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Parent Busters
History Of Barbie Doll: Sparkle, Struggles & Surprise Toy Fun Facts
Are you ready to journey back in time for a retrospective on the world's most iconic doll - the Barbie Doll of course! We're jumping into Barbie mania from the Barbie movie and answering fun Barbie history and surprising facts!
In this Parent Busters podcast episode, Ella and Jackie cover Barbie fun facts and history of Barbie topics like:
- Who created Barbie and when?
- Why was Barbie created?
- Are Barbies bad? (Talking about Barbie controversies)
- Does Barbie have a social media following?
- What was Barbie originally made for?
- How many people does it take to make a Barbie?
- What is the history of the first Barbie?
- Why did they name it Barbie?
- What jobs did Barbie have (Barbie careers)?
- What do Barbie dolls teach children?
- What is the mission and vision of Barbie?
- What are fun facts about Barbie and Ken?
- Who were Barbie's sisters?
- Did Barbie have a best friend?
- What was a barbie meat sleeve?
& SO MUCH MORE FUN BARBIE TRIVIA!
Even if you're not a huge Barbie fan, we think you'll find something fun and interesting in this Parent Busters episode of toy fun facts!
Grab your free Buster Deduction sheet for kids!
Check out how your can support our LISTEN FOR CAUSE to help us give back to others!
*All resources and references used in researching this podcast episode are found on the corresponding episode post on ParentBusters.com.
Hello everyone, welcome to Parent Busters, a fun podcast where parents and kids can learn together. I'm Ellen, I'm here with my mom, barbie, I'm here with my mom, jackie, and today we are going back to the Barbie basics. Wait, did you just call me Barbie? Maybe Just because you're gorgeous and amazing. Oh, what do you want? Not because I read the script. No, we can't get more D&D dice. No, I just got some.
Speaker 1:Anyway, we're going to talk, we're going to jump on the Barbie mania. Yes, because the time we're recording this, the Barbie movie just came out a few weeks ago, right, like two. Yeah, like a week ago maybe, and everyone's talking about it. We still haven't seen it Not yet, but we're going to. Not yet. I want to, I really want to see it. So we thought we would talk about, like, barbie history and Barbie fun facts. Hey, we're on trend, even if you're. That never happens. It never happens. Even if you're not a Barbie fan, I think that you'll find something interesting in this episode. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure you will. Yeah, because you know why. Why? Because the episode is going to be delightful. Okay, I like that one.
Speaker 1:Hey, let's start with our two trisselna lie. You want to? Yes, let's do that. Okay, here we go. Please hold for a very important message. Number one Barbie's real name is Barbara, okay. Number two the first year, barbie only sold a hundred dolls Okay. And number three it takes 100 people to create a Barbie doll. No, that's all sound fake. I don't know. You'll have to stay to the end and figure it out, because we give you the answers or you can just figure them out as we go along, or both. Yeah, or both, hey. What kind of a doctor is Barbie? A plastic surgeon? Yes, I put that one, except I had a plastics surgeon. Hey, let's start with our you and your grandma.
Speaker 1:Let's start with our history of Barbie. You want to? Yeah, let's talk about the history of Barbie. Okay, so Barbie was created by a woman. Yes, it was created. Well, the original idea was created by one of the co-founders of Mattel, right, ruth Handler. Ruth Handler, you probably know Mattel, for you know Barbie, hot Wheels, a lot of toys, a lot of toys, and she was one of the co-founders with her husband, elliot Handler, and Harold Mattson was also a co-founder At the time. Most dolls were targeted towards girls becoming mothers. Yeah, like the baby dolls, like changing diapers and feeding and yeah, so the idea of a teenage or adult woman doll was basically unheard of, yeah, non-existent. It was non-existent so soon Ruth started to notice that her daughter, Barbara, was favoring paper dolls that looked like adults over baby dolls.
Speaker 1:Okay, let me just stop right there. You never got into the paper dolls. No, I never got into paper dolls or Barbie dolls. What I just want to say should we explain what paper dolls are? Yes, because, well, I I don't know if anyone would know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they were still out there, okay, but paper dolls were dolls that were printed on paper. What? No, I know flat dolls, but they were, you know, colored dolls. And then. So you would cut them out and then Sometimes you could color them in, right? Yes, they came with clothes that you could cut out and these little tabs that you could so you have the base that's like the person. Yes, and then you had clothes, a dress, so that you would cut out the dress and they had these little like rectangular tabs on the top, on the ends, yeah, and you would put it against the like person Right and fold the tabs over and it would like stay on the person Right and you could dress them up, right.
