Where can I buy Barbie dolls in Huangshi?

There are Chinese merchants and toy stores in Huangshi City.

Let me tell you the birth story of Barbie!

1. The birth of Barbie: The mother of "Barbie Doll" - Ruth Handler

Ruth Handler is the founder of "Barbie Doll", the longest-selling toy in the world toy market, and later created Mattel Toy Company is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in the United States. Now, "Barbie" dolls have been sold to more than 150 countries in the world, with total sales exceeding 1 billion yuan.

On April 28, 2002, major newspapers and magazines forwarded a piece of shocking news: the 85-year-old Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, passed away. For half a century, the Barbie doll created by Ruth has become a favorite of little girls almost all over the world. With the popularity of this toy doll with big eyes and long hair, today's "Barbie" is not only a toy, it is a symbol of American women and a symbol of American culture, just like McDonald's and KFC all over the world. As the creator of this brand, Ruth used her life's efforts to give dreams and hope to women around the world.

"Barbie" was born

In 1916, Ruth Handler was born in Denver, the capital of Colorado, USA. Her parents were originally Polish. In order to avoid military service, like countless immigrants who came to the United States to pursue their dreams, they took a hot and dirty steamship to the other side of the ocean.

Ruth’s father was a blacksmith and relied on a meager income to support Ruth and her nine sisters. Her mother worked hard for the family all day long, but the hardships of life seemed not to matter. It has brought too much harm to this big family, and the father and mother never lose their temper with the children. Ruth Handler later recalled that as the youngest child, she never lacked pampering while growing up. And it is precisely because she grew up with so much love that she has the childlike innocence of a child and designed the lovely "Barbie".

At the age of 19, Ruth was in her second year of college. She was not tall, but full of curiosity. Out of curiosity about movies, she came to Hollywood alone, but she came to this world full of temptations. She went to school not to be a movie star, but to study industrial design. Fortunately, she found a job on the famous Paramount Film Studio. Here she met the love of her life, Elliot Handler, and they quickly fell in love and married soon after.

In 1942, the ambitious Handlers founded their company in a garage. The initial product was wooden picture frames. Elliott developed samples and Ruth was responsible for sales.

By chance, Handler tried to make small furniture using the scraps left over from making picture frames, and found that the sales were good, so the company added another business, designing and manufacturing furniture for children's playrooms. After a few years, the company began to make money and its main business shifted to producing toys. In 1945, the Handlers and their friend Mantleson founded a company that later became the most famous and successful company producing rag dolls. The company was named Mattel (MATTEL), MATT was taken from Mantelson's name, and EL was taken from Elliott's name.

At that time, Ruth already had a daughter. As a mother and a toy businessman, she attached great importance to her children's ideas. One day, she suddenly saw her daughter Barbara playing with paper-cut dolls with a little boy. These paper-cut dolls were not the common babies at the time, but teenagers with their own careers and identities, which made her daughter very obsessed. "Why not make a more mature doll?" Ruth's mind burst out with inspiration.

Although I have the inspiration, the journey to realize it is arduous. Before the birth of Barbie, most of the toys for little girls on the American market were cute little angels, chubby and chubby, similar to the screen image of the famous child star Shirley Temple. This was an adult's response to children's toys. However, judging from the interests of older children, this kind of toy is a bit "childish". What they need is a playmate of their own age, not a baby.

What should you make your doll look like? Ruth thought hard. At this time, she needed to go to Europe for a business trip, so Ruth came to Germany. Here, she saw a doll named "Lili". Lily was very beautiful and was first made in 1955. It is based on a famous cartoon image in the "Westdeutsche Zeitung Beard". Lili is made of hard plastic and is 18 to 30 centimeters tall. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail and dragged behind her head, and she was wearing a gorgeous dress. The figure is impeccable, all the physical signs are present, and the clothes are very "revealing".

So Ruth bought three "Lilys" and brought them back to the United States. She told her male colleagues in the company that she wanted to design a "mature" toy, but they thought "Lilys" Li's clothing is too revealing and is a product to satisfy men's fantasies. It is not suitable for children.

Ruth was not discouraged. She thought, why can't I combine these two points? What the children need is a doll that grows up but is not exposed. A little girl not only needs a doll that is similar to her own age, but also an ideal image of her when she grows up. As a result, the appearance of "Barbie" became more and more mature in Ruth's mind. With the help of the company's technicians and engineers, Barbie was born!

With the care of a woman, Ruth then invited costume designer Charlotte Johnson to design clothes for Barbie. In 1958, they obtained the patent to produce Barbie. This kind of doll will change an era. She is different from the previous dolls. She is an adult, with long, fresh limbs. Although she has a good figure, she is tightly wrapped in beautiful clothes. Her face still shows the mystery of Marilyn Monroe, although she is only 11.5 inches tall. . Finally, Ruth gave the cute doll the nickname "Barbie" after her daughter Barbara.

Growing up with "Barbie"

The first batch of Barbie dolls were made in Japan and debuted at the 1959 American Toy Fair under the name "Barbie—— A role model for young girls.” But to Ruth's surprise, "Barbie" was not sold out, but received a cold reception from toy dealers. After all, she is a brand new thing and a risk. The dealers are unwilling to do this and only reluctantly buy a few.

But the market proved that Ruth’s judgment was correct. The “Barbie” placed in the corner of the dealer’s shelf was warmly welcomed by children, and more and more people began to buy this refreshing product. It is a gratifying toy, especially little girls, who are extremely enthusiastic about it, and 350,000 units were sold in the first year.

