Ruth Handler was Elliott's wife, and the business and marketing arm of their family business, Mattel, named after Elliot and his ex-business partner. They made a range of fun toys like their ukelele/music box or their bestseller, the Burp Gun. But Ruth decided that Mattel needed a doll, but not one that already existed. Baby dolls were all that were available for girls to play with in the 50's and that only led to the mommy track-Ruth wanted a doll that would inspire girls to look further, and live independent and productive lives. She found what she wanted in a toy store in Germany, took it home, and convinced the business to develop their version of this fashion doll to market to the public. After many mishaps and near failures, their doll was ready for the New York Toy Fair, except they couldn't decide on a name. When Elliot was finally consulted, he had the obvious answer-their daughter and the chief engineer's wife were both named Barbara, "lets call her Barbie."
Of course she was an instant smash hit after her first commercial on the Mickey Mouse Show. Top designers were hired to create Barbie's couture wardrobe and to reflect all of the careers that girls could now explore through their new doll. As the small family company morphed into the Mattel Corporation, bad decisions and the Women's Movement eventually brought the company to its knees. But amazingly, Ruth conjured up one more success out of the Barbie fiasco because she was just that good.
Most of the characters in Rosen's novel are real people and the novel follows the true events that occured. Ruth was a fascinating character who had a very hard childhood and was not really equipped for a traditional mother role. You could certainly understand her wish to give young girls real life choices, even though her own daughter wanted no part of a career. The other main character was Jack Ryan, the engineer who made Ruth's vision of Barbie a reality. Their close work together unfortunately devolved into hatred and mistrust, as innovative ventures often do. But their ideas revolutionized the toy world, and Barbie still retains her hold over girls, as demonstrated by the new Barbie movie.
I was one of those 50's girls who had the doll, bought the clothes, and played Barbie with all of my friends. There was no thought to this...it was what one did. I very much enjoyed learning about the lives of the creators and how Barbie became the phenomenon that she was and still is. A very deep dive into childhood and girl power.
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