Speaker 1:So the Barbie creator, ruth, saw her daughter playing with these paper dolls where she they were basically adult dolls, paper dolls and she noticed that how much her daughter liked changing out the fashion, like changing her clothes, putting new shoes on her, changing, you know, whatever she was wearing and doing. And it was interesting how she wasn't focusing on like the oh, this doll's going to become a mother, right, she was focusing on like, what am I what is she going to wear to work? Yeah, what is this character going to wear to work? What is she going to do when she goes out to lunch? So she so this sparked an idea in Ruth. Right, she was like, wait, this is an untapped market. Right, I could make dolls for girls that they could see themselves in outside of motherhood and allow them to dress up and work jobs. That's right. And so she created this doll.
Speaker 1:She Barbie's full name. She actually has a real name. No, barbie is her nickname. Oh, her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, really. But her friends call her Barbie because that's what's cool. Yes, that's awesome. And Ruth named Barbie after her daughter, barbara. That's so awesome.
Speaker 1:In 1959, barbie was introduced to the world at the American International Toy Fair by Mattel In New York and it sold for any guesses? Oh, like the first doll sold for, yeah, at the fair. They sold the first dolls at the World Fair or at the International Toy Fair for $20. $3. Really it was 1959, dude. Okay, yeah, I was going to go higher and then I was like, wait, it was 1950. Barbie actually has a hometown. Did you know this? Wait, really yes, she her Barbie is from the fictional town of Willows, wisconsin. Oh, and it's mentioned on her official the official website. But this is where Barbie is from.
Speaker 1:And Barbie also had a first pet. Wait, what was the pet? Was it a dog? Yes, so in 19-. So she was in it Barbie was introduced in 1959.
Speaker 1:In 1963, she had they introduced Barbie's pet poodle, and the pet poodle's name was Poodler Poot. No, both, we should know, are the best names for poodles ever existed. No, and the the Barbies I'm the poodler Sounds like a Batman villain. Barbies poodle's name was Taffy Taffy, yes, and then, the same year that Barbie it was a big year for Barbie because the same year that she got Taffy the poodle, she also got a best friend Wait, seriously Named Midge. 1963, midge was introduced and then a year later, her sister, Skipper, was introduced. Skipper, I had a Skipper, so I was a big Barbie person. You were. You ha wasn't your suitcase of Barbies? Yes, how was that? That? We still have. We still have it. Yes, you've looked through them with me. Yeah, I just want to mention the one I always bring up.
Speaker 1:I had a there was a show called there was a show called the 10 Million Dollar man and he was a bionic man, oh, and he was kind of like a hero. And then there was a bionic woman show, and I think that that's just what the show was called Bionic Woman. Oh well, that's disappointing. I had a bionic woman, barbie, what, and if you this is going to sound more rude when I say it, oh no, she had like a skin sleeve. Wait, what? Huh, huh, huh, huh. Okay, so on her Barbie arm, what? There was an overlay, oh, and it was like a rubbery skin sleeve, huh, and if you relax, it was a piece of rubber. If you rolled it up, you saw the bionics in her arm. Oh, that's really cool. I'm going to make you look at it later. It wasn't gross, it was very cool because she was a bionic woman. And then I think that you could that makes sense. Yeah, I may be getting the bionic man, barbie, confused with the bionic woman when I say the next thing, because my cousin, matt had the bionic man. Oh, but one of them you could look through the back of their head. That was the man. Okay, I've seen them before. You could look through and see through his bionic eyes, which was one of his like superpowers.
Speaker 1:I do want to note we got a little ahead of ourselves because we didn't talk about there was a lot of like iffy reactions by the Mattel team when Ruth first came out with the idea of an adult woman doll. Well, first they were probably like oh, she's a woman, what does she know? And then they're like I mean, it was the 50s, yeah. And then they're like oh, why is an adult? What kids would want to play with that? Right, despite the backlash from some people and her team, including her husband yeah, what does she know Exactly?
Speaker 1:Barbie actually sold 300,000 dolls in the first year. That's pretty incredible, I know. I mean that's for that time period, that was probably a huge amount, yeah, yeah. And I do want to note we skipped over one of the most important characters to come out Dancer Her horse, not her horse. 1972. Oh, as part of the Western Barbie line. That's incredible. In 1961, barbie's boyfriend, kin, probably actually named after the handler's son, yes, made his grand entrance. That's right. And how could we skip over him? I don't know. He's amazing, yes, okay. So, uh, theша. Let's get back to me. Yeah, wow, more importantly, more important than Barbie history, is Jackie Barbie history.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, so I was telling you because you never, ever got into Barbies, no, I, so I want to explain my little kidness. Yes, I hit a point where I was like girly stuff is bad when I was at the age of seven. It wasn't even girly stuff, it was. You didn't want to be told that you had to be a pink princess. Yes, even though my, my room was pink and green at the time and also I had unicorns everywhere, I still was trying to fight the status quo. Yeah, you did not like, like, for example, when we went would go shopping for Halloween costumes, you would get upset that all the little girl areas had just like pink princess.
