Book In Review

        Who knew that the behind the scenes story of The Barbie Doll, and her creative genius, would be so very fascinating?  This is a book of epic proportions, regarding curiousity.  There are so many things to learn about Ruth Handler the person and Ruth Handler the business woman that it you really aren’t too keen on putting the book down; that’s if you are into the story behind the story. 

          Part of understanding the how and why of the success of the Barbie doll that we have come to know and love as part of American history is grasping the extra-ordinary strength and persistence of the woman who came up with the concept of Barbie.  Ruth was a very complex woman.  She was all about following her instincts; even going against conventional wisdom in the world of business when it suited her purposes.  She was wise enough to give the impression of her husband being the head of the business when in fact, he was a designer at heart…he really didn’t have the drive or the desire to be in control of the business aspects.  Ruth and Elliot her husband chose to grow their business from the ground up…the poured so much of themselves into it that their children came to resent certain aspects of the business.

        As the children grew under the shadow of the business and formed their own personalities and strengths & weaknesses…so did their mother Ruth.  She grew up as the youngest of 10 children born to Polish Jewish immigrants.  She was actually raised by an older sister and her husband…they became her surrogate parents and Ruth’s business role models.

          Ruth was direct, some say ruthless in how she dealt with others; and yet, she was mother- henish about some of her employees.  She was both fiercely loved and disliked by many.  Ruth had a deep love for her husband.  She says that she hated being a stay at home mother, that she was no good at it.  She did appear to be born to be a businesswoman in a time when that just was not common.   She seemed to have a natural knack for understanding how to fill a gap in the toy market and make it profitable. 

         There were many challenges in her life.  She was not raised by her birth parents, she fought to marry the man she loved, she fought against traditional male and female roles in business; not by being a militant woman, but strictly by being who she was …an entrenpeneur.  She battled breast cancer, the legal system and a disease that took the life of her son…AIDS.  Ruth Handler was an interesting woman, she became a pioneer in the field of women’s prosthetics after having breast cancer surgery; this was to be one of her biggest contributions to the world was her desire to design something to give women back control of their appearance after having a breast removed. 

         This book was printed in 2009, by Collins Business; this is their website:  http://www.harpercollins.com.  The book was written by Robin Gerber.  The author’s website is:  http://www.ROBINGERBER.COM