The evolution of the Barbie brand has elevated so much during the course of her life from her career choices, the various lifestyles, and even the accessories. In the new millennium, inclusivity is most important to this generation but there was a time where Black women even had to fight for the rights to be seen in the doll industry.
Barbie’s official birthday, March 9, 1959, is when she first debuted on the shelves at the American Toy Fair in New York City and became the first toy to be mass-produced in the country. Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, Inc., founded the company alongside her husband after finding a need in the toy market. Sources reported that Handler saw her young daughter ditching playing with baby dolls and instead played more with paper dolls of adult women. From there, the birth of Barbie Millicent Roberts, also known as ‘Barbie’ happened. The mother believed that giving little girls a toy to imagine the future was the niche.
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According to History, Handler was inspired by a Herman comic-strip character named Bild Lilli, that was “originally marketed as a racy gag gift that men could buy in tobacco shops.” She reflected on the glamorous styles of popular celebrities during that era like Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. Selling at $3.00 each in its first year, 300,000 dolls were sold. Through her early stages, Barbie went through a resume of different careers, gained a boyfriend, family, and friends, plus celebrity dolls before introducing an African-American doll.
About 10 years later in 1968, the first black doll, “Christie” made her appearance. Though there was “Francie” who was released the year before as the first dark completion in the Mattel line, Christie was the first Barbie with “black” features. Talking Christie debuted as one of Barbie’s friends and had the same body and could share her clothes. Her look varied from long and short dark brown/black hair. The Barbie came in four versions, Talking, Twist ‘n Turn, Live Action, and Sunset Malibu. Only a year after Christie was created, the “Julia” doll appeared in 1969 based on Diahann Carroll’s character from the TV show “Julia”. The doll mirrored Carroll’s role of a nurse and a single widowed mother that wore a two-piece nurse uniform in the Twist ‘N Turn model. Later the Talking Julia doll came in a gold and silver one-piece jumpsuit, darker skin, and a fuller hairstyle. The Julia doll was one of the first celebrity Barbies.
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