Speaker 1:Yes, and the year that everyone was. This is a huge tangent, but you're welcome. When is it not the huge? That's why I said you're welcome the year that everyone was dressed as Anna and Elsa you were, which I think dates how old are you? But you were, what was I? A pirate. I was a pirate, right, yeah, and everyone was a dope costume. It was. We made it. It looked so good, I would wear it now. Everyone stopped you and said that is a really cool, I'm so glad to see you in a pirate. So, anyway, I've never been into that, so you've never been into like.
Speaker 1:There was a period where there was a very specific doll type that you loved. Yes, and you named them all flower. Oh, yes, it was these little baby dolls and they look like I still have them and they're amazing, exactly alike, but their skin colors were different, yeah, and they had different like color schemes. So we had bubbles, we had peaches and we had flower flower. And then there was the fourth one. Was there? Where's the fourth one? Anyway, those, that's probably the only dolls. Yeah, I was into American girl dolls for a while, but I never. We never had those. I never got one. No, because your mom is mean the thought of it. Other than that, I was never into Barbies and so you were like destroyed.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's stop for a second, because there was a Barbie that you were into. Do you remember? Wait, which? Which one is it? You wanted the poop scooper Barbie. Okay, and it was only because it came with many dog poops and I was like we scoop enough dog poop here. You're not getting a dog poop. I got it that year for Christmas. You got it from someone else. No, you got it. You got it from you. You got it from one of your sisters or a friend. It was not me, because I forbade that. So that was the only that was like the only one. But I don't even know if you played with the doll. I did. You just played with the dog and the poop and the scoop, yep. So anyway, I was big into Barbies I mean, like that was a thing and I told you before we started that my friend Jodi and I were really like we would. We have Barbie suitcases I still have mine and I think she still has hers Like these little cases that I remember that and they you put your Barbies and all the clothes and which is, I have to say, genius marketing, also very fun.
Speaker 1:We would play for hours and hours. I'm talking like we would spend the weekend together and we would play all day and all night. We would do, you know, like Barbie scenes and like, explain to me what you told me, exactly what you did, though we would make which makes so much sense because my friend Jodi would become an attorney and not, and she's a judge, and like she's, and then you're, and then I'm just me, which is in your sarcastic, which tracks she we would play Barbie court and we would create these whole crimes from our Barbies and we would set up we would set up bar Barbie, oh, barbie judge, and Barbie attorneys and Barbie defendants, and we would create these whole imaginary play. I know I ask what type of crimes you cover. I'll have to ask Jodi, I don't remember. Like someone stole the other high heel and then it turns into like a Cinderella situation. Maybe someone stole taffy, speaking of taffy. Speaking of taffy, barbie did go on to get a horse named dancer, like I said, in 1972. So let's get back on track. You're welcome for that tangent.
Speaker 1:Do you know how many careers Barbie has had? Talk about a job hopper through the years. So now she came out in 1959. Guess how many careers that she's had through all of these years Over 200. Yes, did you know that already. Yes, she's been everything astronaut, paleontologist, computer engineer, presidential candidate, baker, like you think of beekeeper. She's been everything now, but that's not how it always was and we're actually going to talk a little bit about what some of those issues in a little while.
Speaker 1:But it takes a professional staff of top fashion designers and also people like makeup artists that makes sense, like designers, artists, whatever they call the people who create the clothes. I don't know the name for it, but it's about more. Yes, it takes more than 100 people to create a Barbie doll and then all of her fashions and accessories, because think about all the accessories she comes out. Oh, yeah, did you know? So Barbie? Well, maybe I should tell you this. I'll tell you this in the next section, which we're going to talk about now, which are Barbie fashions and styles.
Speaker 1:Yes, because the first Barbie that came out wasn't pink. So when you think of Barbie now, you think of that iconic pink, especially the packaging, like the pink packaging. Yeah, that is the like pinks and pastels. Yeah, the pink Barbie outline on the logo. That was not the first Barbie.
Speaker 1:No, surprisingly enough, the first Barbie was wearing a swimsuit, right? Yeah, black and white. Black and white, like zigzag pattern zebra strapless swimsuit, golden earrings, cat-eye sunglasses and black high heels Yep, which was actually following the trend of that time, which I think is kind of cool. They looked at women's trends for that time and that's what they made Barbie. She had, like a high pony blonde. She was blonde. You could actually get her in blonde or brunette, which I was surprised about, I did not know, so that she had on also blue eyeshadow, which was very popular during that time.
