I grew up obsessed with Barbie. I had my own child sized pink suitcase I would shove every Barbie and clothing into and carry it around so I could full on play any time there was enough room to spread it out. There are a few well known facts about our plastic pal but did you know that she was created by an engineer who used to work at the Pentagon? According to Mental Floss, Jack Ryan went from making missiles to making the twistable waist and click-click knees Barbie is well known for.
Barbie also was based a sexy gag gift in Germany. The woman who came up with the idea for our version of the doll, Ruth Handler, was traveling in Europe and saw the Bild Lilli doll which was an adult doll you’d give to men as like a “sexy ha-ha” type thing. She thought if you chilled some of that out it could make a really cool girl’s toy. Her husband worked for Mattel took a while to warm up to the idea but eventually was sold. They were later sued by the makers of the German hottie doll and Mattel bought the rights for $21,600. Pretty good deal!
She has a missing sibling!! Apparently along with Skipper, Stacie, Kelly, Chelsea, and Krissy there’s Todd, who we know. But Todd had a twin sister named Tutti! Tutti has mysteriously gone missing… And then Todd and Stacie are also twins? There’s some shadiness going on here.
The original Barbie doll sold for $3 but now is worth nearly $25,000 at auction now! So if you see one at a garage sale snap that baby up!
Find more fun facts HERE!
