Who Are Barbie and Ken in Real Life?
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has broken the world record at box office opening for a film directed by a female. The film’s inspiration couldn’t be separated from the iconic doll, Barbie, created by Mattel, Barbie’s parent company, in 1959. Barbie is the world’s most recognizable toy, and this doll, like all other great inventions in human history, was inspired by a real girl, who loved dolls.
When Barbara Segal was 15, she and her family took a trip to Europe. She spotted a doll in Lucerne and immediately became obsessed with it. “It was an adult, figurative doll, sort of a sculptural thing, I guess. It was more like a paper doll but in plastic. In those days, it was Madame Alexander dolls, baby dolls, and paper dolls. I only liked paper dolls. You could change the clothes, playact…I was going crazy because I wanted different clothes for it, and they didn’t sell the clothes separately. You had to buy a different doll every time you wanted a different outfit,” said Barbara.
Did Barbie Look Like Barbara?
Ruth Handler, Barbara’s mother, and the co-founder of the innovative toy company, Mattel, became fascinated by her daughter’s new obsession with dolls and eventually came up with the idea of creating dolls with separate clothes.
The Barbie doll was launched two years later and was named after Barbara. However, the doll wasn’t molded to look like her, which was a common misconception. The doll was modeled after Bild Lilli, a glamorous woman doll once sold as an adult novelty. On the same trip to Europe, Ruth Handler bought and studied them for inspiration.
Who Inspired Ken?
Ken, who many people would regard as Barbie’s boyfriend, and was assumed to be Barbara’s boyfriend or husband, was actually named after her brother, Kenneth. In an interview with the New York Times, Segall cleared that out, “my brother—he was the Ken. And people think that was my boyfriend or husband. I’m sure it was awkward for him, too. Just having a doll named after you, people make a big deal. It was a bit different.”
