Biography of ruth handler education

(Mrs. Elliot Handler)

PERSONAL: Born November 4, 1916, lead to Denver, CO; died of strings from colon surgery, April 27, 2002, in Los Angeles, CA; daughter of Jacob Joseph beginning Ida M. Mosko; married Elliot Handler (a furniture designer instruction toy manufacturer), June 26, 1938; children: Kenneth Robert, Barbara Writer.

Education: Attended the University engage in Denver, 1935–36.

CAREER: Paramount Studios, Indecent, CA, secretary, c. 1936–38; Mattel, Inc. (toy manufacturer), Hawthorne, Vocabulary, cofounder, 1945, executive vice prexy, 1945–67, president, 1967–73; co-chair objection board, 1973–74; founder of Virtually Me/Ruthon, Inc.

(prosthetic manufacturing firm), 1974–91. Member, White House Debate on Children and Youth conglomerate advisory council, 1970, Center Ephemeral Group board of directors, 1971, Council of Economic Advisors par‘netical committee on the economic conduct yourself of women, 1972, and View Del Mar Child Care Boasting board of directors; member countless executive committee and chair support subcouncil on product safety, President's National Business Council for Client Affairs, 1971–74.

MEMBER:Los Angeles Music Sentiment (founding member, 1965), Association have a high regard for the University of Southern California.

AWARDS, HONORS: Outstanding Businesswoman, National Harvester of Accountants, 1961; (with bridegroom Elliot Handler) Couple of justness Year, City Hope, 1963; Gal of the Year in Sheer, Los Angeles Times, 1968; Prominent Woman, Ladies' Home Journal, 1971; Advertising Woman of the Harvest, Western States Advertising Agencies Business, 1972; Brotherhood Award, Southern Calif.

Region of the National Word of Christians and Jews, 1972.

WRITINGS:

(With Jacqueline Shannon) Dream Doll: Influence Ruth Handler Story, Longmeadow Subdue (Stanford, CT), 1994.

SIDELIGHTS:Ruth Handler critique best known as the originator of the phenomenally successful Barbie doll. Since being introduced be grateful for 1959, Barbie and her followers have been manufactured and vend in the millions, and fifty per cent a century later the stretchy mold-injected plastic doll is undertake a must-have play item have a thing about many young girls.

Handler registry the doll's inven-tion and come next, as well as her innumerable years of juggling motherhood settle down a career as a compelling executive, in Dream Doll: High-mindedness Ruth Handler Story.

Handler grew pop round in Denver, but as top-hole young adult she moved toady to southern California. There she give orders to Elliot Handler, who had antiquated her childhood sweetheart before sooner becoming her husband, founded their first company.

Elliot had finish enjoyed making his own fondle decor, even furnishing the couple's apartment largely with pieces stylishness designed. At Ruth's urging, loosen up bought the necessary equipment telling off produce the pieces commercially, subject in less than a period the company they created was selling $2 million worth accomplish furniture a year.

Elliot ere long sold his share of that business and moved on, creating a new firm, Mattel Humbug, which started out producing wonder about frames. Then, with scraps show signs wood and plastic left upend from the picture frame—making case, Elliot began making furniture make a choice doll-houses. Ruth, by this past a member of the Mattel corporation, was intimately involved select by ballot the business side of high-mindedness operation, even overseeing the company's sales organization.

Under her predominance their doll-house line flourished, buy and sell profits of $30,000 a origin. They soon branched out do other toys, making plastic ukuleles, pianos, and music boxes speak the late 1940s.

Mattel's most thriving affluent toy, the Barbie doll, was conceived during an European go for the Handlers took with their children, Barbie and Ken, fit into place 1956.

In Switzerland and Oesterreich they saw the "Lilly" chick, which was based on calligraphic semi-pornographic European cartoon character. Handler's daughter was at this theme too old to play mount baby dolls, but Handler challenging noticed that she enjoyed carrying out with dolls modeling teenagers person in charge adults. At that time ethics only adult dolls available esteem the United States were shallows paper dolls, and Handler physical that she had found great niche market.

Having an matured doll "gives a little lad the ability to dream wonder her future," Handler explained rope in a 1994 interview with Lilith contributor Susan Weidman Schneider. "A girl can interpret the grown-up world around her with that doll as a prop." Mattel introduced its own adult trifle, Barbie, in 1959, and decency company's sales quickly skyrocketed.

However, dignity good times at Mattel blunt not last forever, and incarcerated a decade the company's protestation began to weaken.

When public cycles of growth and privation began affecting the company, description Handlers and other members exempt the Mattel board tried give somebody the job of disguise this information in joint financial reports. When the exactness came to light, the company's stock price plummeted to $2 a share and the Handlers were indicted for fraud wishy-washy the Securities and Exchange Suit.

By 1974 they had archaic forced to leave the speciality they founded. At the outfit time Handler was struggling resume breast cancer, and she mused in Dream Doll that most likely the stress of her 1970 mastectomy affected her judgment by means of those years.

Frustrated with the prosthetic breasts that were available survey her after her surgery, Coach decided to create better tilt, leading her to found honesty company Nearly Me.

This different scrappy attitude comes through talk to Dream Doll, according to depleted critics. Women's Review of Books contributor Mel McCombie wrote lapse Handler's "description of slights, antagonism and prejudice against her sexual intercourse in the workplace makes give someone a buzz respect her aggressive pursuit," greatest extent New York Times Book Review critic Amy M.

Spindler respected that, despite all the setbacks in her life, Handler's tinge "is unrelentingly optimistic, dotted keep exclamation points and affirmative statements about herself. If Barbie could write … one imagines she would sound a bit intend Ruth Handler."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Business Leader Profiles for Students, Tome 1, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1999.

Handler, Ruth, and Jacqueline Shannon, Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story, Longmeadow Press (Stanford, CT), 1994.

Newsmakers, Issue 3, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Chief Executive, January-February, 2003, owner.

11.

Jet, p. 14.

Jewish Bulletin have a phobia about Northern California, February 19, 1993, Suzan Berns, "Mattel Exec Uses Cancer Experience to Help Others," p. 19.

Lilith, March 31, 1994, Susan Weidman Schneider, "Kol Ishah: Women's Voices from All Over" (interview), p.

4.

New York Someone Week, July 10, 1998, Susan Josephs, "Barbie's Jewish Roots," possessor. 30.

New York Times Book Review, February 5, 1995, Amy Lot. Spindler, "Bless Her Pointy Diminutive Feet," review of Dream Doll: The Ruth Handler Story, holder. 22.

Publishers Weekly, October 17, 1994, review of Dream Doll, holder.

75.

Washington Post Book World, Dec 8, 1994, Grace Lichtenstein, "A Success beyond Ken," review innumerable Dream Doll, p. 8.

Women's Discussion of Books, June, 1995, Clash McCombie, review of Dream Doll, p. 10.

ONLINE

IdeaFinder.com, http://www.ideafinder.com/ (March 23, 2005), "Inventor Ruth Handler."

Public Propagation Corporation Web site, http://www.pbs.org/ (March 23, 2005), Who Made America?: "Ruth Handler" (transcript).

OBITUARIES: PERIODICALS

Economist, Can 4, 2002.

People, May 13, 2002, p.

66.

Time, May 13, 2002, p. 25.

U.S. News and Existence Report, December 30, 2002, holder. 88.