Informative Outline On The History Of Barbie

Rebekah Stiner
Mrs. Gearhart
Public Speaking
25 February, 2014
Informative Outline
HISTORY OF BARBIE
Introduction: Barbie is often seen today as a bad role model for girls. I would like to show how Barbie is actually a good role model for girls. This is because of how Barbie inspires girls to dream big, how she teaches girls to respect others, and how she is actually less feminist than many people think she is.
I. HOW DID BARBIE COME TO BE?
A. Ruth and Elliot Handler founded Mattel Creations in 1945, and 14 years later, Ruth Handler gave the world the Barbie doll. (Barbie History)
B. The inspiration for Barbie came as Ruth watched her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls (Barbie History)
C. In 1956 Ruth and her family visited
Europe, Ruth spotted a doll in a window that had everything she had imagined (Stone, 27)
1. The doll was Bild-Lilli, commonly called the Lilli doll, strung from a character in a comic strip that ran in the German newspaper called Bild Zeitung (Stone, 27)
2. After returning from Europe they began searching for what kind of plastic to use (Stone, 27)
3. After many prototypes, Barbie was born (Stone, 28)
D. Several years and many designs later, Mattel introduced Barbie, the Teen-Age Fashion Model, to skeptical toy buyers at the annual Toy Fair (Barbie History)
1. In New York on March 9, 1959 (Barbie History)
2. Ruth was so excited she ordered 20,000 dolls a week to make sure that they would come in for it (Stone, 30)
E. After Barbie had been out for a while; Ruth hired Ernest Dichter a psychologist that studied how people reacted to situations, he interviewed 191 girls and 45 mothers (28)
1. Mothers said that they will not purchase barbies because they come off as snobby role models (29)
F. Ruth states that “Barbie has always represented the fact that a women has choices” (6)
G. Mattel states that a Barbie doll is sold every 3 seconds (7)

II. RUTH AND ELLIOT HANDLER
A. Ruth Handler (the creator) was born in Denver, Colorado on November 4, 1916 (Stone, 9)
1. She was 1 of 10 children (Stone, 9)
B. Ruth’s mother Ida had to get surgery, Ruth moved in with her older sister Sarah (Stone, 10)
C. When Ruth was 16 years old she met Isadore Elliot Handler, it was love at first site (Stone, 12)
1. Sarah did not approve (Stone, 12)
2. Ruth and Elliot broke up after about a year because Sarah thought she should go live in California with her sister Lillian (12)
3. After a few years she moved back and they got back together (14)
D. Elliot and Ruth got married on June 26, 1636 (14)
E. Ruth had her first kid Barbara Joyce Handler on May 21, 1941 and her second Kenneth Robert on March 22, 1944 (14)
F. Barbie was named after Ruth’s daughter Barbara (Doll Diaries)

III. THE OLD AND NEW BARBIE
A. Barbara Millicent Roberts was her full name (Barbie History)
B. The first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, their clothing were handstitched there (18 Surprising Facts)
C. Barbie’s first outfit was a zebra, striped black and white swimsuit with open toed high heels and sunglasses (32)
D. In 1959 the makeup was dark eyeliner with red lipstick (35)
E. The first Barbie was sold for $3.00 (Barbie History)
F. Every decade brought something new for Barbie:
1.
In the 1960’s there were tailored suits with jackets, pearls, hats, and long gloves (34) makeup was updated with paler pinks and peaches and the hair was a bubble cut (35)
2. In 1970’s Skirts went from mini to maxi and hair had a new flair– long and loose. (Barbie History)
3. The 1980’s brought shoulder pads, scrunchies, big belts and leggings to a whole new level (Barbie History)
4. The 1990’s Shoulder pads were still big but hair was even bigger with teased bangs and perms (Barbie History)
5. In the 2000’s hipster slim pants, crop top and fresh-colored pastel jackets were in (Barbie History)
G. Barbie was produced in to all diversity’s through the years (64-82)
H. When designing clothing for Barbie sketches of new concepts are created and brought to life by using Muslin fabric and a Barbie size mannequin (Barbie History)
I. When whigs were popular Mattel came out with a Fashion Queen Barbie that has 3 whigs included (35)
J. Some of the bestsellers of Barbie are:
1. Totally Hair Barbie in 1992 was the best seller with hair from head to toes (18 Surprising Facts)
2. Twist and Turn Barbie in 1970’s with a rotation waist (35)
3. Superstar Barbie launched in 1977- more glam with a boa, jewelry, and a new corvette (36)
4. In 1998 a new Barbie was produced with wider hips
(61)

