Barbie Millicent Roberts was born March 9, 1959. Her hometown is listed as Willow, Wisconsin. Today, at the age of 50, she still looks like a high school cheerleader. That's is as it should be, because Barbie was the invention of Ruth Handler, and she designed her to be the embodiment of the bubbly teenage spirit. When she was released by the Mattel Company, at the price of $3.00 each, she sold 350,000 copies in her first year of production. Since that time, Barbie has inspired several generations of girls to dream and discover careers, possibilities and places without ever leaving their bedrooms.

In 1961, Barbie's steady boyfriend, Ken Carson, was introduced to the world. In 1963, we met her best friend, the red-haired Midge. Barbie's sisters are Skipper, born in 1969, and little Kelly, born in 1998. Starting in 1968, Mattel began introducing Barbie's ethnic friends, that included Christie and Teresa.

Today, Barbie products encompass not only a variety of fashion dolls, along with their clothes and accessories, but also other kinds of toys, games, books and a series of animated films. She was a guest star in Toy Story 2. She is a role model to young girls that, like her motto, "Girls Can Do Anything".