American businesswoman and inventor ( 1916–2002 )
Ruth Marianna Handler ( née Mosko ; November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002 ) was an american businesswoman and inventor. She served as the president of the dally manufacturer Mattel Inc. In 1959, she invented the Barbie doll, which sold over a billion toys cosmopolitan. She was the founder and president of the united states of the populace ‘s largest miniature company, which at its acme had 18,000 employees and annual sales of over $ 300 million. In 1974, the Handlers were forced to resign from Mattel, and in 1978 Ruth Handler was convicted of false report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. [ 2 ]

early life [edit ]

Handler was born Ruth Marianna Mosko in Denver, Colorado, to Polish-Jewish immigrants Ida Mosko ( née Rubenstein ) and Jacob Mosko. [ 3 ] She married her high school boyfriend, Elliot Handler, and moved to Los Angeles in 1938. [ 4 ] Her husband decided to make their furniture out of two newfound types of plastics, Lucite and Plexiglas. Ruth Handler suggested that he start doing this commercially and they began a furniture clientele. Ruth Handler worked as the sales force for the new business, landing contracts with Douglas Aircraft Company and others. [ 4 ]

formation of Mattel [edit ]

advanced mind [edit ]

Her husband Elliot Handler and his business collaborator Harold “ Matt ” Matson formed a small company to manufacture mental picture frames, calling it “ Mattel ” by combining separate of their names ( “ Matt ” and “ Elliot ” ). late, they began using scraps from the manufacturing process to make dollhouse furniture. The furniture was more profitable than the picture frames and it was decided to concentrate on miniature manufacture. The company ‘s first base big-seller was the “ Uke-a-doodle ”, a toy uke.

Barbie [edit ]

Ruth Handler claimed her daughter Barbara, pre-teen, played with newspaper dolls by pretending they were adults. Handler noticed that in such play, children would act out future events, quite than the show. Handler noted the limitations of the composition dolls, including how the paper clothe failed to attach well. She wanted to produce a cubic fictile “ wallpaper doll ” with an adult body and a wardrobe of framework invest, but her husband and Mr. Matson thought parents would not buy their children a doll with a bosomy figure. While the Handler family was vacationing in Europe, Ruth Handler saw the west german Bild Lilli doll ( which was not a children ‘s toy, but rather an pornographic gag giving ) in a swiss shop and brought it home. The Lilli dame was a representation of the same concept Ruth had been trying to sell to other Mattel executives. This dame was different than the baby-wise dolls the girls would play with during this prison term, and Ruth was inspired. [ 3 ] Up until that point, there was a lack of dolls for girls who were old adequate to comprehend the basic concepts of being a adolescent and adulthood. Barbie aimed to directly fill that col in the industry. once home, she reworked the design of the doll and named her Barbie after the Handlers ‘ daughter, Barbara. [ 5 ] Barbie debuted at the New York toy fair on March 9, 1959, but was not an immediate achiever. When Disney introduced The Mickey Mouse Club children ‘s television prove, Mattel invested heavily in television advertise. The television commercials for the Barbie dame paid off and Barbie rocketed Mattel and the Handlers to fame and fortune. subsequently, they would add a boyfriend for Barbie named Ken, after the Handlers ‘ son, and many other “ friends and family ” to Barbie ‘s earth .

late years [edit ]

