BARBIE BOSS 💖👠I just read this biography of Ruth Handler, the woman who invented Barbie (by Robin Gerber )... Did you know that the same woman actually also began the entire Mattel brand?! (I didn’t!) She started it with her husband Elliot and business associate Harold Matson (MATT-son + ELliot = Mattel... she didn’t care to have her name involved, but she was most definitely the powerhouse behind the team).
She was also the youngest of 10 kids, a creative powerhouse and go-getter, and made her femininity work for her (in times where a female executive wasn’t standard). They started the company from the ground up,’ working from their (shared) garage. It later took them 3 years to create and prepare Barbie for sale. Ruth introduced it at the New York Toy Fair of 1959 (in her early 40s), and the doll WASN’T an immediate hit despite her personal faith in it. Of course, we all know the world-wide icon it would become. (The WSJ published an article this last October saying how high sales were, due in part to parents trying to balance screen time with IRL toys amongst quarantine and the pandemic.)
I love Barbies (the nostalgia! the clothes! the accessories! the PINK!) But I didn’t know most of what I learned reading this. For someone starting a company in the craziness of this time period, it was a good reminder that things take time and a lot of hard work. The message I took from it, and in case it serves you too was ‘KEEP GOING’!Â
P.S. Ruth also drove a pink Thunderbird convertible at one point, how cool is THAT?! (few other fun facts I learned while reading in the comments on my @nicoledreamsinpink IG post version of this if you care to enjoy!)
One of my ‘proudest accomplishments’ of 2020 was helping my nieces get the Barbie Dreamhouse (my sisters love me, ha). Last week I found them the smallest dollhouse FOR the dollhouse. As in, a tiny Barbie dollhouse for Barbie to play with. Swipe to see. The cool thing was - the stickers it comes with to decorate feature furniture from back in my day! (I had that pink and green couch!)
Can’t beat nostalgia!Â
Links above for both book and tiny house! Links are commissionable, full discretion! 💖👠💋 Â
#nicolelovesbarbies #barbie
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