Barbie Facts and Figures - Flash Back Friday

This is the year of Barbie.  If you haven't noticed, she is everywhere celebrating her 50th birthday in style.  She had a runway show for fashion week, she had her dream house decorated by Jonathon Adler, she has a facebook page, and she is on twitter (natch). 

We've pulled together some Barbie facts from The Cincinnati Enquirer and About.com's libarary on collecting  dolls.

• Barbie's full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. She was named after Barbara Handler, the daughter of Mattel founders Ruth and Elliott Handler.
• Barbie is from Willows, Wis. She attended Willows High.
• Barbie has four sisters: Skipper (1964), Stacie (1992), Kelly (1995) and Krissy (1995).
• Barbie stands 11½ inches tall and weighs 7¼ ounces.
• Barbie has never been married or pregnant, but her best friend Midge has.
• Barbie is the No. 1 doll property in the United States: 90 percent of U.S. girls ages 3-10 own at least one Barbie doll
• Barbie has had more than 80 careers -- everything from a rock star to a paleontologist to a presidential candidate.
• Summit Barbie dolls were introduced in the 1980s to commemorate the end of the cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
• The military series of Barbie dolls, Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps went through approvals by the Pentagon to ensure the most realistic costumes.
• The best selling Barbie doll ever was Totally Hair Barbie, with hair from the top of her head to her toes.
• In 2000, Barbie doll has a belly button for the first time.

And if you want to see what Barbie might look like if she let herself go, here it is:

This was part of an ad campaign to encourage kids to be more active.  There are also images of fat super heroes and pirates.  But, as we all know, Barbie works out....

Have a great weekend!
--Laura McMullan