The tragic and redeeming story of how one visionary woman built the biggest toy company in the world and created a global icon. Barbie and Ruth is the entwined story of two exceptional women. There's Barbie: the diminutive yet arrestingly voluptuous doll unveiled at the 1959 Toy Fair who became the treasure of 90 percent of American girls and their counterparts in 150 countries. She went on to compete as an Olympic athlete, serve as an air force pilot, work as a boutique owner, run as a presidential candidate, and ignite a cultural firestorm. And then there's Ruth Handler, Barbie's creator: the tenth child of Polish Jewish immigrants, a passionately competitive and creative business pioneer, and a mother and wife who wanted it all. After a business scandal that forced Ruth out of Mattel, the company she founded, she drew on her experience as a breast cancer survivor to start a business that changed women's lives. She was ultimately honored as a pioneer, humanitarian, and masterful entrepreneur. Based on original research, extensive interviews, and previously unavailable material, Barbie and Ruth tells the fascinating story of how two women forever changed American business and culture.
The tragic and redeeming story of how one visionary woman, Ruth Handler, built the biggest toy company in the world and created a global icon.
The author recounts how she and her husband founded the Mattel Toy company, discusses her bout with breast cancer, and describes the breast prosthesis company she subsequently started
Follow the story of Handler's early work with her husband Elliott making and selling plastic products, their collaboration with Harold Matson to form Mattel, Handler's inspiration for a new kind of doll, and the company's introduction of ...
Barbie i Ruth
In this biography, readers will learn about the developer of the Barbie doll, Ruth Handler. Readers will follow Barbie's evolution through the decades as Handler continuously reinvented Barbie to appeal to new generations.
Barbie Forever: Her Inspiration, History, and Legacy presents a detailed, fully authorized portrait of this beloved doll through all-new interviews, original sketches, vintage photos, advertisements, and much more—including a foreword by ...
Beautifully illustrated biography of Ruth Handler, from childhood to adulthood, the creator of Barbie with intent "to inspire little girls to use their big imaginations and big dreams about their futures".
Follow the story of Handler's early work with her husband Elliott, their collaboration with Harold Matson to form Mattel, and the company's introduction of Barbie in 1959. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.
Originally published: New York: William Morrow & Co, c1994.
Examines the history of Barbie, describes how the Mattel co-founder used a German doll for the model of the original doll, and discusses the evolution of the doll over the years.