Speaker 1:Do you know what she was known as? What? So in the industry, her name, the categorization they gave her, was number one ponytail. So what kind of dolls do you have? What's your favorite doll? Oh, my favorite, oh yeah, my favorite doll is number one ponytail. She is actually worth a lot of money and we'll talk about that, but she's a super cool Barbie. She looks really cool. Yeah, look her up. She is a look up number one ponytail. Look up number one ponytail. Look up first Barbie and you'll see what we're talking about. But that Barbie signature color, which is that iconic pink color, yeah, where did that come from? It was created by Mattel, but it was. It was not patented until 2009. What I know? That's way later than it should. Weird to think about, but they. The color is actually called Barbie pink. Whoa, it's a patented color by Mattel. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:So after the first Barbie, barbie's outfits quickly begin to expand because they realized, oh, this is really a popular thing, girls do want to change all their clothes and they do want to make them into. So she became super glamorous and fashionable. Did you know that each Barbie actually follows the trend for that decade? That makes a lot of sense. So in the 60s it was mod fashion or modern, and she embraced this mod style because she had mini skirts, go-go boots they're so cool. Yeah, they had all the colorful geometric patterns. So that was the fashion revolution during that time and so Barbie followed that fashion.
Speaker 1:70s was 70s style, hippy, okay. So she was like hippie chic and she had on like flowy dresses and fringe, like fringe vests and bell bottom pants, kind of like that groovy look and feel. Was there any tie-eye? I'm sure 80s was glamour and then her things during that time were like big, sparkly accessories. She had things with shoulder pads which were really big in the 80s and she also had like vibrant neon colors. I remember a Barbie during that time that had like the workout Barbie which Jazzercise was big during that time? Oh, yes, so she had like hot pink tight ties, you know, a workout, whatever those are called kind of like gymnastics uniform.
Speaker 1:And then 90s, she became more street wear. She actually embraced some grunge my favorite I know Denim jacket. She had platform shoes. She began to look really urban for that decade. So she's not just like oh, here, here's some. They actually look at the trends of the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they didn't just like phone it in, they took the time. They take the time and they collaborate with real designers, like Oscar de la Renta, who was a huge designer, was the first designer that they collaborated with and they go on to. They've collaborated, rated, they've collaborated with many fashion designers, like Vera Wang and a whole bunch of things. And then they create these limited edition like fashion icon Barbies and those are the ones that usually see there are like $80 or whatever. I mean they're expensive. That are like the cool.
Speaker 1:Have you seen the Dia de los Muertos? I love that one. I want that one so badly. I do too. I think we should get it and not someone who's not in the Barbie. The historical and the art dolls are my favorite, like the Dia de los Muertos. There's one of Ella Fitzgerald that Ella Fitzgerald Rose of Parks we talked about getting. Yes, there's a Frida Kahlo one, I found out. Yes, there are some incredible ones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, here's also something interesting about kind of the fashion of how she looked. In the early years, barbie only had blue eyes with white irises, really. But since 1971, you've been able to get her Wait, wait, hold on Blue eyes with white iris, iris is white sclera. Oh, okay, I was going to say the eyes. The eyes are blue and the irises are white. You're like wait, that's crazy, that's terrifying. Okay, blue irises with white eyeballs, right, and then later you could get her in, her eyes became in green, brown, so good, yeah, traditional, other colors, so cool. So, yeah, that was her, her fashion. She's a fashion icon. She really is.
Speaker 1:Although she was a fashion icon, oh, you're probably aware if you've followed Barbie she is not without controversy. Yes, most of the controversies over the years about Barbie have been about unrealistic body standards. Yes, like body image, unrealistic beauty standards. So there are a lot of people that don't like their daughters to play or their sons to play with Barbies because they think that body image isn't something unrealistic. Yeah, they, they, there've been. There's been a lot of discussion about body image, concerns lack of diversity, yeah, which I'm actually going to talk quite a bit about after this. Awesome. So Mattel started listening because Barbies all looked the same when I was a kid. Now there are Barbies of all different sizes, colors, everything, genders, yeah, all different kinds.
Speaker 1:So in 1980, and I cannot believe it took this long yeah, from 1959 when it came out, it wasn't until 1980 when Mattel released the first Black Barbie. Yeah, and I actually do want to note that's not technically the first Black Barbie, there were a few before that are definitely very controversial because of the time, sadly. The first Black character in Barbie's universe was Christy. She was introduced in 1968. Yay, but she was a friend of Barbie's. But you are correct, in 1980, that is the first, well, multi-race version of Barbie. So since then they've continued to release different ethnicities. They expanded because they're like look, we're not creating a real world here, we're not reflecting what's going on in the real world. So they decided to make their Barbies more realistic.
