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Holiday Barbie 2008 is a stunning collectible celebrating 20 years of Holiday Barbies. Although Holiday Barbie is excitedly anticipated each year, the Barbie doll has a fascinating history beginning with her "birth" in 1959.

Believe it or not, Barbie originally was a real person. Her name was Barbara (Barbie) Handler and her mother and father were Ruth and Elliot.

In the early 1950's, Barbie's mother watched as young Barbie and her girlfriends enjoyed playing with adult fashion dolls more than they did the baby dolls. Her mother knew it was important for young girls to imagine what it would be like to be grown up.

Since most of the adult dolls available at that time were paper or cardboard, Barbie's mother decided to make a three-dimensional female adult doll...one that was life-like enough to be an inspiration and role model for little girls' dreams of what the future would bring. A future filled with fun at the beach, traveling, someday marrying and having a family.

She took her ideas to the ad executives at the Mattel Corporation, the company that she and Barbie's father had founded in their garage many years prior. The all male committee rejected the idea saying it would be too expensive to produce and with little market appeal to the mass.

Ruth was not to be put off so easily. She had gone on a trip to Europe and returned with a Lillie doll she had purchased, a doll modeled after a character in a German comic strip. She then spent much time designing her own doll to resemble Lillie and even hired a clothing designer to make realistic clothes. The result was the first Barbie doll.

Mattel finally agreed to back her efforts and Barbie debuted at the American Toy Fair in New York City in 1959. Girls went wild over her, and a new sales record for Mattel was set the very first year with 351,000 Barbies sold at $3.00 each.

Marketed as a "Teen-age Fashion Model," the first Barbie dolls were manufactured in Japan, with their clothes hand-stitched by Japanese home workers. That very first Barbie was blonde with a pony tail, zebra-striped swimsuit, open toed shoes, sunglasses and earrings. Even more fun was the fact that Barbie had lots of accessories available. Little girls loved her in spite of the buyers at the industry's annual Toy Fair in New York who seemed unimpressed.

Ruth knew what little girls liked, and Barbie was a breakout hit! That's all it took to take the retailers by storm! Mattel was so swamped with orders that it took several years for supply to catch up with demand!

Since then the Barbie Doll's popularity has remained steadfast, and today, with over one billion of her look-alikes sold, the product line is one of the most successful in the history of the toy industry.

This Christmas, Holiday Barbie 2008 has once again exceeded all expectations. Wearing a magnificent, sparkling silver gown, this sensational collectible fashion doll exudes a classical beauty.

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