The doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959.
This date is also used as Barbie's official birthday.
Over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in over 150 countries, with Mattel claiming that three Barbie dolls are sold every second.
Barbie has become a cultural icon and has been given honors that are rare in the toy world.
In 1974 a section of Times Square in New York City was renamed Barbie Boulevard for a week, while in 1985 the artist Andy Warhol created a painting of Barbie.
Vintage Barbie dolls are the most valuable at auction, and while the original Barbie was sold for $3.00 in 1959, a mint boxed Barbie from 1959 sold for $3552.50 on eBay in October 2004.
On September 26, 2006, Barbie in Midnight Red from 1965 set a world record at auction of £9,000 sterling (US $17,000) at Christie's in London.
If your looking for Barbie stuff but not wanting to spend quite that much! check out this web site: My Barbie Store for some bargans.
You will also find some of the more unusual Barbie dolls available such as Gone With the Wind
and My Fair Lady
If you are a collector then check out the Designer page.
For a full history of Barbie and some of the controversies she has caused take a look at Wikipedia
