Cartoon became so popular that Lilli dolls were made. The design eventually inspired Barbie
70 years ago, a German tabloid created the Lilli doll, a men’s fantasy figure based on a comic book character, which eventually inspired another iconic doll – Barbie.
Needing to fill a space in the first edition of the German Tabloid Bild in 1952, Cartoonist Reinhard Beuthien created Lilli, a sensual character invented to attract male readers.
Lilli’s thought -provoking comic adventures were Like scenes of an erotic movie: Sometimes he talked about a truck driver who “helped” her when his car advanced, leaving his dress covered with oily hands.
On another occasion, she provokes a police on a beach where two-piece bath facts are forbidden, asking her: “What part should I take?”
Who would say that a version of this sexualized caricature, with its full breasts and red lips, would be a present day in the lives of millions of children?
But when Lilli became a doll, in August 1955 – known as Bild Lilli -,, Early on inspired the creation of Barbiethe best selling “fashion” toy in the world.
Sexist object once considered “sassy” and “independent”
According to Bild editor Axel Springer, Lilli was a “sassy secretary”. But several sources interpret it more like a call girl or luxury escort.
Whether secretary or prostitute, one thing is certain: Lilli was not conceived as a children’s toy. With its north -hogged curves, high and blond ponytail and high heels, the Lilli’s aesthetics was closer to that of a pun-up girl.
Today, critics would say that Lilli is portrayed purely as an object of desire created to quench the male look. Even so, Bild still describes it as “Dare, sexy, independent!”
Lilli quickly became so popular among the predominantly male public of the newspaper that the Bild a transformed into a plastic doll in 1953. It was, allegedly, a popular gift among men, including for single farewells, and was sold in tobaccolaries, bars and kiosks.
Between 1955 and 1964, Bild sold about 130,000 Lillis with various clothes and accessories that also attracted the female audience. Lilli quickly became a bestseller, even beyond Germany’s borders.
Mattel leader transforms Lilli into Barbie
Maybe Lilli, with little clothes, was still stamping the pages of Bild newspaper, Not were Ruth Handler.
Handler, co -founder of the toy company Mattel, discovered Lilli by chance at a showcase during a vacation in Lucerne, Switzerland in 1956; She and her daughter, Barbara, were delighted.
Handler Sent several Lillis to Los Angeles. In 1959, Barbie – baptized in honor of Handler’s daughter, Barbara, and inspired by Lilli – was released and since then, sold more than a billion. Mattel acquired the rights of the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and interrupted its production.
Since then, Barbie has been a dominant presence in the children’s rooms around the world and was the Inspiration for one of the most box office movies always.
And what happened to Lilli? THE Original comic band ended in 1961after the “sassy and independent” secretary was married to her boyfriend Peter and missing forever.
