Bild Lilli doll

The Bild Lilli Doll was a German fashion doll produced from 1955 to 1964, based on the comic-strip character Lilli. She is the predecessor of Barbie.

History

In the beginning "Lilli" was a German cartoon character, created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid Bild-Zeitung in Hamburg, Germany. In 1953 the Bild-Zeitung decided to market a Lilli doll and contacted Max Weissbrodt from the toy company O&M Hausser in Neustadt/Coburg, Germany. Following Beuthien's drawings Weissbrodt designed the prototype of the doll which was on sale from 1955 to 1964 when Mattel acquired the rights of the doll so the German production had to stop. Until then production numbers reached 130 000. Today "Lilli" is a collector's piece as Barbie is, and commands prices of several thousand Euros.

The Cartoon

Reinhard Beuthien was ordered to make a "filler" to conceal a blank space in the Bild-Zeitung of June 24, 1952. He drew a cute baby - but his boss didn't like it. So he kept the face, added a ponytail and a curvy woman's body and called his creation "Lilli". She sat in a fortune-teller's tent asking: "Can't you tell me the name and address of this rich and handsome man?" The cartoon was an immediate success so Beuthien had to draw new ones each day.

"Lilli" was post-war, sassy and ambitious and had no reservations talking about sex. As she had her own job she earned her own money as a secretary but wasn't above hanging out with rich men ("I could do without balding old men but my budget couldn't!"). The cartoon always consisted of a picture of "Lilli" talking to girlfriends, boyfriends, her boss ("As you were angry when I was late this morning I will leave the office at five p.m. sharp!"). The quips underneath the cartoons handled topics ranging from fashion (to a policeman who told her that two-piece-swimsuits are banned: "Which piece do you want me to take off?"), politics ("Of course I'm interested in politics; no one should ignore the way some politicians dress!") and even the beauty of nature ("The sunrise is so beautiful that I always stay late at the nightclub to see it!"). The last "Lilli" cartoon appeared on January 5, 1961.

The Doll

"Lilli" was available in the sizes 30 cm (12 inches) and 19 cm (7 and a half inches). She held three patents absolutely new in doll-making: The head wasn't connected to the neck but ended at the chin; the hair wasn't rooted but a cut-out scalp that was attached by a hidden metal screw; the legs didn't sprawl open when she was sitting. The doll was made of plastic and had molded eyelashes, pale skin and a painted face with side glancing eyes, high narrow eyebrows and red lips. Her fingernails were painted red, too. She wore her hair in a ponytail with one curl kissing the forehead. Her shoes and earrings were molded on. Her limbs were attached inside by coated rubber bands. The cartoon "Lilli" was blonde but a few of the dolls hadother hair colours. Each "Lilli" doll carried a miniature Bild-Zeitung and was sold in a clear plastic tube.

In 1955 the tall dolls cost 12 Mark, the small 7.50 Mark. German office workers then had a monthly salary of approximately 200 to 300 Mark, so the doll was by no means a cheap toy. She was originally marketed to adults in bars and tobacco shops as a joke or gag gift. Many parents considered her not appropriate for children. Ariel Levy refers to her as a "sex doll" in Female Chauvinist Pigs. A German brochure from the 1950s states that "Lilli" was "always discreet," and that her wardrobe made her "the star of every bar." Although the doll was originally not designed as a children's toy, she eventually became popular with children. Dollshouses, room settings, furniture and other toy accessories to scale with the small Lilli were produced by German toy factories to cash in with her popularity amongst children and parents. Lilli and her fashions were sold in a number of European countries as children's toys including Italy and in Scandinavia. Lilli was as high profiled and successful as a toy as much as an adult novelty, although outside of Germany she is mostly remembered in the latter guise.

The Wardrobe

"Lilli" came as a dressed doll, with additional fashions sold separately. Her fashions mirror the lifestyle of the Fifties: she had outfits for parties, the beach and tennis as well as cotton dresses, pajamas and poplin suits. In the last years her wardrobe consisted mainly of those Bavarian dresses called "Dirndl"."Lilli"´s dresses always have very special patent fasteners(forgery proof) marked "PRYM".

Copycats

The doll became so popular that she was exported to other countries, including the United States, where she was just called "Lilli". Some Lillis have been seen in original packaging dating from the 1950s for an English-speaking market labelled as "Lilli Marlene", after the famous song. Several toy companies (mainly in Hong Kong) started producing fashion dolls looking very similar to "Lilli". These dolls are easy to distinguish because of their poor quality.

But "Lilli" also inspired the production of another fashion doll of high quality who would soon outshine her: Barbie, produced by Mattel. Ruth Handler, one of the company's founders, bought some of the "Lilli" dolls when she was on a trip to Europe. Back home she reworked the design of the doll and re-named her Barbie, who debuted at the New York toy fair on March 9, 1959. Barbie had rooted hair and her shoes and earrings were not molded - apart from that she was a lookalike of "Lilli".

Louis Marx and Company acquired the rights to the Lilli doll from O&M Hausser and released it in America as the "Miss Seventeen" (doll) in 1961. Marx unsucessfully attempted to sue Mattel for patent infringement. [ p.123 Clark, Eric "The Reay Toy Story" Transworld Publishers Black Swan edition 2007]

Related characters

In 1962 Beuthien created another cartoon character called "Schwabinchen" for a Bavarian newspaper but it wasn't as successful as "Lilli" and the dolls inspired by her were in poor quality. Later he started "Gigi" who had even less success and never made it into a doll.

"Lilli" became so popular in Germany that in 1958 a movie about her was produced: "Lilli - ein Mädchen aus der Großstadt" (Lilli - a girl from the big city). The star was chosen from a contest: Young women all over Germany sent their photographs to the Bild-Zeitung hoping for a career as a movie star. The winner was the Danish actress Ann Smyrner.

"Lilli" lent her name to several luxury products like scent, wine and rhinestone jewellery.

ee also

*Fashion doll

Further reading

There are no books about the Lilli doll alone. Unlike Barbie she was produced for only eight years and never reached the importance of the American doll. But in several books about Barbie or the German lifestyle in the Fifties there are chapters dedicated to "Lilli". In the book by Knaak all dolls and wardrobes are described and shown in colour. More basic information are found in:
*Knaak, Silke: "Deutsche Modepuppen der 50er und 60er Jahre" ("German fashion dolls of the Fifties and Sixties"); 2005. No ISBN; available at [http://www.barbies.de Barbies.de] . German and English.
*Warnecke, Dieter: "Barbie im Wandel der Jahrzehnte"; Heyne 1995. ISBN 3-453-08738-0. German.
*Metzger, Wolfram (Ed.): "40 Jahre Barbie-World"; Info Verlag 1998. ISBN 3-88190-229-5. German.
*Lord, M.G.: "Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll"; Avon Books 1995. ISBN 0-8027-7694-9. English.
*"Rolf Hausser's Story" (Interview in the magazine "Barbie Bazaar", February 2000). English.
* Stephanie Deutsch: "Barbie. The First 30 Years 1959-1989". Value guide.

References