The Golden Question

I've been collecting Barbies for 21 years. Over the years I have read a lot of Barbie literature. Never once while reading books, articles, and information on the internet about Barbie and her origins did I ever come across the name J W Ryan.

You may know who I'm talking about, but for those of you who don't, i'm talking about John W. "Jack" Ryan, whom was a designer for Mattel.

I was always under the impression from what I had read, that Ruth Handler was the sole creator of the Barbie doll. I knew that she had seen a Bild Lilli doll while on holiday in Europe, thus prompting the notion of creating a 3 dimensional  "teenage fashion" doll that girls could play with and dress as previously there had been nothing on the market of this sort except for paper dolls.

What I didn't know was that Jack Ryan was the man behind the actual design of the Barbie doll. I only stumbled across this information last night, which has left me pondering the golden question... Who Really Deserves the Credit: Ruth or Jack?

You may be interested in reading the Daily Mail article to get a clearer picture  The Curse of Barbie
For further reading: Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bagging on Ruth, I have much respect for her in the fact that she got the wheels in motion to forming what is now the worlds most iconic doll and of course my favorite doll! However, I do like to give credit where it is due and I think the Mr J W Ryan deserves to be mentioned in future articles that are in relation to Barbie dolls creation.

Happy collecting!

Copy of the original United State Patent Office Doll Construction