Speaker 1:One of the other things that was a controversy is they kind of made Barbie like put her in. They put Barbie in a corner. Oh, nobody puts Barbie in a corner and Barbie was a mom, like, even as the adult woman, like she had a baby and she had a boyfriend. There wasn't really at first like STEM, science or engineering or math. No, even though this was such a big step towards representation for equality for women in toys, it still was focused on very traditional yeah, so there was a lot of controversy surrounding that because, for example, this was a lot later, but in 1992, they released Barbie and one of her phrases I don't know if she spoke it or if it was just sometimes they'll put like phrases on the box, yeah but it said like math class is tough, and she was like so they, lots of people didn't like that because they thought it was perpetuating that stereotype of girls aren't good at math, women are dumb, right, only boys can be interested in math and science.
Speaker 1:Oh, I did not know that. So there was a lot of controversy about that. There was another one that was you know, she was all about shopping and clothes, which also people thought, right, people thought that that perpetuated a negative stereotype. And so now again, mattel has been growing and they Now you have a whole bunch of different kinds of Barbies, like you have astronaut Barbie and you have math Barbie and you have. So they are working to continue to try to introduce more diverse and inclusive dolls, especially ones that promote a more positive body image They've been working on that and more empowering messages. Yeah, so, like we talked about, there's a lot of controversy around that and I want to talk about some of the positive landmarks of growth for Barbie diversity. Yeah, so we already talked about the first Black Barbie characters and the first Black version of Barbie, and I do want to note in the 1980, black Barbie had an out.
Speaker 1:The outfit was designed by Kitty Black Perkins, mattel's principal designer at the time, who I didn't put a lot in here about her, but please go read about her. She seems incredible. The Barbies rocks, the Barbies box, not rocks. Wait, barbie has rocks now. I mean she does have everything. Oh, my goodness, wait, a Barbie pet set, but it's just pet rocks.
Speaker 1:Look, do not give them any ideas. I want that. I would buy it. Yes, we know, because you wanted the Barbie poo scooper. It's a geologist with like pet rocks. You know what there might be one? There's a Barbie beekeeper, which I kind of want. Oh, that's so cool.
Speaker 1:On the box of the 1980 Barbie it read she's black, she's beautiful, she's dynamite. Oh, I kind of remember that one. How cool is that, though? Yeah, along that same year, we also got a Hispanic version of Barbie. Cool, which they all share the same name. So that's why I'm not. Oh, so yeah, that's why I clarified the 1980 Barbie. That's weird. The black Barbie is Barbie, and so is the Hispanic Barbie. Oh, you mean, they all say Barbie. Yeah, they all have Barbie as their name. Yeah, that's well, that's what they all do. Even though she's an astronaut, she's still Barbie. Yeah, even though she's so. Yeah, yeah, I'll specify when they are separate characters. Okay, in 1988, a Latina friend of Barbies was created named Teresa Rivera.
Speaker 1:Oh, in 2012,. This is moving in a slightly different direction that I found fascinating. In 2012, a limited edition Barbie named Ella I'm making a note to look for the Ella Barbie. I really am, because I think you need the Ella Barbie A limited edition Barbie named Ella, who was actually going through chemotherapy as part of her character. Oh, wow, a treatment often used against cancer was introduced and sent to hospitals. Oh, but it was a limited edition thing and it was mainly made for hospitals, which means it's going to be a million dollars if we find it. However, due to a letter from a mom of a cancer patient, mattel brought the Ella dolls back in 2014. Oh, wow. So I don't know if they are still making them. I will do this research, don't you worry. I know because that would be a really cool doll to own. It would be.
