I love to share lesser-known stories of people in history, the story behind the story. By digging a bit deeper, we are offered glimpses of hope and inspiration, reminders that some ideas and brands we now consider mainstays in our culture were once quite counter-cultural. Ruth Handler’s life exemplifies this. Thanks to the new movie and marketing tsunami that is Barbie, you’ve likely heard her name, if not, this is her (abbreviated) story.
Ruth was not only the creator of Barbie but an entrepreneur and marketing guru, co-founding Mattel Toys in 1945. Early in her career, Ruth worked a full-time job as a secretary at Paramount Studios. She sold the toys her husband designed on her lunch breaks. She later made the bold decision to sponsor a new television show, The Mickey Mouse Club. Her visionary move made Mattel a household name and began marketing toys directly to children (rather than solely to their parents).
Barbie debuted at the 1959 New York Toy Fair. A time when dolls were made only to represent babies, allowing young girls to play the role of mommy. In 1950’s America, there was tremendous social pressure for women to be a happy homemakers and mothers. But Ruth observed her daughter, Barbara, the famous namesake for Barbie, playing with paper dolls – imagining them going to college and having jobs. This inspired her to create a different kind of doll, one that the critics and toy buyers initially rejected. But Ruth persisted, “My own philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman had choices.” Of course, her concept was a wild success with Mattel selling over 300,000 dolls in that first year.
Like many children, I have my fair share of Barbie memories – playing with my aunts’ hand-me-down Barbie’s, and oh, how I longed for the Barbie Dreamhouse (I was never one of the fortunate ones to possess the giant pink behemoth). My daughter pretended to be a vet for countless hours with her favorite set complete with Barbie in her white lab coat. To see such a resurgence in popularity with the release of the new movie reaffirms what Ruth Handler recognized over sixty years ago – the importance of imagination and envisioning yourself as whatever you want to be. So, when you encounter that iconic pink Barbie logo (and it is everywhere right now!), remember a tenacious entrepreneur named Ruth and her impact on our American culture.
