Happy 50th Birthday Barbie!

Can you believe that today is this American icon’s 50th birthday?

In honor of it, we’ve found some crazy facts (from Barbie’s official website) about the 11.5 inch-tall, 7.25-ounce doll to remind all of you out there just what kind of an impact Barbie has had on pop culture since her birth on March 9, 1959 at the International Toy Fair in New York:

• Barbie’s real name is Barbie Millicent Roberts

• Barbie is from Willows, Wisconsin.  She attended Willows High School

• Barbie has four sisters: Skipper (1964), Stacie (1992), Kelly (1995) and Krissy (1995)

• Barbie’s first boyfriend, Ken, debuted two years after Barbie in 1961 — Ken was named after the son of Mattel founders Ruth and Elliot Handler and Ken and Barbie broke up on Valentine’s Day in 2004 after being together more than 43 years

• During her first year in stores, about 300,000 Barbies were sold at $3 a pop.

• The average price it would cost you to get one of those original dolls in good condition today: $27,450.

•Three Barbies are sold somewhere every second (and sales total around $1.5 billion a year). So just in the time it took you to read this sentence, about nine dolls were sent on their way home from the toy store.

• The best selling model ever? 1992’s Totally Hair Barbie.

• In her 50 years, Barbie has tried out more than 108 different careers. Among some of the fan favorites: pet doctor, Miss America, and Rock Star.

• The toy has represented 50 nationalities thus far. That’s more than most TV networks can say.

• Due to the fact that its used somewhere around 105 million yards of fabric to outfit Barbie, Mattel is considered one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world.

• Barbie, it seems, spends more time at the “salon,” than most females do: her hair is made up of seven shades of blonde, weaved together to get that token golden look.

• Ninety percent of little girls in the U.S. (ages 3 to 10) own at least one Barbie.
•Still, being a fan of the doll herself isn’t limited by age:

Barbie’s popularity seems to be continuing to grow (there apparently are 1,000 YouTube channels dedicated to the girl and more than 300 Facebook pages in Barbie’s likeness. So today, we toast one of the greatest American icons of all time!

Happy Birthday Barbie!

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