NOVEMBER 4

On this date in 1916, Ruth Handler was born.  Never heard of her?  Check this out.

Elliot Handler, her husband, and his partner Matt Matson formed a company to make and sell picture frames.  They eventually began using the leftover scraps of wood to make dollhouse furniture.  It turned out the doll furniture made them more money than the picture frames so they concentrated on toys.

Ruth and Elliot had a daughter names Barbara.  When Barbara was a preteen she often played with paper dolls which were so popular in the 1940's and 50's.  Ruth noticed that she liked to sometimes pretend that the dolls were actually adults.  She asked her husband if he could make a doll that looked like an adult.

Do you have the picture?  Elliot and Matt used the first part of their names to create their company name: Mattel.  The adult doll they eventually made and introduced in 1959 was named Barbie after their daughter. The rest is well known history.
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