Later, she had a little girl, Nikki, named after her best friend. The first was Ryan, who came as a small child in the Happy Family series. In the early years, Midge was a teenager, the same age as Barbie, but during her multiple comebacks, it was led to believe that she was more of a young adult, around twenty-five years old, when marrying Alan, then having children. Midge finally came back in 2013, though no longer married with children, as they and Alan no longer exist. Midge came back in the late '80s, first being California Dream Midge, but her appearances continued to be spotty, next to being seen marrying Alan in the 1991 Wedding Day set, only to disappear again (aside from 35th anniversary Midge from 1997) until the Happy Family series, which was quick to retire after absurd accusations of it promoting teen pregnancy. PJ was freckle-less, very pale, and wore heavy makeup that accentuated her rooted eyelashes in the Mod era. Midge was discontinued in 1967 and was replaced by PJ, who used the same Midge face mold. Midge, Barbie, Allan, and Ken would double-date. Midge started dating Allan in 1964 when he was introduced as Ken's best friend. The addition was just the latest in Barbie's expanded line featuring a wider array of body shapes.In 1963, Mattel introduced Midge onto the market, who had less makeup and a more friendly look than Barbie after Barbie was 'sexually intimating' looking more like an adult woman like Bild Lilli was, and Midge won the hearts of little girls everywhere, just like Barbie. In 2019, with the marking of Barbie's 60th anniversary, Mattel released a new Barbie body type that featured a smaller bust, less defined waist and more defined arms. She provided the calculations for Alan Shepherd’s historic first flight into space, John Glenn’s ground-breaking orbit of the earth and the trajectory for Apollo 11’s moon landing. Johnson-who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 by President Barack Obama-was a physicist, space scientist and mathematician at NASA’s Langley Center. Kahlo was not only an inspiring and beloved painter, she was an activist who continues to influence women’s movements today. Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and the first person ever to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. In 2018, Mattel released a new “Inspiring Women” collection that features three ground-breaking, history-making women- Amelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo and Katherine Johnson. Mattel bought the rights to Lilli, and Handler created her own version.Īmelia Earhart, Frida Kahlo and Katherine Johnson from the Barbie Inspiring Women collection Originally marketed as a racy gag gift that men could buy in tobacco shops, the Lilli doll later became extremely popular with children. Inspired by watching their daughter play with make-believe paper dolls of adult women, Handler realized there was an unfilled niche in the market for a toy that allowed little girls to imagine the future.īarbie’s appearance was modeled after a doll named the Bild Lilli, which had been inspired by a German comic-strip character. She would go on to become one of the most iconic playthings in history.īarbie was the brainchild of Ruth Handler, co-founder (with her husband Elliot) of the toy company Mattel, Inc. The leggy, 11-inch plastic figure-full name: Barbara Millicent Roberts-was the first mass-produced toy doll in the U.S. In March 1959, a doll named "Barbie" launched onto the American toy market, sporting a black-and-white striped bathing suit, pouty red lips and a sassy blonde ponytail.
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