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Ruth Handler watched her daughter Barbara use paper dolls to act out adult futures, such as careers and dates, rather than play mother to baby dolls. After seeing the German Lilli doll in Switzerland in 1956, she pushed a skeptical, all-male Mattel design team to produce an adult-figured fashion doll. Barbie debuted at the 1959 Toy Fair to buyers who largely dismissed it, then became one of the best-selling toys in history.
In 1955 Mattel committed about $500,000, roughly the company's net worth, to sponsor Disney's Mickey Mouse Club for a full year. At the time toys were sold seasonally through retailers and parents. Advertising straight to children made them the source of demand, so products sold year-round and stores had to stock whatever kids asked for by name.
In the early 1970s Mattel reported inflated sales and earnings, including revenue booked on goods not yet sold, to hide losses and meet Wall Street expectations. Ruth Handler was forced out of the company she built. In 1978 she was indicted for securities fraud and pleaded no contest, receiving a fine and 2,500 hours of community service while maintaining she had not known the details.
After her 1970 mastectomy, Handler found that breast prostheses were crude, generic, and sold without regard for how women felt wearing them. She founded Nearly Me and applied the toy business's attention to body proportions and fit. The result was left- and right-specific forms sold in real bra sizes, treating a medical device as a matter of self-image and restored confidence.