Ruth Marianna Handler ( Mosko; November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002) was an American businesswoman and inventor. Best known for inventing the Barbie doll in 1959, she served as the first president of toy manufacturer Mattel, Inc., which she co-founded with her husband in January 1945 until 1974 when the Handlers were forced to resign from Mattel, and in 1978 Ruth Handler was convicted of false reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Early life

Handler was born Ruth Marianna Mosko in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, to Polish-Jewish immigrants Ida Mosko (née Rubenstein) and Jacob Mosko. She married her high school boyfriend,

Elliot Handler Elliot Handler (April 9, 1916 – July 21, 2011) was an American inventor, businessman, and co-founder of Mattel. With his wife, Ruth Handler, he developed some of the biggest-selling toys in American history, including Barbie, Chatty Cathy ...

, and moved to Los Angeles in 1938. Her husband decided to make their furniture out of two newfound types of plastics,

Lucite Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...

and

Plexiglas Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...

. Ruth Handler suggested that he start doing this commercially and they began a furniture business. Ruth Handler worked as the sales force for the new business, landing contracts with Douglas Aircraft Company and others.

Formation of Mattel

Origin

As Ruth continued with her job at Paramount, Elliot tried his hand at a hobby of furniture making. With her husband's successful usage of two new plastics (Lucite and Plexiglas) in the making of various pieces of furniture, Ruth saw the potential for an entrepreneurial endeavor. With him as the brains behind the design and her as the sales force, the two created Mattel, combining Elliot's first name with that of their newfound partner, Harold "Matt" Matson. Following a dry spell within the furniture making industry, the Handlers began a stint within the plastic toy furniture manufacturer during World War II. With their newfound success, Ruth and Elliott believed that Mattel had the potential to move in a different direction.

Barbie

Two stories are often cited as Handler's inspiration for the Barbie doll. The first details a trip to Europe with her husband and children, during which she saw a doll that looked like a woman (which was vastly different from the typical baby dolls that many girls owned at the time). The other discusses a singular moment, in which Ruth witnessed her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls in their home. Afterwards, Handler wanted to create a more realistic, 3D toy that represented what these girls "wanted to be". While the timeline of/truth behind these stories has never been fully confirmed, Ruth pushed Mattel for the release of what was to be known as the Barbie doll (named after her daughter Barbara). Premiering at the American Toy Fair in New York City on March 9, 1959, Barbie was an instant success. Girls clamored for the doll, and Mattel sold 351,000 dolls within their first year. Ruth even negotiated a deal for the dolls to be advertised as the sole sponsors of the Mickey Mouse Club, and Barbie was the first toy to successfully be advertised directly to children. Soon after, they would add a boyfriend for Barbie named Ken, after the Handlers' son, and many other characters that would complete Barbie's world. While Barbie has faced its fair share of controversy over the years, having to do with everything from the doll's “questionable intelligence” and hourglass physique to the introduction of the Ken doll in the 1960s as her "handsome steady,” Barbie's allure has rarely faded, and today, Mattel has sold over 1

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i. ...

dolls, all with a series of personas from astronaut to businesswoman to

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

volunteer and beyond. In addition to the success of its dolls, Barbie has become a corporation, spanning a series of movies, TV shows, video games, celebrity collaborations, and essentially finding success in almost any form of media.

Later years

Handler was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

in 1970. To combat this, she had a modified radical

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...

, which was often used at the time to combat the disease. Due to difficulties in finding a good breast prosthesis, Handler decided to make her own. With the help of new business partner Peyton Massey, and under her new company Ruthton Corp., Handler manufactured a more realistic version of a woman's breast, called "Nearly Me". This invention became quite popular, and then-first lady

Betty Ford Elizabeth Anne Ford (; formerly Warren; April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011) was the first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977, as the wife of President Gerald Ford. As first lady, she was active in social policy and set a precedent as a p ...

was personally fitted for one. Following the success of Ruthton Corp. and several investigations of producing fraudulent financial reports, Handler resigned from Mattel in 1974. Investigations did continue after her resignation, and, in 1978, Handler was charged with fraud and false reporting to the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

. She pleaded

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

, and was fined US$57,000 and sentenced to 2,500 hours of community service. She blamed her illness for making her "unfocused" on her business. Handler died in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from complications of surgery for colon cancer on April 27, 2002, aged 85. Her husband Elliot died nine years later at the age of 95.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Handler, Ruth 1916 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American inventors American chief executives of manufacturing companies American inventors American people of Polish-Jewish descent American retail chief executives American toy industry businesspeople American women chief executives Barbie Businesspeople from Denver Businesspeople from Los Angeles Mattel people Toy inventors Women inventors Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery