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Barbara Millicent Roberts, more famously known as Barbie, is an icon in pink.

Sixty-four years old, 11.5 inches tall, and with 250+ careers and counting, Barbie continues to live a fantastic life in plastic. The little doll who conquered the world has a pretty interesting history – here are some facts about her, each followed by a question to test or further your knowledge.

1. Barbie's origin

Born to Polish-Jewish immigrants, American entrepreneur and inventor Ruth Handler created Barbie, inspired by her daughter Barbara (Barbie’s boyfriend Ken would later be named for Ruth’s son, Kenneth). Ruth noticed toys marketed to girls were mostly baby dolls, where toys for Kenneth encouraged many diverse roles and careers. The only ‘grown-up’ fashion dolls available were made of paper - and so Barbie was born in the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin, USA, with the intention of showing Barbara and other children what their future selves could aspire to.

2. Barbie put the world out of pink

You might have heard that there’s a worldwide pink paint shortage, and while production on Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film didn’t cause it, it contributed. Set designers cleaned out Rosco scenic paint’s supply of pink during a global chain shortage (caused by Covid-19 among other things) and had just enough for the sets to go ahead. And Gerwig certainly did her homework: the first glimpse of Margot Robbie as Barbie released to the world showed her wearing a black-and-white swimming costume, red lipstick and retro curls in a pony tail. This was Barbie’s first ever outfit, with no pink in sight - the colour wouldn’t become the doll’s signature until much later.

3. The largest fashion empire on Earth

Barbie has worked with the most fashion designers of any toy brand. Barbie’s first collaboration was in 1985 with Oscar de la Renta, who created a series of jewel-toned dresses fit for the miniature runway. This was the first of many partnerships to come, and she’s always had celebrity friends, too: in 1967, supermodel Twiggy became the first celebrity Barbie doll, and other celebrity Barbies include Cher, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis and Zendaya.

4. A (sort of) living time capsule

Barbie has become an ongoing historical resource, reflecting fashions and cultural landscapes. Miss Astronaut Barbie was released during the Space Race in 1965, four years before Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. Barbie campaigned for equal rights in support of her oldest friend Christie, the first African-American Barbie released in 1968. The big hair craze of the early ’90s prompted Mattel to create the first Barbie with hair that goes all the way to her feet, sporting bold prints and loud colours.

However, not all Barbies are received with open arms. Mattel released the highschooler Teen Talk Barbie in 1992, whose button-activated voicebox phrase “Math class is tough” sparked controversy among the US National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, who worried about the doll’s impact on discouraging girls away from maths. This controversy even inspired a Simpsons episode in which Lisa Simpson teamed up with the creator of Malibu Stacy (based on ’70s Malibu Barbie, the first smiling surfer Barbie) to create a more progressive talking doll to girls.

5. They’ve had break-ups and shake-ups but they always make up

Speaking of public relations, did you know power couple Barbie and Ken once broke up? That’s right - Barbie felt it was time she and Ken spent “time apart” and separated from him on Valentine’s Day in 2004. Ken returned with a glow up in 2006, made over as a brunette by Hollywood stylist Philip Bloch. After Barbie had a brief fling with Blaine Gordon, a boogie-boarding doll from Australia, she and Ken reunited in 2011. We’re sure it had nothing to do with Ken’s starring role in Toy Story 3 the year before.

This article was published in July 2023