The Bild Lilli Doll
Barbie is a fashion doll and American icon who turned 50 this month, but her heritage is German. You could even say Barbie’s mother was German.
In the beginning Lilli was a German cartoon character, created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid Bild-Zeitung in Hamburg, Germany to fill space in the paper. 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.
Ruth Handler’s husband, Elliott Handler, and his business partner, Harold “Matt” Matson, had formed a small company to manufacture picture frames, calling it “Mattel” by combining part of their names (“Matt” and “Elliot”). Ruth was on vacation in Europe, where she saw the “Bild Lilli” on sale in a Swiss store. She had wanted just such a doll for her daughter Babara, and bought three of them. Barbara got one, and the others went back to Mattel. The rest, as they say, is history.
As a cartoon character, Lilly had attitude and was popular with adults. In one cartoon, a policeman told her that the two-piece swimsuit she was wearing was illegal, to which she replied “What piece should I remove?” Can you imagine Barbie saying that?
Brian's Blog 
“In one cartoon, a policeman told her that the two-piece swimsuit she was wearing was illegal, to which she replied “What piece should I remove?” …That’s funny!
This doll has done more to shape the minds of young girls (in America, at least) than any other toy I can think of. It’s a harmless rite of passage for girls …to own a Barbie.
I imagine a pristine original of the doll may be worth quit a bit.
Thousands . . . if you ever run across a “Bild-Lilli” in a never-opened clear plastic tube at a yard sale and can pick it up for a couple of bucks, you could pay for a trip back to where it came from.
I was at Walmart today looking for a gift for a young girl turning 6 tomorrow. The Bild-Lili picture is on the side of the box, with a modern Barbie inside. It ran about $20, depending how many extra clothes for the doll were inside. There was one with Barbie in a very conservative two piece bathing suit and I thought about your comment. I didn’t get it, opting for a talking bear family DVD instead. She has a Barbie.
Where did you get this information from? It’s very interesting. I didn’t know Barbie was born in Coburg Germany. Or rather, her mom . . .
Look here http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild-Lilli for the Wikipedia entry (in German) about “Bild-Lillim”