The History of Barbie in the 1970s

you've probably heard about the iconic malibu barbie doll from 1971 or the superstar barbie doll from 1977 but have you heard about the oil crisis that affected the production of barbie dolls in the 1970s [Music] in this video we will be discussing how barbie captured the zeitgeist of the 1970s to grow her status as a pop culture icon we will also look into the impact the 1973 oil embargo head on the production of barbie dolls but before we begin i'd like to thank commenter nori jean for suggesting this video topic if you would like to suggest an idea for a future have you heard doll history video please leave a comment below and make sure to subscribe in 1970 the barbie doll entered its 11th year on the market with the brand new decade barbie's manufacturer martin was eager to continue evolving the brand one particular release that would set the tone for this decade of evolution was living barbie the most articulated barbie of the time living barbie also called dramatic new living barbie included articulated wrists legs and arms that can swing out to the side bendable elbows tiltable waist and flexible feet metal would also continue to key into current social movements and pop culture trends when designing new barbie dolls like they did in the 1960s these cultural changes would play a crucial role in the evolution of barbie's appearance and style [Music] in 1971 mata would introduce the malibu barbie doll and her friends malibu barbie sported a brand new head sculpt with a slight open mouth that showed her teeth apart from her platinum blonde hair and suntanned skin the most striking feature of the doll was her forward-facing eyes it was stated in the official barbie media site that thanks to the groundswell of the feminist movement and female empowerment barbie's sparkling blue eyes faced forward for the first time which was a big contrast to the demure side glancing closed-mouth barbie dolls of the past as many empowered women headed into the workforce mata would also release career-oriented fashions such as a certain outfit for the barbie doll malibu barbie and her friends also reflected other social trends of the 1970s such as an increased interest in outdoor activities in fact mata would release a camper for the malibu barbie doll which included a pop-out tent another doll that reflected the social and cultural movements of the time was the live-action barbie doll from 1971. the doll had an articulated body similar to living barbie but was dressed in fashions that reflected the hippie and psychedelia subcultures of the late 1960s and early 1970s the dolls included touch-and-go stands that allowed the dolls to dance some dolls labelled live action on stage also included special stands and records with original music [Music] [Music] in 1972 mata would create yet another form of articulation for barbie and friends the busy barbie line of dolls had hands with thumb articulation these hands called holden hands were designed to allow the doll to hold objects some accessories that the doll could hold included phones portable televisions trays and briefcases [Music] mata would also reintroduce the talking barbie doll concept from 1968 and combine it with the holden hands concept to create a new kind of barbie doll the talking busy barbie doll the dolls could say phrases about the objects they were holding with a pull of a cord on the back of the doll [Music] mata would have a promotion to sell the busy barbie dolls by bundling the doll with a fashion set from the new best buy series of barbie fashions the best buy series of barbie fashions was created in response to the increase of low cost of brand fashions marketed for barbie these pieces were designed to sell for lower price points and typically did not include accessories and shoes like premium barbie fashion sets in fact mattel's approach of releasing fashion packs for barbie and friends at lower and higher price points still continues to this day [Music] mata would make another innovation in dole hair play with the release of quick curl barbie and friends in 1973. the doll's hair fibers were made of thin malleable wires with the help of a curling tool the doll's hair could be styled into a flip hairdo or into other popular hairstyles of the time 1973 also marked a difficult period in the manufacturing and distribution of barbie dolls this was the year in which an oil embargo was placed on the united states by the arab members of the organization of petroleum exporting countries known as opec for context the united states where mata was headquartered was providing supplies to israeli troops during the arab israeli war this prompted arab nations in opec to ban petroleum exports to the united states and other countries supporting israel while also cutting down on petroleum production this led to inflated gas prices and a shortage of supply legendary barbie designer carol spencer remarked in her autobiography dressing barbie that the oil embargo left a significant impact on the production of barbie dolls she noted that since barbie products were manufactured overseas the cost to transport barbie merchandise to the united states increased due to inflation and shortages another side effect of the crisis was that the barbie design team could not use petroleum-based fabrics such as polyesters acrylics and nylons as much as they used to the team was also asked to cut down on new accessory and shoe designs spencer particularly noted that this was the point where mata shifted its focus from being a design-oriented company to a manufacturing oriented company despite these setbacks and resulting budget cuts the barbie designers decided to make do with less the team utilized cotton and synthetic fabrics to create new barbie fashions and repurposed existing shoe molds for outfits with prints the team would use ready-made printed fabrics instead of creating custom scaled prints the design team would consider this period of time as the glamour deficit around this time matal would release a series of affordable barbie dolls collectors would refer to this line as baggy barbie dolls as the dolls were sold in plastic bags with a card tag certain baggy dolls were excess dolls from discontinued lines