I just stumbled on this fascinating film - The Tribe. As they describe it:
An unorthodox, unauthorized film about the Jewish people and the Barbie doll...in about 15 minutes.
I've only watched about 4 minutes of it, but I'm hooked, and hope to catch the rest later.
The Trailer
The Film
Little known fact (to me, anyway): the Barbie Doll was invented by a Jew. And so was the safty razor, blue jeans, Polaroid film, the Macintosh and the Teddy Bear. Gosh, I love Wikipedia, too.
Like many Jews and woman of that era, Ruth Handler had trouble getting a white collar professional job. At Mattel Ruth hired a number of other Jewish woman who faced similar discrimination. My Great Aunt worked for Ruth and ran the Mattel Booth at the NY Toy Show where Barbie was introduced. If only I had not destroyed my sister's first run Barbie... Oy, such tsoris.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for sharing - that's wonderful to know.
ReplyDeleteOy, is right - I can't imagine what that Barbie would fetch on eBay these days.