In 1960, dealers completely changed their minds, and orders came to Mattel like a snowflake. It took the company several years to meet demand for Barbie, and in 10 years the public spent $500 million on Barbie.

However, while "Barbie" is widely welcomed by the public, it has also been criticized from all sides. The American Women's Organization first stated that Barbie was too "sexy" and "too perfect" and set unattainable goals for little girls. The end result was that it hurt their self-esteem and made them feel inferior to their appearance and figure. Therefore, she It is not a symbol of women's liberation, but plays the role of "persecuting women". Ruth doesn't think so. "Barbie" is a girl's idol, and the idol is naturally perfect. Little girls will not feel inferior because of their idol.

To prove that "Barbie" is not an empty-minded vase, but a career woman.

Ruth has designed more kinds of "Barbie", and she has more identities. She can be a doctor, an astronaut, a female entrepreneur, a police officer, an athlete, and even a volunteer for the United Nations Children's Fund. So far, She has more than 80 professions; she can be Chinese, Indian, black, and there are 45 ethnic groups she represents; her pets now have more than 40 kinds, and the first pet is called "Dancer" ) horse; she has her own boyfriend "Ken", who is named after Ruth's son; she also has her own three sisters, namely Qiaobi, which was launched in 1964, Stacey, which was launched in 1992, and Kelly debuted in 1995.

This is an ordinary toy, but so real. On the one hand, she is incredibly beautiful and is a "girl with a thousand faces." On the other hand, she is so close to us because she is like anyone else. Just like a little girl, she has her own preferences.

Opposition will still sound, but as a market image, "Barbie" is so successful. According to statistics from Mattel, an 11-year-old American girl may own 10 Barbie dolls, while a French girl of the same age owns 5. In addition to children, millions of adult women buy Barbie. "To them, no matter their age, she is not just a doll," Ruth said. "She has become a part of them." And Barbie collectors It’s even more gender-neutral: a Barbie doll priced at $3 in 1959 might be worth $5,000 now if it’s in good condition.

From doll to cultural symbol

From the day the first Barbie was born, it has been continuously improved and innovated. Barbie's appearance has gone through more than 500 revisions and improvements to become what it is today. The latest appearance is based on the famous American Chinese athlete Michelle Kwan. In order to provide "Barbie" with beautiful fashions, more than 1 billion pieces of clothes have been produced since 1995, and about 100 new Barbie clothes are launched every year. Now "Barbie" is sold in 150 countries around the world, with total sales exceeding 1 billion. This American girl, who is between a little girl and an adult woman, is the best-selling toy in the world toy market and has become a favorite of men, women and children all over the world.

Now, Barbie is 49 years old this year, but she is still young. She will live longer than the Cabbage Patch Dolls and Teddy Bears that were once popular. No one knows why, not even her creator, Ruth Handler, can explain it. Whether in the toy world or in real life, longevity is a mysterious and elusive thing. Someone once asked Ruth Handler: Why is Barbie so good? She just smiled and replied: "I am a marketing genius." However, Mattel also produces many other types of toys, not only none of which perform as well as Barbie, but many of them die young. It should be said that Ruth's original inspiration gave this doll eternal life. She was the "Mother of Barbie" who was close to life and truly created "Barbie" for children.

Barbie has gone far beyond the definition of a toy and has become an immortal cultural symbol. She attracted the attention of pop guru Andy Warhol. His fascination with "Barbie" was no less than his fascination with Marilyn Monroe. For a period in the late 1990s, "Barbie" lived almost every day. On American radios, although the person singing "Barbie" is a Danish singing group; she is a representative of 20th century life, a symbol of American women, and the modern Mona Lisa. Even those who regard themselves as serious The academy, too, had to condescend to study the “Barbie phenomenon.” Students in social studies class were asked to complete an assignment like this: What criticisms have been made of Barbie as a role model? Do you think manufacturers should consider these criticisms? Although there may never be a "right" answer to these questions.

No matter what kind of discussion and praise it causes, one thing is certain, "Barbie" is the first living woman born in the doll design industry, and is no longer a passive child. The adult design of "Barbie" opens up the horizons of little girls. They can perceive the world outside kindergarten through "Barbie" and experience all aspects of adult life with "Barbie".

From beach girl to politician, Barbie's ever-changing image sparked the imagination of children who wanted to be like her when they grew up.

Barbie’s success brought a lot of wealth to Mattel. In 1966, when Ruth was 50 years old, Mattel had already dominated the highly competitive toy world. It controlled a US$2 billion toy market in the United States12 % share. Ruth said: "At that time I had my career, my husband, my children and Barbie and Ken. I was on top of the world."

But Ruth's life did not go smoothly after that. . In 1970, Ruth was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. At the same time, Mattel's new executives began to diversify the company's products away from making toys, a policy that ultimately forced Ruth and her husband to step away from the business they had founded. In 1975, Ruth resigned as president and left the company she and her husband had founded.

2. Barbie Doll Yearbook: How much do you know about Barbie?

In 1959 at the New York Toy Fair, a beautiful and touching idol with millions of people was born. She was Barbie. An important reason why she has been popular in the world for decades is that Barbie is full of imagination. Barbie is by no means a simple toy. This beautiful doll is endowed with the concept of dreams. She carries it with her People play various roles, and she can give full play to people's imagination and achieve people's pursuit of dreams. Whether it is for family, friends, or clothing, she can always change with the changes of girls and the world. Some interesting things promote the feelings of your Barbie doll... I