America 's Reaction

Ruth Handler realized that pretending about the future was a part of the growing up process. While she watched her daughter, Barbara (who Barbie is named after), playing with paper dolls, Handler formulated the idea of creating an adult doll. This was not necessarily a new idea because there were adult fashion dolls, such as Cissy and Miss Revlon, which were on the market. The phenomenon behind Barbie was that she was an affordable toy that had those same grown up accessories as the other adult dolls.

As soon as Barbie was introduced to the public, her mature body horrified many adult females. Mothers said they would not allow their child to play with Barbie because they were wary of her sex appeal. Mattel conducted a study with mothers and daughters before they introduced Barbie. Barbie's sexy clothing disgusted many of the women. One mother said, "I wouldn't walk around the house like that. I don't like that influence on my little girl. If only they would let children remain young a little longer....It's hard enough to raise a lady these days without undue moral pressures" (Lord 39). Another woman felt Barbie had too much of a figure; she was quoted as saying "I'd call them daddy dolls - they are so sexy. They could be a cute decoration for a man's bar" (Lord 39). Aside from the strong objections from parents, Mattel knew that young girls would go for Barbie in a big way. Soon with Mattel's clever marketing department, they over road the cries of mothers across the country by targeting a new consumer: children.

A New Consumer Market

Because of the introduction of the television in the 1950's, companies discovered a new consumer audience among children and teenagers. Barbie couldn't have invaded American households at a more opportune time. Besides the beginning of TV as an advertising medium, a group of American citizens, known as "teenagers," were coming into their own. The post-war era saw a strong economy benefiting the middle class suburban families. Before advertisers targeted children, selling toys had been a "mom and pop business with a seasonal focus on Christmas" (Lord 21). Now, buying toys became a year round business. Children finally had their own spending money and didn't have to rely on their parents to purchase the things they desired.

Part of Barbie's appeal was the fact that she was different than any other doll on the market. In the 1950's, the large majority of toys for little girls were baby dolls. Such dolls as Betsy Wetsy and Chatty Cathy were designed to teach young females the skills required for being a mother. A doll similar to Barbie was named Ginny. She was "pot-bellied, flat-chested, and pug-nosed" certainly not as attractive as Barbie's shapely figure (Johnson "Evaluation"). The original ad in the Mattel catalogue read, "New for '59 the Barbie doll: A shapely teenage fashion model. An exciting all-new kind of doll (She's grown up!)" (BillyBoy 18).

Barbie was intended to be "a model of bubbly teenage innocence" (Weiss "Toys Were Us"). She "projected every little girl's dream of the future" while teaching females about independence (Weiss "Toys Were Us"). She allowed children to relate their child-sized hopes and dreams to the adult world. Barbie represented all that a woman could be and more; she was famous, wealthy, and popular.

Mattel marketers capitalized on the current trends of American society. They developed a team to study cultural patterns, especially among suburban teenagers. This was a technique used in order to present Barbie as a role model. Through Barbie, aspects of suburban life and femininity were reflected for young girls (Riddick "Introduction"). Suburban lifestyles involved consumption of numerous goods and luxury items. Barbie emulated these ideals by always having the newest cars, clothes, and accessories. Mattel has been able to "correctly assess what it means to a little girl to be a grown-up" (Riddick "Introduction").

Barbie made her first television appearance on the Mickey Mouse Club, which was a popular show among kids. Such ads as this and other marketing techniques helped to sell 351,000 Barbies in her first year, making a new sales record. This is an example of how much influence children can have over their parents' wallets. A new target audience among young children had been born.