Speaker 1:In 2016, mattel created the Barbie Fashionistas, which I feel like might have been the biggest collective jump forward in inclusivity In my mind. This set included three new body types for the dolls curvy, petite and tall as well as seven different skin tones, 22 different eye colors and 24 hairstyles. Cool, I know. And I just want to say, about time yeah, I just want to say one. I did not know there were Barbies of different body sizes and I will admit I got emotional because I was like, wow, that's very cool. Yeah, they are. I had no idea. I've seen them. Yes, they're very cool. Yeah, I mean, people are different sizes. Why would we not have toys that reflect? I know, because I didn't know that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, I just want to note there's so many Barbie dolls that I didn't even write down and talk about in this that expand the catalog of diversity. Yeah, like, there was one that was. I think it was a Kenyan Barbie, cool, and a Barbie from Ghana. I love it and like in, like traditional outfits. They were gorgeous. See, those are the ones when I see them at the store that I'm like we need this, I know, but then I don't want to take it out and play with it, I just want to leave it in its glory. Yeah, exactly, um, so I highly recommend doing more research on Barbie diversity outside of this. Yeah, if you, even if you're not a Barbie person, there are really cool historical Barbies. Now, like, if you want to, you can. There's so many research papers for like school that you can write on this. But also like evolution of Barbie. If you're fashion, the, no matter, like what you like in school, the diversity, the story, but, like if you liked a specific time in history or a person, there's probably a Barbie. Like Ella was saying, the Dia de los Muertos Barbie is amazing. It's one of. It was like $60. So worth it. Yeah, it's gorgeous, but yeah, I want to note there were two articles from the insider that I recommend talking. There was one talking about how black representation and Barbie has evolved and there was one talking about Kitty Black, perkins the designer. I recommend checking both those out.
Speaker 1:In case you didn't know, we over on parentbusterscom, for every episode we have two posts, one about our podcast. In every podcast we list out all of the resources that we used. So it's good if you want to go and continue learning, we have. I put every single resources we use or reference we used to do our podcast over on that. And then there's also a com learning after listening post. That goes along with whatever the topic is. So sometimes, like this one will be um barbie, ideas for barbie, lessons and activities for kids and then it'll have a list. If you go over there and let me just say this and you see some missing, like you fight, you listen to a podcast, you go to the podcast, post, links to over and you find that there's not um Podcast, there's not a learning after listening post. It's because we're updating some of our posts, so some of them are down right now, but as we update we're making them better and changing them a little bit than what they were. So we're Slowly getting everything back up. So soon we have our posts back up and you'll have them for every episode. But, yeah, all of the current podcast, though. Have a learning after listening posts. Yes, so anyway, I'm go over there. My whole point is Ellis said she's pointing you to two articles to which I have included in my research, so those link them. Yeah, those links will be on the podcast page over on parent busters.
Speaker 1:Is there anything else you want to talk about? I do. I want to talk about some barbie fun fact. Yes, you know fun facts are. You know what I want fun, what I think is weird. What happened to bar a, what we only talk about barbie? What about bar? See, we haven't seen that yet. What if it's bar? What if it's barbie, barbie, barbie. What if it's barb? And it's like how many is it just going through like the phone book, but it's the first name instead of the last name. So it's barb a barb be barb, see, no, okay, so deep cut. Wow, why do you have to ruin the job? So we did talk about in 1961, barbie got boyfriend named Ken. Yes, and it is so.
Speaker 1:Barbie was named after creator Ruth Handler's daughter, barbara. Ken was named after her son. Yeah, kenneth Shawn Carson. So really, barbie and Ken, her brother and sister. Yeah, the some articles I was doing during this research was very confused about this. We are in the store. They are not related that. So they are related. So barbie had a little sister, skipper, skipper. She had a friend named midge. There was also apparently a cousin from 1966 to 76 named francy, oh yes, and then she went, francy went away. I guess she moved away and she came back in 2011. Oh, oh, so that was a we did. We talked about this already, but there are tons of limited edition barbie dolls. They're also barbie dolls with iconic fashion collections. If you're really into that, look them up. Um, we already mentioned, like the Rosa Park, onestrailer, dale's, whiteired I Crimean they're whole bunch.
Speaker 1:The first barbie commercial here during the Mickey mouse club in 1959. Does anyone know what that is? Yeah, do you not know? So I know what it is. I grew up with Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse, which is the animated evolution of the Mickey Mouse Club, which is a live act. Was a live action kids show, right, it was like a variety show. You know what variety shows are, where they like have it's a variety of shows, no, where they have skits and they seeing and they. And actually you might not know this, but it stayed on. The Mickey Mouse Club stayed on for a long time, so long that Justin Timberlake from in sync was a Mickey Mouse, christina Aguilera, britney Spears, like a whole bunch of Mandy Moore, those are all. So it stayed on for a really long time, even. But the first Barbie commercial aired during the Mickey Mouse Club. Yeah, and I want to note that was in 1955 and I have 59, so I'll fight you over that. Oh, I don't know, it was in the 1950s, how's that? And it actually, because of that, barbie became the first toy company to advertise commercials to children. That's pretty incredible. I know Something interesting we mentioned Barbie being an astronaut a while ago.
