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 "Barbie-Q"s Barbies:

"Solo in the Spotlight"(10)
 
"Red Flair"(11)

Debuting March 9th, 1959 at the New York World's Fair, Mattel's infamous fashion icon Barbie soon appeared at the bottom of every young girl's Christmas list across America- to the woe of their concerned mothers. Considering her paradoxical status as both an icon of Americana and subject of feminine controversy, it makes perfect sense for Sandra Cisneros to choose Barbie as the object of focus in her piece "Barbie-Q". But what exactly did the world of Barbie look like in its' 1960s timeframe, and how did our culture react?




Pictured above is the dolls owned by our two focal characters in Cisneros's work. Note that these images are reproductions, but accurate to the originals.

Barbie in the 1960s:

Creation and Cultural Perceptions:

A young Ruth Handler showcasing
her dolls (12)
    It's first important to note that Barbie was, in fact, created by a woman: Ruth Handler, and her many outfits were created by numerous female designers and garment workers. As discussed by Dr. Linda Scott, mothers at the time were harshly critical of both Barbie's design and unorthodox play-style. Prior to the introduction of Barbie, dolls for girls were strictly either of babies or toddlers: "both types were thought to be 'healthy' and 'correct' toys because they encouraged mothering as play" (1).  In conjunction, Ruth Handler herself agreed that the current toy market was limiting for girls.


 In a later film interview, Handler reflects back on this period:

"I knew that the only dolls available on the market were baby dolls where the child is limited to playing mommy... there was no adult doll with which a child could truly dream her dreams in the early fifties" (2). 


Bild Lilli on display in the
 Prague Museum (13)
So in this manner, the introduction of Barbie was paradoxically refreshing for a young girl- but not their mothers. As Dr. Scott also reflects upon in her article: "my mother repeatedly informed me, Barbie was 'not the kind of woman that nice little girls grew up to be'... we could tell from the reaction of our parents that Barbie was a slut" (1). In fact, department stores such as Sears outright refused to sell Mattel's Barbie for a period of time, noting her apparent "oversexiness" as the main issue (1). 

Of course, these concerns regarding Barbie's design were not imagined by no means. Handler's original inspiration on the design came from "Bild Lilli", a German comic-strip character and doll for adults from the early fifties. Lilli is a "call-girl", with the main jist of the strip seeing her in various provacative situations. As discussed in Robin Gerber's text "Barbie and Ruth", her doll-counterparts' original purpose was simply as a kind of gag gift:
 

"Lilli dolls could be bought in tobacco shops, bars and adult-themed toy stores... [m]en... put them on their car dashboard, dangled them from the rearview mirror, or gave them to girlfriends as a suggestive keepsake.” (3) 

Considerably, Barbie's inception is rather dual-natured, though it is her advertising that surely would've been an inspiration for the main child characters in "Barbie-Q"...

A newspaper advertisement (ca. 1960s) alerting
 desperate parents that "WE HAVE IT". Note 
the language usage: "glamorous, shapely Barbie..." (14)
    Commercialization:

Alternatively and unfortunately to Handler's original "dream big" hopes, the commercial advertising for Barbie painted a rather different, glaring picture of the female role model.

From this period, there are countless commercials and magazine advertisements for the titular Barbie and subsequent partner dolls (Midge, Skipper, Ken, etc.,). Advertisements of the time would often display Barbie alongside a plethora of her outfits and accessories. As expected, the fashion interchangability is the main draw, with- as the Barbie "Mix and Max" jingle would say- "lots of styles for you to choose!" (4)- all sold separately, of course.

 Considerably, it is marketing genius. In exchange of purchasing one baby doll to "mother", it encourages a continuous dedication to the purchase of outfits rotating each season, auxiliary friends and siblings (with of course, their own outfit lines), and so on. If you'd like to see a wide array of these advertisements, "My Vintage Barbies" has an archived collection, separated by decade (5).