IV. INSIDE BARBIE’S LIFE
A. Barbie is from Willows, Wisconsin (18 Surprising Facts)
B. Barbie’s inner circle of friends has reflected diversity such as African American, Hispanic, Asian, and multi-ethnic (Barbie History)
C. Turned 50 in 2009, it was a big celebration (5)
D.
First car was a 1962 Austin Healy Roadster (18 Surprising Facts)
E. Barbie represents more than 40 nationalities (Barbie History)
F. Barbie’s best friend is Midge and since 1963; Barbie was the maid of honor at her wedding in 1991 (Barbie History)
G. Over the years, Barbie has had seven siblings: Skipper, Stacie, Chelsea, Krissy, Kelly, Tutti, and Todd (18 Surprising Facts)
H. Ken was introduced in 1961 (Barbie History)
1. Was introduced at the Toy Fair as Barbie’s boyfriend (Barbie History)
I. Ken was born on March 11, 1961; his full name is Ken Carson, named after Ruth’s son Kenneth (Barbie History)
J. The First Ken doll wore red swim trunks , cork sandals, and carried a yellow towel (Barbie History)
K. Ken was an actor for almost 50 years (Barbie History)
L. In the Summer of 2010, Ken made his big debute in Toy Story 3 (Barbie History)
M. Ken and Barbie broke up on Valentine’s day in 2004 after being together for 43 years (Barbie History)
N. After the break up in 2004, Barbie in a relationship with an Australian guy named Blaine (18 Surprising Facts)
O. Barbie and Ken rekindled their love on Valentine’s day in 2011 (Barbie History)
1. Ken and Barbie were never married and never had kids (18 Surprising
Facts)
P. In 2011: Barbie starred in her first movie- Barbie and the Nutcracker, she also starred in Repunzal (Doll Diaries)
Q. Barbie has had more than 120 careers including: candidate for President 4 times, astronaut, Olympic Gold Medalist, and U.S Airforce Pilot (7)
R. Barbie has had many pets: 21 dogs, 14 horses, 3 ponies, 6 cats, a parrot, a chimpanzee, a panda, a lion, a giraffe, and a zebra (Doll Diaries)
S. Barbie is a fashionista, she wears a range of high end designers such as Gucci, Galliano, Calvin Klein, Versace and Vera (Barbie History)
T. She released her own version of Barbie Girl (Barbie History)
U. Barbie is virtually unstoppable and high social
1. 7 million + Facebook likes
2. 150,000 + Twitter Followers
3. Highly popular on Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and her own blog as well (Barbie History)

V. WHY CAN’T I LOOK LIKE BARBIE?
A. Psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman writes that Barbie has been the number one most destructive force on self image on woman (6)
B. Feminists say that Barbie creates an unrealistic body image, creating low self esteem and eating disorders (Barbie’s BMI)
C. Supermodels embodied a look similar to Barbie in the 1960’s (47)
D. Barbie’s BMI would be a 17.8 just short of the definition of Anorexic (Barbie’s BMI)
E. Original Barbie would be 5ft 6inches tall, 110 pounds, 39inch bust, 18inch waist and 33inch hips
(Barbie’s BMI)

F. Original Barbie’s head an waist are the same size and her legs are two times the length of her torso; she wouldn’t be able to walk upright causing her to crawl (Barbie’s BMI)