Ruth Handler
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| Ruth Handler | |
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| Born | Ruth Mosko Handler November 4, 1916 Denver, Colorado, USA |
| Died | April 27, 2002 (aged 85)[1] Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Cause of death | Complications of surgery for colon cancer |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, inventor, President of Mattel, Inc. |
| Employer | Mattel, Inc. |
| Successor | Robert A. Eckert |
| Spouse | Elliot Handler (m. 1938–2002) |
| Children | Barbara Handler, Josh Handler |
Ruth Handler (November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002) was an American businesswoman, born to Jewish-Polish immigrants Jacob and Ida Moskowicz, the president of the toy manufacturer Mattel Inc., and is remembered primarily for her role in marketing the Barbie doll.
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[edit] The formation of Mattel
Her husband, Elliot Handler and his business partner, Harold "Matt" Matson, formed a small company to manufacture picture frames, calling it "Mattel" by combining part of their names ("Matt" and "Elliot"). Later, they began using scraps from the manufacturing process to make dollhouse furniture. The furniture was more profitable than the picture frames and it was decided to concentrate on toy manufacturing. The company's first big-seller was the "Uke-a-doodle", a toy ukulele.
[edit] Barbie: the beginning
Ruth Handler had noted that her daughter Barbara, who was becoming a pre-teen, preferred playing with her infant paper dolls and giving them adult roles. She wanted to produce a plastic doll with an adult body but her husband and Mr. Matson thought it wouldn't sell. But when the Handlers were on a European trip, Ruth Handler saw the German Bild Lilli doll (which was not meant for children at all; rather a gag gift for adults) in a Swiss shop and brought it home.
Once home, she reworked the design of the doll and re-named her Barbie after her daughter. Barbie debuted at the New York toy fair on March 9, 1959. Barbie became an instant success, rocketing the Handlers and their toy company toward fame and fortune. Subsequently they would add a boyfriend for Barbie named Ken, after Handler's son, and many other "friends and family" to Barbie's world.
[edit] Later years
Handler was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1970. She had a modified radical mastectomy, which was often used at the time to combat the disease, and because of difficulties in finding a good breast prosthesis, she decided to make her own. Handler went on to found a company, Ruthton Corp., formed by her and Peyton Massey, which manufactured a more realistic version of a woman's breast, called "Nearly Me".
Though the Handlers took a more hands-off approach to their company's business practice after resigning, they still kept creating more ideas. One project Handler took on in the 1980s was Barbie and the Rockers. She was credited as a writer of the 1987 film Barbie and the Rockers: Out of this World. Handler was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1997.
She died in California from complications of colon cancer surgery on April 27, 2002, aged 85.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Ruth Handler Papers.Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
- Ruth Handler, Barbie Doll Invention
- Altman, Julie."Ruth Mosko Handler." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. January 5, 2010
