Fascinating Nouns Ep. 255: The

Since the 50’s, no woman has captured the attention of little girls everywhere quite like Barbie. Sure she is only 11 inches tall and made of plastic, but influence is global. This week I talk with M. G. Lord, one of the foremost experts on his iconic fashion doll. When it comes to her history, she definitely has some interesting nuggets most people don’t know about. We start with the complete theft of the Bild Lilli doll, and go through the conviction of Ruth Handler, Mattel’s co-founder. We also discuss Harold Matson, who literally put the “Matt” in Mattel, but got cold feet and sold his shares of the company a few weeks after founding. Then of course we cover Barbie as a fertility god, why she has such odd proportions, and how Disney played a part in her meteoric rise.