Barbie is the most popular fashion doll ever produced and the No. 1 fashion doll property. A Barbie Dreamhouse is sold every two minutes and was first introduced in 1962. Barbie is the most diverse fashion doll on the market. More than 100 dolls are sold every minute.

Mattel, Inc. Barbie, in full Barbara Millicent Roberts, an 11-inch- (29-cm-) tall plastic doll with the figure of an adult woman that was introduced on March 9, 1959, by Mattel, Inc., a southern California toy company.

fashion doll Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy company Mattel and launched in 1959. The toy is the figurehead of the Barbie brand that includes a range of fashion dolls and accessories.

As she grew in popularity, Barbie became more than just a children's toy: She emerged from her plastic wrappings to become a powerful symbol of womanhood for the girls who played with her, just as Handler intended.

Over the years, Barbie dolls have developed to comprise a complex – but more stable – chemical cocktail comprising ethylene vinyl acetate arms, acyrylonitrile butadiene styrene torsos, heads of a hard vinyl compound, and outer legs in PVC, although using a different formula from the earlier dolls.

Barbie was founded in 1959 by Ruth Handler (above, left), a mother and visionary entrepreneur, whose inspiration for Barbie came from watching her daughter project her dreams and aspirations onto paper dolls.

Mattel. Mattel, which is responsible for a number of toy brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price, is one of the world's largest toy companies.

Barbie, formally known as “Barbara Millicent Roberts,” was born in 1959, which would technically make her 63 years old - except for the small fact that she was born as a 19-year-old. Yep, that's right: The first ever Barbie was officially 19 years old, which would make her age closer to 82-83 years old.

Over the years, Barbie dolls have developed to comprise a complex – but more stable – chemical cocktail comprising ethylene vinyl acetate arms, acyrylonitrile butadiene styrene torsos, heads of a hard vinyl compound, and outer legs in PVC, although using a different formula from the earlier dolls.

Totally Hair” Barbie Among the iterations of the iconic doll is “Totally Hair” Barbie, which, according to the Guinness World Records, is Mattel's bestselling Barbie doll to date. According to the company, the “Totally Hair” Barbie, released in 1992, sold more than 10 million dolls worldwide.

No other doll in American history is more famous than Barbie, whose full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. She is what every girl wanted to have as a child.

Barbie's first job was as a fashion model. Since then the doll has had more than 250 careers. And true to Ruth Handler's desire to inspire young girls, Barbie has often been way ahead of her times. In 1965, some 13 years before women were admitted to the astronaut corps at NASA, Mattel introduced an astronaut Barbie.

Mattel shut down its last U.S. factory - in Murray, Ky. - in 2001. Barbie, Hot Wheels and other Mattel toys are now made in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand. It's a familiar narrative.