Barbie and Ruth

Barbie is the diminutive yet arrestingly voluptuous doll unveiled at the 1959 Toy Fair. Ruth Handler is Barbie's creator: the tenth child of Polish-Jewish immigrants; a passionately competitive and creative business pioneer. This title presents the story of two women, and how together they indelibly changed American business and culture.

This is the entwined tale of two exceptional women. One was a voluptuous eleven-inch-tall beauty who debuted at the 1959 Toy Fair in New York City and quickly became the treasure of 9 out of 10 American girls and their counterparts in 150 countries. She went on to compete as an Olympic athlete, serve as an air force pilot, work as a boutique owner, run as a presidential candidate, and ignite a cultural firestorm. The other was Ruth Handler, the tenth child of Polish Jewish immigrants.

A brilliant, creative, ruthless, and passionately competitive visionary, she was a mother and wife who wanted it all—a masterful entrepreneur who, together with her curvaceous plastic creation, changed American business and culture forever.

Barbie and Ruth is the incredible, inspiring, tragic, and ultimately redeeming true story of how one extraordinary woman built the largest toy company in the world and created an enduring international icon.

"Barbie and Ruth" is the entwined story of two exceptional women. There's Barbie: the diminutive yet arrestingly voluptuous doll unveiled at the 1959 Toy Fair who became the treasure of 90 per cent of American girls and their counterparts in 140 countries. She went on to become an Olympic athlete, an air force pilot, a boutique owner, a presidential candidate, and a cultural icon. Then there's Ruth Handler, Barbie's creator: the tenth child of Polish-Jewish immigrants; a passionately competitive and creative business pioneer; and a mother and wife who wanted it all. After Ruth was forced out of Mattel, the company she founded, she used her breast cancer as an impetus to start a business that changed women's lives. She was ultimately honored as a pioneer, humanitarian, and masterful entrepreneur. Based on previously unavailable material, original research, and extensive interviews, "Barbie and Ruth" is the fascinating story of two women, and how together they indelibly changed American business and culture.