Barbie Doll: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

In 1959, the Mattel toy company introduced Barbie. Unlike most dolls at the time, Barbie was a grown-up-a "teenage fashion model" who could date, drive, and wear fabulous clothes.

While often criticized for her unrealistic physical proportions and for promoting gender stereotypes, Barbie has also evolved with the times. Since the 1980s she has taken on many new careers, from police officer to paleontologist. She even ran for president.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1958
• copyright holder: Mattel, Inc.
• maker: Mattel, Inc.
• originator: Handler, Ruth
• Object Name: Doll
• Object Type: toys
• Object Type: dolls
• Physical Description: vinyl (doll material)
• Physical Description: cotton (doll bathing suit material)
• Physical Description: synthetic fibers (doll hair material)
• Measurements: overall: 28 cm x 8.4 cm; 11 in x 3 5/16 in
• used: United States: Minnesota, New Ulm
• used by: Children
• classified: Toys
• ID Number: 2006.0168.01
• accession number: 2006.0168
• catalog number: 2006.0168.01
• model number: 850
• Credit Line: Gift of Paula Johnson
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.