Barbie trivia:

More than one billion Barbies have been sold since 1959

At first, sales were soft because few mothers wanted to buy their child a doll with breasts

Ken appeared in 1961.

Barbie is sold in 140 countries at the rate of two per second

Sales topped $1 billion in 1993.

by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 07/97) - Barbie has come North. But this time, she's dressed for the occasion, fake fur and all.

Mattel, the makers of the Western Stampin' Barbie and Marilyn Monroe Barbie, is now minting a shapely Inuit version. Will she ditch the pink Corvette for a more practical dog team? Only time will tell.

"From one of the coldest regions on earth comes a doll to warm your soul," according to the people at Mattel.

Inuk Barbie -- known in the U.S. as Arctic Barbie -- is available at Northern Store. Dressed in a fleecy parka with fake white fur trim on the hood, sleeves and hem, accented with gold, red and green braid, she also sports cute little mukluks.

More than a billion Barbies have been sold worldwide since 1959, when the first doll rolled off the assembly line in California. Some of the those dolls found their way to Inuvik, where Barbie is big as ever.

Take Sherene Raddi, for example. She owns 12 Barbies, including the Barbie horse, playhouse, family pets and sports car. The typical North American girl owns eight Barbies, according to the company.

"I have a lot of Barbies," said Jasmine Brewster. "My princess mermaid is my favorite." Brewster also owns Tea Pot Barbie, who serves tea and crumpets to all her friends, including the Osmondesque Ken.

"I like to dress them up," says Rebecca Kaufman. "I have lots of clothes, as well as tables, beds, dressers and a tea pot."

Barbie isn't everybody's fave, however. Some women see Barbie as a negative influence on young girls, by teaching they must be blonde and beautiful to get a boyfriend and career.

Mattel really stepped in it in 1992, when the talking doll, Teen Talk Barbie, was released. Spouting phrases like "Math class is tough," the backlash Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO) began switching Barbie's voice box with G.I. Joe's, so Barbie would instead shout "Vengeance is mine!" among other things.

But M.G. Lord, in his book, Forever Barbie, answers the criticism. According to Lord, Barbie's (perfect?) figure is no conspiracy. Barbie's full-breasted no-waist shape was designed so her starchy clothes wouldn't bulge out, making her waist appear larger than her hips.

"Barbie is a direct reflection of the cultural impulses that formed us," writes Lord. "Barbie is our reality. And unsettling though the concept might be ... Barbie is us."