Two Crazy Crafters

This has been one of the most important weeks for Barbie! She turned 50!

Barbara Millicent Roberts

March 9, 1959

This was a very special find at a garage sale I found a few years ago.
A porcelain Barbie.

Mattel came out with a line of Porcelain dolls in the early nineties.

This one is called Plantation Belle

This is a cardboard display piece. My sweet Brother gave it to me!

Since this week was Barbie's birthday I thought I would share a bit about where she originated from.

The creator of Barbie, Ruth Handler used to watch her daughter Barbara play with her paper dolls often giving them adult roles. Since most dolls at that time were more infant, Ruth realized that there could be a market for an older style doll which she pitched the idea to her Husband, a co founder of Mattel.

When Ruth and her Family where in Europe in 1956 they came across a German toy doll named Bild Lilli. She was exactly what Ruth had in mind. She purchased three of the dolls. Gave one of them to her daughter and took the other two back to Mattel. The Lilli doll was based on a popular comic strip character.

Lili was a working girl and knew what she wanted and was not above using men to get it.

The Lilli doll was made in 1955 and was originally sold to adults but became popular with children who enjoyed playing with the doll and buying her matching clothes.
The Bild Lilli dolls were bought out by Mattel in 1964 and production was stopped.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Barbie's history!

Lindsey