Have you ever wondered, who invented Barbie? Meet the Ruth Handler; the mother of Barbie

The new Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the Mattel plastic dolls is out now. It’s the most anticipated movie of the year - well that and Oppenheimer which is also released today. 

The endless list of actors starring in the film - including America Ferrara, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Simu Liu and Dua Lipa - is set to be a huge success in the Box Office. Barbieore and Barbie-mania has hit us hard with an explosion of pink brand collaborations, hello Zara x Barbie Collection and pink aesthetic is pretty much everywhere.  

Sales of dolls and accessories are predicted to increase by 16 percent by 2026, compared to 2022 according to WWD and This is Money reported Mattel shares surging by 22 percent. 

Who invented Barbie? 

But have you ever stopped and wondered who invented Barbie? Meet American businesswoman Ruth Handler. She was born in Denver Colorado in 1916  to Polish-Jewish immigrants Jacob Moskowicz, a blacksmith, and Ida Moskowicz.

Ruth is best known for inventing the doll in 1959 and being the mother of Barbie. Ruth was the first president of toy manufacturer Mattel which she co-founded with her husband designer and engineer Elliot Handler in 1945. 

The business woman married her high-school boyfriend Elliot in 1938. The couple moved to Los Angeles and she worked for Paramount before founding Mattel. The couple had two children. Their company originally manufactured furniture but due to a drop in sales after World War II, Ruth suggested they should focus solely on toys. 

How did Ruth Handler come up with the idea for the Barbie Doll? 

There are two theories for how Ruth came up with the idea behind the Barbie doll. The first was that whilst visiting Europe she came across a German doll Bild Lilli that looked more like a real life woman than a baby doll that most kids played with. 

The theory was that her daughter was playing with paper dolls at home which then led to her being inspired and inventing the 3D version. Neither stories have been confirmed or denied. Sadly Ruth passed away in 2002 so we may never know how she truly came up with the idea. 

Where did the Barbie name come from? 

The inspiration for the name Barbie was simple - she  named the doll after her daughter Barbara. Sweet until you realise that Ruth also had a son named Kenneth and named the Ken doll after her son. 

Wait, does that mean Barbie and Ken are actually brother and sister? No, The Time reported that after the success of Barbie fans were desperate for Barbie to have a boyfriend, so Ken (named for Handler's son) was introduced in 1961.