such as the live-action barbie line other dolls like the baggy frenzy and casey dolls were sold in simple swimsuits and did not come with twist and turn waists or bendable knees it is uncertain whether this budget line was a result of the changes going on in matlab in response to the oil crisis on the other hand with the introduction of the best by line of barbie this series of dolls was likely an attempt to make barbie more budget-friendly for consumers and discourage sales of low-priced barbie clones this practice of selling simple lower-end barbie dolls continues even to this day [Music] in march 1974 the oil embargo was lifted from the united states but the company would continue to undergo major changes ruth handler the creator of the barbie doll would resign from in 1974 due to misreporting company finances elliott handler ruth's husband and the co-founder of matin would also step away from the company [Music] by barbie's 16th anniversary in 1975 the handlers had lost control of matlon the direct influence they had over the barbie brand the handlers had played a key role in introducing new play patterns for the barbie doll and emphasized the importance of making quality products without the handler's presence at mata spencer noted that the company environment became more corporate [Music] by the mid to late 1970s yet another cultural shift occurred young people particularly in the united states had grown disillusioned with the effects of global politics such as the oil crisis and the vietnam war [Music] the 1970s also marked a period of economic downturn within the united states which left several people unemployed in response to what pop culture critic roger ebert called the general depression and drabness of the time many people flocked to the burgeoning disco scene as a means of escapism disco fashions of the late 1970s were glamorous and glitzy a stark contrast to the hippie and prairie fashions of the early 70s the barbie design team was particularly inspired by popular films such as saturday night fever and the 1974 adaptation of the great gatsby when designing new opulent fashions for barbie and friends [Music] hi i'm judy i want you to meet new superstars in 1977 mata would release the superstar barbie doll who looked ready to dance at the disco the doll had a brand new smiling head sculpt and a fuller head of wavy blonde hair much like other barbie dolls of the 1970s she would have direct facing eyes other features of the doll that would carry over to later releases included bent arms for posing pierced ears and a removable ring on one hand several glittery and glamorous fashions were released for superstar barbie as well other releases of this time included fashion photo barbie who could pose with the help of a remote control play camera and beauty secrets barbie whose arms can be moved with the help of a button on her back [Music] gradually throughout the 1970s barbie's image as the blonde haired blue-eyed all-american girl became definitive mackel would no longer depict the barbie character with different hair colors in marketing materials apart from some special releases like 1978's hawaiian superstar barbie this could also be partly due to the fact that barbie's friend circle had expanded and most of the friend characters were produced with auburn brunette and black hair barbie's friend pj for instance went from blonde to brunette by the end of the 1970s superstar barbie's glitzy image would carry over into the 1980s and the head sculpt would still be used well into the 1990s the superstar barbie head sculpt became one of the most ubiquitous faces for the barbie doll and was even immortalized in andy warhol's 1986 painting barbie portrait of billy boy a description of the painting noted that superstar is a term that warhol popularized as he used the word superstar to describe the actresses artists and new york personalities with whom he socialized the description also notes how the painting captures how barbie is absolutely and unequivocally american with her larger-than-life blonde hairdo her sentimental big blue eyes and universal smile the portrait conveys a powerful sense of an enduring and resonant image forever fixed in a moment in time that recognizes her as one of the most enduring and ubiquitous 20th century icons [Music] the 1970s was a decade of ups and downs for the barbie brand barbie celebrated her 16th anniversary in 1975 and her 20th anniversary in 1979. however the 1973 oil embargo left a lasting impact on the way barbie was manufactured and sold for years to come the barbie design team no longer had free reign over their design and material choices they also lost their key allies ruth and elliot handler who were instrumental in creating important concepts and designs for the brand additionally mata would release more low price barbie dolls and fashions to combat the rise of cheap off-brand barbie clones and eliminate old stock [Music] despite these changes within mata the barbie brand would continue to remain on the pulse of the moment whether it was with malibu barbie in the early 70s or with superstar barbie later in the decade as the barbie brand entered into the 1980s mata would continue to make the barbie doll an epitome of beauty and glamour while portraying her as an empowered woman on the go this image of barbie would forever be immortalized by andy warhol and adored by many children and collectors around the world you could say that this was the point when barbie became a superstar [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Have You Heard? - A Fashion Doll Retrospective

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Keywords: barbie, barbie 1970s, 1970s, vintage barbie, superstar barbie, malibu barbie, live action barbie, living barbie, fashion photo barbie, quick curl barbie, ken, p.j., christie, cara, brad, francie, skipper, mattel, 1973 oil crisis, oil embargo, carol spencer, dressing barbie, andy warhol, portrait of billy boy, ruth handler, elliot handler, doll history, doll collector, toy history, vintage, disco, saturday night fever, great gatsby 1974, 1973, have you heard?, nostalgia, retro, hippie

Id: cKFVVZuvCY0

Length: 15min 30sec (930 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 06 2020