Speaker 1:Barbie became an astronaut in 1965, four years before Neil Armstrong, so in 18 years before Sally ride, the first American woman go to space took. So, technically, barbie went to the moon first. Barbie was the first American person to the moon. Go Barbie, go Barbie. Barbie is sold in more than 150 countries worldwide and the first ever Barbie, we said, sold for three dollars in 1959, but it's now considered. It's the one with the zebra print. Yeah, it's now considered a really valuable collector's item. For example, in 2010 that Barbie sold for 27,450 dollars at an auction. Well, that's quite the profit. How many Barbies do you think are sold every minute. Oh, I read this, I read this 600, 100 Barbie dolls every single minute. Um, over 1 billion dolls have been sold since Barbie was born in 1959.
Speaker 1:Wow, did you know that artist Andy Warhol did a painting of Barbie? I did, I feel like I did too, and then I read that and it sparked a memory. Yeah, and then I also found there's a bunch of images of it. So if you look up Andy Warhol Barbie painting, it will come up. It's really cool. Yeah, I'll try to link to it too in our Podcast post on Paramester calm.
Speaker 1:Did you know that Barbie and Ken actually broke up? Yes, I do. They broke up in 2004. Let me tell you, according to Jodi, mine and Jodi's playing, barbie and Ken broke up a lot because there was also Malibu Ken and Malibu Bart and I forgot about sometimes I don't think his name was Ken, though I have to look it up His name was Brett. Sometimes in our, in our play, she dated him. So, yeah, I did know, but a fish, like canonically. They broke up in 2004. Yes, but, like on good terms, they're like okay, let's just be friends. Sure, they did. That's what they always said. That's just what their PR people. Well, it was pretty good turns because they got back together in 2011. Yes, so the best.
Speaker 1:I do not remember this, but the best selling bar Barbie doll ever Was in 1992. Oh, and it was called totally hair Barbie and she had floor length hair, oh, my goodness. So her hair came all the way down, dang, I don't remember that. It's like Rapunzel. It was Rapunzel Barbie. 2020. 2020 Alone, mattel sold $1.35 billion dollars worth of Barbie dolls and accessories.
Speaker 1:It's accessories that get you. It's the accessories because you're like, oh well, I get a Barbie, then I need like another shirt, right, but then like I need, and then look at those two boots and oh, and then there's a dog, okay, there's another, a taffy to Toofy. This is more of a Mattel fact than a Barbie fact, but Mattel actually started out selling furniture before making toys. I had no idea. No, is that how they could easily Transform into, not transform for a, into the Barbie dream house, maybe, speaking of a your, your the segue, queen, a Barbie dream house is sold every Two minutes, what? And it was first introduced in 1962. Oh, wow, so wow, barbie Hit it big immediately. Two years later, he, and it's still going.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dang in her 1994 autobiography dream doll Ruth Hamler wrote Barbie always represented the fact that a woman had choices. I Might have to read this or like, get the audiobook or something. Yeah, it's interesting because during that time when women were just told, you know, told to stay at home and take care of their family, this is a pretty forward thinking thing. Yeah, do you want to hear about Barbie's social media presence? Yes, I think you're gonna be shocked. Oh no, barbie has a social media presence, but no. And on YouTube she has 11.4 million subscribers. I knew this. On Instagram, oh no, 20 million has 2.4 million followers. Oh, my goodness. And Barbie has a TikTok. Of course there's Barbie. And guess what? She has 1.1 million followers on TikTok. And all of that together makes Barbie one of the most successful virtual influencers in the world. No, barbie is the most successful. Yeah, I did know about the YouTube channel thing because I saw some stuff about, because it's like a 3D animated. It's the 3D animated Barbie making videos. I think I'm curious. I might have to get it. I've seen it. It doesn't look bad. According to Barbie media, there are 18 billion billion, with a B minutes of Barbie user generated content each year. Oh no, I guess we're pretty obsessed with Barbie. Yeah, we really like Barbie.
Speaker 1:Hey, what do you call a Barbie cookout? What A Barbie. A Barbie cube? A Barbie cube. Yes, you want to do our 2 Trues and a Lie? Sure, okay, are we done? Maybe I might have something post. 2 Trues and a Lie. I'm kind of scared. You should be Okay. Yeah, that's all the fun facts I have. So let's do our 2 Trues and a Lie. Okay, I'll say them and then you tell me if it's a truth or a lie. Okay, barbie's real name is Barbara. Yes, the first year, barbie only sold $100. That is the lie. That's the lie. It sold like $300,000. A lot, oh god, it takes 100 people to create a Barbie doll. That is true. That's true. That's crazy. Okay, thank you for joining us today. Oh hey, hey, I have a surprise. Yeah, you keep saying that and I was just trying to gloss over it because you're scaring me.
Speaker 1:So we talked about what if it were Jodi with our court Barbies? I have a special guest here. Hey guys, what's up? No, she totally would have done it, by the way. Oh, I should have thought of that.