In this advertisement, Mattel seems to be
trying to "bridge the generational gap"
between mothers and their daughters (15)
Peculiarly, Mattel also attempted in their advertisements to highlight an educational element with their dolls: "a little girl can experiment with fashions, to see what color shoes go with a red and white gown.... with Barbie, there's an endless opportunity for a little girl to learn [and] grow..." (6). It is debatable on whether or not these are credible claims. 

Of course, dolls were not the only thing sold under the Barbie name. The video on the right (8) is a link to the Barbie board game "Queen of the Prom" advertisement. Objectives of the game include the harrowing situation of finding an outfit and a date to the prom (with Ken being the elusive goal). Note that the people depicted playing the game within the commercial are girls aged approximately 8-12 years old. Additionally, the Barbie fan club magazine and corresponding merchandise were also popular at the time.

The video on the left (9) is considered one of the first commercials for Barbie. As you might notice, the "Solo in the Spotlight" doll mentioned in "Barbie-Q" makes an appearance. Note that at the time, a Barbie selling for three dollars is around a thirty-dollar equivalency in 2023. With this in mind, it makes sense that Cisneros's short story 
depicts a speaker whose family cannot afford to continuously purchase such commodities.

                                                                                                                                                                     


                                             
Works Cited:

(1) Gerber, Robin. “Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her.” Harper Business, 3 Feb. 2009.


(2) Piche, Briana. “The Intentions Behind the Creation of Barbie.” Constructing The Past, Vol. 10, No. 1, Aug. 2009,  https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/vol10/iss1/4


(3) Scott, Linda M. “Barbie Genesis Play, Dress, and Rebellion Among Her First Owners.” Gender and Consumer Behavior, Vol. 6, 2002, pp. 151-65, https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/gender/v06/Paper%2015%20(p%20%20151).pdf.


(4) “1963 Mix N Match Barbie & Ken Fashions Commercial.” Youtube, uploaded by BarbieCollectors, 29 Oct. 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH_0sF79LGA.


(5) Royer, Marie. “Advertising from the 1960's.” My Vintage Barbie, 2011, https://www.myvintagebarbies.com/1960-barbie-ads.htm.


(6) “Magazine Advert Mattel Barbie 1960s.” The Advertising Archives, London, https://www.advertisingarchives.co.uk/detail/22009/1/Magazine-Advert/Mattel-Barbie-Doll/1960s. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.


(7) Royer, Marie. “Advertising from the 1960's.” My Vintage Barbie, 2011, https://www.myvintagebarbies.com/1960-barbie-ads.htm.


(8) “1961 Vintage Barbie Queen of The Prom Board Game Commercial”, Youtube, uploaded by Harold, 16 Feb, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgqA9qe6JwI.


(9) “ORIGINAL (1959) First Barbie Commercial by Mattel”, Youtube, uploaded by BarbieCollectors, 29 Oct. 2008, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hhjjhYGQtY


    Images:

(10) “Solo In The Spotlight 1990 Barbie Doll.” eBay, https://www.ebay.com/p/80139589. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.


(11) “Vintage Barbie RED FLARE Outfit #939 NM/COMP Hat Purse Gloves Shoes Gorgeous BIN.” eBay, https://www.ebay.com/itm/394116125031. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.


(12) “Ruth Handler Photograph.” AI bees, https://www.ai-bees.io/post/ruth-handler-inventor-entrepreneur-who-revolutionized-the-toy-industry. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.


(13) “Bild Lilli Prague Museum.” Plaid Zebra, 25 Feb. 2016, https://theplaidzebra.com/the-wholesome-barbie-doll-is-based-on-a-german-call-girl/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.


(14) “Barbie ad, 1960.” Newspapers.com, 29 Nov. 2017, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15460866/barbie-ad-1960/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.


(15) “Barbie Dolls, Vintage Ads, Vintage.” Go To Shopping, https://www.4jj2shop.bz/?product_id=87516596_45. Accessed 6 Apr. 2023.







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