Handler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1970. She had a limited extremist mastectomy, which was much used at the time to combat the disease, and because of difficulties in finding a good breast prosthesis, she decided to make her own. With Peyton Massey, Ruth founded, Ruthton Corp., which manufactured a more realistic version of a woman ‘s breast, called “ about Me ”. She personally fitted one for the then first lady, Betty Ford. In 1974, Handler resigned from Mattel after investigations of producing deceitful fiscal reports. [ 6 ] In 1978, Handler was charged with fraud and delusive report to the Securities and Exchange Commission. She pleaded no contest, was fined $ 57,000 and sentenced to 2,500 hours of community service. [ 7 ] She blamed her illness for making her “ unfocused ” on her business. Though the Handlers took a more hands-off overture to their caller ‘s business practice after resigning, they continued to create new ideas. One plan Handler took in the 1980s was Barbie and the Rockers. She was credited as a writer of the 1987 film Barbie and the Rockers: Out of this World. Handler was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1997. Barbie is still active and big in nowadays ‘s young as children around the US adore the set of dolls. Advertisements are still played by channels with a younger audience and the shock Barbie has had is immeasurable. She died in California from complications of operating room for colon cancer on April 27, 2002, aged 85. [ 8 ] Her conserve Elliot died nine years late at the age of 95. Early life and career path Born on November 4, 1916, in Denver, Colorado, Ruth Marianna Mosko married Elliot Handler, who was her senior high school boyfriend. She grew up as separate of a russian Jewish immigrant family, moving to Los Angeles in 1938. once settled in California, Handler pushed her conserve to start their own furniture clientele with Lucite and Plexiglas—two modern plastics of the time. [ 1 ] From this, her career began, acting as her conserve ‘s salesforce, she helped to close a massive cover with Douglas Aircraft to use their formative products and furniture. In 1945, Handler and her husband developed the Mattel Corporation, which would become an highly lucrative plaything business. As her career took shape, she would develop several innovations leading her to capital wealth and achiever. In her late years, Handler developed colon cancer and died on April 27, 2002, at old age 85. Her imagination and success was carried on by her husband. who died in 2011. Inventions and innovative contributions first working with a man named Harold “ Matt ” Matson in 1945, Handler began a occupation from a garage which would become known as Mattel. As her and her conserve let the business take form, they saw big potential in creating dollhouse furniture from erstwhile visualize frame pieces — thus leading them to transition their business model to the seduce of toys entirely. [ 2 ] Handler ’ s first major success with the Mattel company was a dally uke named the “ Uke-a-doodle ” and it would become the first of a long line of musical related miniature products. [ 1 ] subsequently in 1955 after her corporation positioned itself in California, Handler was able to acquire the production rights of the world-renown Mickey Mouse Club merchandise line. This cross-marketing acquisition idea brought her party into the spotlight and would popularize this concept for the miniature companies of today. [ 1 ] It was in 1959 that Handler ’ mho universe of the Barbie doll took human body. Known as “ Barbie ’ s ma ”, Handler stumbled into this estimate when observing her daughter Barbara and her friends playing with composition versions of dolls. Seeing how the current toy lacked a realistic and visually appealing aspect to them, Handler took action to develop a three dimensional version of these dolls — one which would better fuel young girls ’ imagination when at play. On March 9th, 1959, the Barbie doll, a adolescent fashion exemplar toy dog, was created and released at the annual Toy Fair in New York. [ 4 ] Though receiving much agnosticism from its target consumers, as it was unlike any of the pamper and toddler dolls of the prison term, it would become an icon. Entering the Fortune 500 as a wardrobe changeable product, it had an initial value of $ 10 million, equating to approximately $ 60.3 million in 2003 dollars. [ 3 ] A few years later, the boyfriend of the Barbie dame, Ken Doll, was released in 1961. Her product has expanded far over the years, with some dolls appearing as a patrol officer, UNICEF volunteer, astronaut, and others. [ 2 ] While fighting breast cancer in 1970, Handler besides developed a successful prosthetic product which had not been previously thought of. Impact on today

As the Barbie dolls gained popularity, original mint stipulate dolls have now been seen to go for thousands of dollars, some reportedly reaching $ 20,000 or more. What is most important, however, is how Barbie ‘s digit has been viewed over the years and into the salute. As people began to think about the doll ’ randomness figure in real context, controversy surfaced over the unrealisticness of its measurements. Concerns around the possibility of girls creating a false image of themselves became a wide debated topic. Sources: 1. Bellis, M. ( 2020, January 28 ). Biography of Ruth Handler, inventor of Barbie dolls. ThoughtCo. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from hypertext transfer protocol : //www.thoughtco.com/history-of-barbie-dolls-1991344. 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ( n.d. ). Ruth Handler. Lemelson. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from hypertext transfer protocol : //lemelson.mit.edu/resources/ruth-handler. 3. Public Broadcasting Service. ( n.d. ). Who made America ? | innovators | Ruth Handler. PBS. Retrieved December 8, 2021, from hypertext transfer protocol : //www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/handler_hi.html. 4. Ruth Handler. celebrated Women Inventors. ( 2008 ). Retrieved December 8, 2021, from hypertext transfer protocol : //www.women-inventors.com/Ruth-Handler.asp .

References [edit ]

further reading [edit ]

  • Forman-Brunell, Miriam. “Barbie in” LIFE”: The Life of Barbie.” Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 2.3 (2009): 303-311. online
  • Gerber, Robin. Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her. Harper/Collins, 2008.
  • Weissman, Kristin Noelle. Barbie: The Icon, the Image, the Ideal: An Analytical Interpretation of the Barbie Doll in Popular Culture (1999).
  • Wepman, Dennis. “Handler, Ruth” American National Biography (2000) online