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CBS and ABC both chose the same closer, Barbara Millicent Roberts. That is the full name Mattel gave to the doll the toy firm launched 50 years ago. CBS anchor Katie Couric greeted her fellow babyboomer: "Even without plastic surgery, Barbie is still buff and wrinklefree." ABC's Robert Krulwich told the story of Barbie's creation at a time when "almost every doll in America was a little baby--so girls could pretend to be mommies." Mattel's Ruth Handler "was convinced that little girls wanted to imagine being grown-ups, fill-figured grown-ups."
When '50s mothers complained that Barbie was too sexy and provocative for their girls, Mattel advertising team rose to the challenge, Krulwich recounted. The ads described Barbie as a teaching tool: "If your daughter is a little too tomboyish, this doll will teach her what to wear, how to catch a guy."
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