Barbie is celebrating her 50th Birthday!

Ruth Handler created Barbie after being inspired by her younger daughter Barbara.  Noticing that her daughter had a fascination with teen life and fashion she came up with “Barbie”.

The first Barbie was sold in 1959 for $3; her real name is Barbie Millicent Roberts.  Barbie has held over 108 inspirational careers and her first boyfriend Ken created in 1961 has not slowed her down.  She has been a busy lil’ lady, she has been a candidate for president 4 times in her 50 years, she has never been married or pregnant!  Pregnant Barbie was really her friend Midge and she has never really been married but she likes to try the dresses on it makes her feel pretty.

It takes Mattel 105 million yards of fabric to make all the fashions for Barbie and her friends, this makes Mattel the largest clothing manufacture in the world!  Lots of young girls own Barbies they run on average $20-30 and today the average number of Barbies owned by girls in the U.S. ages 3-6 is 12.

 The first Barbie was wearing a striped swim suit and heels with her trademark ponytail, the 50th anniversary Barbie is decked out in her evening gown and looks ready for a red carpet.

There has been a recent release of a new Barbie she has tattoos and seems to be causing quit and up-roar!  The current price of a mint condition original Barbie is $27,450! I wonder what the value of tattoo Barbie will be after they pull it from the shelves.

For more information and fun facts on Barbie go to Barbie.com