Toys'R'Us Celebrates Barbie(R) Doll's 50th Anniversary



Toys ‘R’ Us are having a Barbie sale - “50 Years of Pink”. Genuine bargains on offer with some items more than 50% off.


Barbie facts and figures
→She was born Barbara Millicent Roberts.

→Barbie is 11½ inches tall.

→If Barbie were 5 feet, 6 inches tall, she would have a 39-inch bust, a 21-inch waist and 33-inch hips.

→Mattel estimates that three Barbies are sold every second.

→Barbie has had more than 1 billion pairs of shoes.

→Barbie dolls were sealed in a time capsule in 1976 as part of the bicentennial celebration to be opened in 2076.

→In 1986, Andy Warhol was commissioned to paint a portrait of Barbie.

Yesterday, in celebration of Barbie's 50th birthday, we asked readers in NJ.com's parenting forum whether they ever abused their Barbie dolls.

The forum members, a rowdy bunch, had some charming memories "I used to stick pins in her ears so she could have ear-rings--poor thing,'' wrote "Counselor Pat.''

"I played nice...but my youngest (child) had a few bungee jumping Barbies,'' said "Macy88.''

Most of the readers in the forum weren't as sadistic--not intentionally, at least.

"I didn't like her curly bangs so I cut them so that they would grow in straighter. What did I know? I was 9!'' remembered "Snaginc.''

Others lovingly recounted their Barbie collections, or the pain of having to part with Barbies once they were outgrown. A forum member whose screen name is "Raymondswife'' urged her six-year-old daughter to "purge'' her collection of naked Barbies for $5 at a garage sale.

"A woman bought it (the bag) and as she walked up the block my daughter cried real tears...I asked her why she let me do it, her answer was that she never thought anyone would actually buy them! She still gives me guilt over that,'' said "Raymond'sWife."

Another forum member told her daugthers that some day, the 200 naked Barbies in the attic would return to haunt them.

"I used to tell my girls that one night all those Barbies would come marching down the stairs and demand to have their hair brushed an their clothes put on,'' she said "arearesdent.''

Toys'R'Us Celebrates Barbie(R) Doll's 50th Anniversary



Toys ‘R’ Us are having a Barbie sale - “50 Years of Pink”. Genuine bargains on offer with some items more than 50% off.

Barbie looks pretty good, for a woman of a certain age. The ever-lithe dame with missile breasts turns 50 next year, and she still turns heads: every second at least three of these dolls are sold, bringing in $3.6 billion annually in retail sales. To wit:


No doll outshines Barbie’s celebrity. If all the Barbies and her family members—Skipper, Francie and the rest—sold since 1959 were placed head to toe, they would circle the Earth more than seven times.