When you think of Barbie Dolls – you think of Princesses and models that are sporting the latest fashionable trends. From sailors to surgeons and even Olympic gymnasts – Barbie is synonymous with several themes and continues to be a favorite toy for little girls and toddlers.
While most of the world associates Mattel with the world-renowned Barbie brand – the fact is that the doll’s original design was based on a German adult doll named Lilli. Lilli was far from an ambassador of world peace – and in fact – was an adult gag escort doll with seductive and sexy features.
This recent discovery has led countless parents in rethinking their Barbie doll purchases at local toy stores. Lilli also got her start in the 1940s as a German cartoon character spawned from the imagination of Reinhard Beuthien. Reinhard worked for the Hamburg based tabloid, Bild-Zeitung, and envisioned a post-war seductress who raked in the Deutsche marks by romancing rich male suitors.
Lilli was a feisty character, and was known for her witty comments and defiance in the face of male authority. In many ways, the character was the epitome of a female domain – who once wore a bikini on the sidewalk in one of the comic strips. So popular was Lilli that a three-dimensional doll was put into production by 1953, courtesy of the newspaper that introduced her to thousands of adoring fans.
Even back then, however, many parents took objection and claimed the doll was inappropriate. Since Lilli Doll advertisements blanketed countless bars, tobacco shops, and adult toy stores – the manufacturers did not see anything wrong with this. The problem was with the German advertising brochures released to the public at the time, which were easily accessible at local toy stores. The debate then raged whether this was a sex doll, or one that was okay to be played with by little girls and toddlers.
While Lilli did have a myriad of outfits – the essence of her character was simply not suitable for kids. However, many kids only saw her as a doll – and it was sad that the toy factories wanted to cash in on her popularity with children. It took Ariel Levy – a journalist with The New Yorker magazine – to officially label her as a “sex doll.” This led to a mass decrease in purchases across the globe.
Image via: MessyNessyChic.com
