Jack Ryan) and the doll was given a new name, Barbie, after Handler's daughter, Barbara.  Premiering at the American International Toy Fair in New York City on March 9, 1959 Barbie was an instant success with Mattel selling 351,000 dolls within a year!

Later, the Handler and Mattel added a boyfriend for Barbie named Ken after Handler's son, Kenneth.  

Ruth Handler

Fast forward to 2023 and now movie-goers can see the movie, Barbie.  In the movie, Handler is portrayed by Rhea Perlman.  She is depicted in her elder years as a spirit who resides at Mattel headquarteres in Los Angeles and helps the protagonist who is her stereotypical Barbie model played by Australian actress, Margot Elise Robbie.