THE WOMAN BEHIND BARBIE
Oct 29, 2019
5 minutes
BY PAUL KENNEDY
Photo ©Allan Grant/Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University
As president of Mattel, a company founded by her husband Elliot – along with Harold “Matt” Matson, a friend of Elliot’s – in 1945, Ruth Handler was a dogged businessperson who trusted her instincts. Despite the naysayers in her own company, Handler was convinced her new doll, named after her daughter, Barbara, would be the hit of the show.
Even so, Handler was an unlikely champion for the 11-1/2-inch, curvaceous Barbie doll.
First off, Handler didn’t play with dolls as a little girl. As a matter of fact, she didn’t play with much at all.
“It’s not that I never played,” Handler wrote in her 1994 autobiography, . “I did have a few close girlfriends and I enjoyed hanging around with them. But
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