The Bild Lilli doll was a West German line of fashion doll launched by Greiner & Hausser GmbH on August 12, 1955, and produced until 1964. Its design was based on the comic-strip character Lilli, created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid newspaper Bild. Barbie had a sister—Bild-Lilli, a racy doll marketed to men. And though the risqué 1955 doll has largely been overshadowed by the success of the American toy, she plays a part in the origin.
BILDLILLI, Doll, Germany, 19551964. Bukowskis
Bild Lilli is the doll that Ruth Handler found while shopping in Europe in 1956 and was exactly the kind of a doll she had been thinking of producing. Mrs. Handler noticed her daughter Barbie preferred playing with her paper dolls rather than baby dolls that were prevalent at the time. First created as a comic-strip character in the Hamburg newspaper Bild-Zeitung, the Bild Lilli doll became so popular that she was immortalized in plastic — and sold as an adult novelty,. This Bild Lilli doll was a platinum blonde, blue-eyed bombshell with large breasts. She wore red lipstick and blue eyeliner. Her feet were molded into black stilettos and she had arched eyebrows and sultry side-glancing eyes. Lilli, also known as Bild-Lilli, is a discontinued West German comic strip created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid newspaper Bild, appearing there from 1952 to 1961.
A BildLilli doll, Germany, 19551964. Bukowskis
Walking past a toy shop in Lucerne in the Swiss Alps, both Handler and her daughter were "absolutely transfixed" by the sight of a doll they saw in the window - known as Bild Lilli. "Barbara. The doll was Bild Lilli, based on a newspaper comic strip character originally aimed primarily at men, in German newspapers. (Europe has a long tradition of cartoons for adult audiences such as Asterix or Tintin .) Bild Lilli doll was a German fashion doll launched on August 12, 1955 and produced until 1964. Its design was based on the comic-strip character Lilli, created by Reinhard Beuthien for the German tabloid newspaper Bild. The doll was made of palystyrene, came in two sizes, and had an available wardrobe of 1950s fashion.. A Bild Lilli doll from 1955 — the racier ancestor of Mattel's "Barbie" doll — is shown at a 2006 convention. (Frank Hormann/AP) 5 min
A BildLilli doll, Germany, 19551964. Bukowskis
Barbie's appearance was modeled after a doll named the Bild Lilli, which had been inspired by a German comic-strip character. Originally marketed as a racy gag gift that men could buy in. Bild Lilli was a German fashion doll produced from 1950 to 1964, based on the comic-strip character Lilli in the Bild-Zeitung newspaper. She first appeared in print on June 24, 1952. The cartoon was an immediate success and a new one appeared every day.
The original Bild-Lilli doll. The similarities between this doll and Barbie are truly astonishing. Margaret D'Errico, used with permission. Bild-Lilli in Germany. On a family vacation to Europe in 1956, Handler found what she had been searching for. Her name was Bild-Lilli, and she was a sexy gag gift doll born of marketing for the comic pages. While Mattel 's Barbie was always marketed to young girls, its inspiration was a German adult gag-gift doll named Bild Lilli, tracing its origins from a sultry figure called Lilli in Germany 's most popular tabloid Bild.
BILDLILLI, Doll, Germany, 19551964. Bukowskis
Bild Lilli was as innovative of a doll as she was scandalous. Lilli wasn't only the world's first mass-marketed plastic fashion doll; she was also the first to come in different sizes. While the 12-inch dolls are the more famous, there were also 7-inch dolls sold at slightly lower prices but made just as well. Born in 1952 in Germany, the inspiration for America's most popular doll was a sexually assertive, modern young woman named Lilli. She emerged as a comic-strip character in Bild-Zeitung, a Hamburg newspaper, c reated by the German artist Reinhard Beuthien. On June 24, 1952, Lilli's creator was ordered to make a "filler" to conceal a blank space in the newspaper.
