How a Married Couple’s Innovative Risks Changed the Toy Industry

In ‘This Week in History,’ a new doll makes its debut at the 1959 Toy Fair in New York City and becomes an American icon.

In the 1960s, power couple Ruth and Elliot Handler brought toy company Mattel to great heights. Courtesy of Mattel, Inc.

In 1956, Elliot and Ruth Handler arrived in Switzerland, their two children in tow. The family was on vacation, and with the demands of running a growing business, the couple were no doubt in need of some time away. The Handlers, however, were always keeping an eye out for ways to create new products. The previous year, they had invested $500,000—practically the total worth of their company—in advertising. Stepping inside a local Swiss store, Ruth came across something that would trigger a financial boom for the family-owned business.

In 1938, high school sweethearts, Elliot and Ruth, got married. Elliot was an innovative entrepreneur with a tireless work ethic. In this case, positives attracted, as Ruth was equally innovative and hardworking. Elliot began building furniture from Lucite and plexiglass, and Ruth became his salesman. The California couple quickly grew the business, even securing a contract with a leading manufacturer, Douglas Aircraft, which built many World War II aircraft.

Forming Mattel

In 1945, Elliot and Ruth launched a new business with a friend and fellow WWII veteran (Elliot was in the United States Army), Harold “Matt” Matson. Harold and Elliot combined their names (Matt and Elliot) to create the name Mattel. Business operations were conducted out of the garage of the Handler’s Los Angeles home. The business was small in scope, making picture frames from those aforementioned plastics of Lucite and plexiglass. From the scraps of those frames, Mattel cobbled together furniture; but this time, it was dollhouse furniture. The toy accessories were a success, and the company maneuvered away from the picture frames to focus on the furniture.

The following year, in 1946, Matson, citing health issues, sold his shares to the Handlers and stepped away from the company. The Handlers looked to expand further into the toy industry. Their first toy released in 1947, the Uke-A-Doodle, a child-sized plastic ukulele, was a hit. The company quickly began to grow, expanding the size of their Los Angeles headquarters. As the 1940s gave way to the 1950s, the company expanded their toy music devices, which included music boxes and mini pianos. The kids’ musical instruments were selling in the millions and Mattel was making a name for itself.

The Disney Collaboration

Walt Disney (C) showing Orange County officials plans for Disneyland's layout, December 1954. Orange County Archives/CC BY 2.0

In Anaheim, a massive operation began taking shape. Walt Disney had begun construction of a rather risky project in the summer of 1954. The plan for the Disneyland theme park was to take the Disney animated world and turn it into a tangible reality. The plan was to create that reality by the following year.

Impressively, Disneyland met that goal and opened on July 17, 1955. Along with the plans for Disneyland, the Walt Disney Company had signed a contract with ABC to begin a new TV show called the “Mickey Mouse Club.” The show was scheduled to begin in October 1955.

The “Mickey Mouse Club” show, however, needed advertising sponsors. What better company to become an advertiser than a toy company. Just as Disney had recently taken a major risk with his company, building the massive theme park, the Handlers took a major risk with their company. They signed a $500,000 contract with ABC for 15 minutes of advertisement a 52-week commitment. The investment would cause the company to either boom or bust.

Meeting Lilli

In 1956, the Handlers hopped on a plane for Europe for a much-needed vacation.

In 1952, a few years before their arrival, the West German newspaper in Hamburg, Bild-Zeitung, published a one-off cartoon. The comic character was a tall, thin, blonde, high-end call girl named Lilli. The comic strip, which showed her in various outfits making sarcastic and racy quips, became an immediate hit among male readers. The comic strip continued with much fanfare, and, by 1955, Lilli was made into a doll. She was not for kids, but rather a gag gift for men.

A German Bild Lilli doll. Srleffler/OGL 3

A year after Lilli became a doll, she fell into the hands of Ruth Handler. Bild Lilli, as she was officially called, did not give Ruth her original idea. She had already pitched a similar idea to the staff at Mattel, as well as her husband. She recalled not wanting the typical baby doll when she was a little girl, and she noticed her daughter and her friends preferred to make adult paper dolls of women instead of playing with baby dolls. Ruth had pitched a full-form doll that could be dressed in various outfits.

“Ruth, no mother is ever going to buy her daughter a doll with breasts,” Elliot told his wife.

Elliot wasn’t the only one who felt this way. The idea was shelved, until Ruth met Lilli. She believed that the success of the German doll was proof her idea could be done. Of course, her doll would be a purified version that would be marketed toward girls, and she began working on creating the three-dimensional doll.

The Perfect Debut

Blonde first-edition Barbie in a black-and-white striped bathing suit, holding her sunglasses. Courtesy of Mattel, Inc.

While Ruth worked on the doll, as well as leading Mattel with her husband, the company was enjoying continued success creating popular toys, like the Corn Popper, Snap-Lock Beads, and a kids’ Xylophone (all of which are still produced by the company’s subsidiary Fisher-Price). Furthermore, the company had released its first toy cap gun in 1955 called the Burp Gun, followed by several other guns, like the Fanners and Shootin' Shell. Mattel began to dominate the toy gun market. It was evident the company’s advertising on the “Mickey Mouse Club” was paying off.

Ruth finally found a manufacturer in Japan. The design of her new toy doll was finalized, and Ruth decided to name the doll after her inspiration—her daughter Barbara. Now the toy simply needed to make a big debut.

There would be no better time and place to make the debut than at the annual, multiweek, and immensely popular North American International Toy Fair in New York City. The Toy Fair first began in 1903 and had flourished over the more than half a century thanks to the burgeoning toy industry. For a toy, it was the place to be.

Mattel packaged the new toy doll called Barbie. Billed as a fashion model, the 11-inch-tall blonde doll came dressed in a black-and-white striped swimsuit wearing a pair of black-and-white cat-eyed sunglasses. It was during this week in history, on March 9, 1959, at the annual toy fair that Barbie made her debut. Ruth had hit bulls-eye on an untapped market. Barbie’s debut was followed up with commercials on the “Mickey Mouse Club.” The demand for the new doll was immediate.

Barbie creator Ruth Handler with an assortment of Barbie and Mattel products, in 1961. Adam Cuerden/CC BY 4.0

Mattel continued to produce new outfits for the doll, followed by Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken, in 1961. Ken was named after the Handlers’ son. Barbie became the first mass-produced doll with adult features, and it proved to be exactly what girls wanted. Barbie has long been an iconic toy. Approximately 60 million Barbie dolls are sold every year. Along with Barbie, Mattel has created and sold some of the most popular toys ever, including board games, and Hot Wheels (the brainchild of Elliot Handler).

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