Speaker 1:Throughout this episode we've talked about how many jobs Barbie has had. But how well do you know the jobs? Oh no, I have a list of Barbie jobs and you're going to have to guess if they are real or ones that came from my little brain. You're going to Barbie quiz me. I'm going to Barbie quiz you. Okay, alright, let's bring it. I'm not going to tell you the answers until the end and then I'll give you your score. Okay, okay, are you ready? So you just want me to say yes or no, yes, and then you can give your thoughts on why, if you want. Okay, okay.
Speaker 1:Number one President Barbie. Yes, that's true. Okay, you have to work faster than this because we're on audio. So, number two Kat Burglar, barbie no, okay. Number three Australian cattle rancher Barbie. No. Game show host, barbie yes, okay. Number five Olympic skier Barbie. Yes. Number six rapper Barbie. That seems right. Yes. Number seven Starfleet engineering officer Barbie from Star Trek. Oh, starfleet, yeah, sure, why not? Number eight Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Barbie. Yes, okay. That's all of them. I just want to say I've done some trickery. These are all real. You only got two of them wrong. These are all real, wow. Well, wait, there's an Australian cattle rancher. I will go through and explain each of these, okay. So, president Barbie Self-explanatory. Self-explanatory she was a presidential candidate and I remember that one, so I knew. Yeah, she came with campaign signs and stickers reading Vote for Barbie. Yes, kat Burglar Barbie. I might vote for Barbie next year. Kat Burglar Barbie is real and it's something. It is born. It was born. Please. I recommend looking up what this looks like. Okay, I can picture it in my mind. It was born out of a collaboration with the French designer, christian Louboutin Louboutin. How dare you I'm sorry, I forgot to look up how to pronounce it how dare you, christian Louboutin. Barbie sports a leather body suit and golden pumps. I kind of remember it Really. Yeah, I did not know. It was called Kat Burglar Barbie. Yes, kids, here's your Kat Burglar Barbie. I mean, that seems like a weird. To be fair, it seems more like a collectible one than a kids toy. One Australian cattle rancher is real. A female cattle rancher is also known as a Jilleroo in Australian slang, and Barbie was that at some point. That's interesting. Game show host seems pretty normal compared to the rest of these. Right In the 80s you could actually get an entire game show set for your Barbie. It seems weird now, but you have to realize, in the 80s on television, game shows were huge. I mean, they were on all the time. So now we just have, like you know, family feud or I don't know like a few games, right, but there were a bazillion game shows on the 80s. What's the one with the no whammies? The whammy show? Yeah, I loved that one. I don't remember what it was called, but yeah, there were a bazillion different game shows I mean on all the time, like you could turn on the TV and there was a game show that's crazy. Olympic skier is real. Yes, and that actually wasn't her only Olympic, like part of her Olympic career. Wow, barbie's so talented. I know she also competed in figure skating, skateboarding, swimming, climbing and more. Go Barbie. I know Barbie is like she can literally do everything. Um, rapper. All I have written here for it is yes, this exists. Yeah, yes, she does look cool. Yeah, she does look very cool. Starfleet engineering officer from Star Trek. This set came with both Barbie and Ken dressed in full Star Trek attire. Yeah, I guessed yes, because they often did collaborations, so that seems right. And finally, dallas Cowboys cheerleader Barbie. I've seen them so I could not believe this. Yeah, um, the lead designer of Barbie at the time, robert Best was so amazed at the detail of each uniform that they had to collaborate and make a Barbie. That's awesome, yeah. So you got six out of eight. Good job. Yeah, barbie, I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world man. All right, thanks for joining us. I'm plastic and, on that note, congratulations, you've passed the Barbie test. You're now officially a Barbie and I will only refer to you as that I'm plastic. Okay, we'll see you guys later. Have a great day, guys. Hope you enjoyed it. Bye, hey, thanks for listening. If you like what we're doing here, we'd love your five star review to help us reach more families and also to let Ellen know that her homeschool research isn't going to waste. Seriously, it takes forever. But hey, if you want to check out more of our stuff, we're going to have a new episode every Tuesday and if you want to see some of the older episodes, they'll always be there. You'll just have to scroll down a little bit. Also, you might not know this, but we have a free Buster deduction sheet over on our website, parentbusterscom, and actually it's an entire downloadable fun pack and it's all free and you can download it. And on the Buster deduction sheet, you can follow along with every episode, write down your facts and there's a place to do two truths and a lie on it. And we also have a companion learning post called Learning. After Listening For every single podcast episode we do, you can continue your learning over on parentbusterscom. Yeah, so just head over there and check it out. Okay, bye, thanks.
