The Barbie doll has had a belly button since 2000. In 1959, the doll was created by Ruth Handler, who with her husband Eliot Handler went on to co-found the Mattel toy manufacturing company. The original Barbie was the first adult-proportioned doll and was modeled after the glamorous image of Hollywood actresses of the 1950s, with either brunette or blonde hair, red pursed lips and highly arched eyebrows but no belly button. The design was updated in 1971 to give Barbie bright blonde hair, whiter teeth and tanner skin, but the body was not altered to include a belly button. In 1997, after complaints about the unrealistic proportions of Barbie’s figure, the doll’s waist was widened, and in 2000, a belly button was added.
More about Barbie:
- The Mattel Company estimates that about 90% of American girls age 3-10 own at least one Barbie doll.
- The Barbie doll has been released with more than 100 professions, including fashion designer, astronaut, solider, hip-hop singer and US presidential candidate.
- If every Barbie doll ever sold was laid head to toe, they would circle the Earth about seven times.