Tree March Iowa Barbie

On this day in 1959, Mattel's Barbie doll, created by Ruth
Handler, made its public debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York. After an initially positive response, some critics claimed that the doll's measurements were...unrealistic (Somebody did the math and calculated that if the original Barbie were life-sized, her measurements would have been 39"-18"-33"). Hander countered that she thought it "was important to a girl's esteem that she plays with a doll with breasts.” Less well known is the fact that Handler herself was diagnosed with breast cancer eleven years after Barbie’s debut...