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Barbie Doll

The Barbie doll is a fashion doll which first launched in March of the 1959. It was an American creation, although it was inspired by a German doll. The German inspiration in question was known as Bild Lilli. Bild Lilli was based off of a comic strip character known as Lilli.

The inventor of the Barbie doll was a business woman named Ruth Handler. The doll was manufactured by Mattel Inc. This was the company which her husband, Elliot Handler, and a man named Harold "Matt" Matson founded in 1945.

The Barbie doll has been a very integral part of the fashion toy market for fifty years. Even today, Barbie is responsible for over 80% of the Mattel's profits. The company claims that two Barbie dolls are sold every second. The figure has become such a cultural icon that many songs and parody scripts have been written in her name. Andy Warhol even did a painting of Barbie in 1985.

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