Title: Let's Call Her Barbie by Renee Rosen
Book Beginnings quote:
1956: "Pop Goes the Weasel" is what Ruth hears when she opens the conference room door. She's jet-lagged but refuses to succumb on her first day back from vacation. Too excited to have slept on the plane, she's operating on coffee, cigarettes, and pure adrenaline. She's carrying the foot-long carton that rode on her lap during the flight from Switzerland to Los Angeles and cannot wait to reveal what's inside. Her gut tells her she's on the cusp of something big, but even Ruth Handler can't imagine the Pandora's box she's holding in her hands.
Friday56 quote:
1958: They are waiting the arrival of the next round of prototypes from Tokyo. Someone from the loading dock telephoned reception to say they'd arrived, and they had better be right this time. They've been working on Barbie for two years now.
Summary:
When Ruth Handler walks into the boardroom of the toy company she co-founded and pitches her idea for a doll unlike any other, she knows what she’s setting in motion. It might just take the world a moment to catch up.
In 1956, the only dolls on the market for little girls let them pretend to be mothers. Ruth’s vision for a doll shaped like a grown woman and outfitted in an enviable wardrobe will let them dream they can be anything.
As Ruth assembles her team of creative rebels—head engineer Jack Ryan who hides his deepest secrets behind his genius and designers Charlotte Johnson and Stevie Klein, whose hopes and dreams rest on the success of Barbie’s fashion—she knows they’re working against a ticking clock to get this wild idea off the ground.
In the decades to come—through soaring heights and devastating personal lows, public scandals and private tensions— each of them will have to decide how tightly to hold on to their creation. Because Barbie has never been just a doll—she’s a legacy (Publisher).
Review: I am a huge Barbie fan. When I saw this pink cover on the new books shelf at the library I sntached it up immediately. Then, for some unknown reason, I couldn't make myself read it. It sat on my nightstand for a three full weeks untouched. I had to renew it. When I finally did start it, I felt impatient to get to Barbie herself. I wanted to know about her not about the troubled family life of her inspirational creator, Ruth Handler or the sex life of one of her engineer, Jack Ryan. My impatience was warranted, too, since it took the Mattel Company three years to roll out the first dolls after her inception in 1956. There was a lot to talk about during those creation days, too:
- Just how much engineering went into creating a doll like no other and on such a small scale. The type of plastic that was used had to be invented. Her joints were an engineering feat. They had to figure out how to design her hair so it would stay in and stay stylish. Her boobs -- so many discussions about her boobs. She had to look stylish without looking like a prostitute. Ruth Handler knew what she wanted and Jack Ryan had to make it happen.
- It took ages for them to settle on the name. Ruth's daughter and Jack's wife were both named Barbara so they settled on Barbie.
- Since Barbie was an adult doll for children, she needed stylish clothing scaled to 1/6th the size of humans. Actual fashion designers were hired to create her fashionable wardrobe. Part of the reason Barbie has such a long neck and small waist is clothes for a doll this small would look awful on her if she had regular human proportions. The designers also had to factor in the weight of the cloth, the length of the stitch, and the size of the zippers/buttons/snaps. etc. Many things had to be scaled down and created to make her fashions work.
- Was the public ready for little girls to own a doll who had boobs and wore sophisticated clothes? Ruth Handler thought so but at the first Toy Fair where they rolled Barbie out few retailers ordered the dolls. It took TV advertising during the Mickey Mouse Club for the public (little girls) to start begging their mothers for such a doll. And the rest is history.
- Once Barbie was created the public demanded a boyfriend doll we know as Ken. He was rolled out in 1962 and then a host of other dolls followed. Skipper was created because Ruth Handler was not interested in making Barbie a mother. She wanted Barbie to be a career woman. So instead of creating children for Barbie they created a little sister for her.
- In the 1970s things started going sideways for the company and for Barbie. Ruth and Jack started feuding over who was the creator of the doll, with Jack claiming publically he was the main creator because he was the engineer. His personal life was spiraling, too, with wild partying and probably manic-depression episodes which led to drinking and drugging. His Ruth had a scare with breast cancer due to her heavy smoking. Mattel's Vice President did some creative bookkeeping which got the company into hot water with the SEC and caused to company to push Handler out of her position as President. The book ends as Ruth reinvents herself as a creator of breast prosthetics for women who have had mastectomies.
I really enjoyed the book but had to keep reminding myself that it was a novel, with some make up characters and details about lives that can't be proven. My husband, who was around while I discussed details of the book, was especially critical of the added characters. I had to justify this in terms of moving the story along and allowing the author to highlight aspects of the personalities of the real people through these characters. The author provided a character list, notes, discussion questions, and a bibliography for further reading, which I always find helpful. There were also some black and white photos of the earliest dolls and her outfits. One of the outfits is one I own. Fun!
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| Barbie in her pink satin full length gown and fur stole. |
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| My Barbie family. Notice the pink satin full length gown and fur stole. The Barbie wearing the dress had to get a new head because the old one kept falling off. 😄 |
My rating: 4 stars
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