Needing to fill some space in the first issue of Germany’s Bild tabloid newspaper in 1952, comic artist Reinhard Beuthien came up with Lilli, a sensual character designed to attract male readers.
Lilli’s titillating comic strip adventures were like scenes from an erotic film: Sometimes she talked about a long-distance truck driver who “helped out” when her car broke down, leaving her dress covered in oily hand prints.
Another time she teases a policeman on a beach where two-piece swimsuits are banned, asking him: “Which part should I take off?”
Who would have thought that a version of this sexualized caricature with her ample bosom and red pout would one day be ever present in the lives of millions of children?
But when Lilli became a doll in August 1955 — known as Bild Lilli — she soon inspired the creation of Barbie, the world’s best-selling “fashion” toy.
Sexist object once glamorized as ‘cheeky’ and ‘independent’
According to Bild publisher Axel Springer, Lilli was a “sassy secretary.” But various sources interpret her more as a high class call girl or escort.
Whether secretary or sex worker, one thing is certain: Lilli was not intended as a children’s toy. With her scantily clad curves, high blonde ponytail and high heels, Lilli’s aesthetic was more akin to that of a pin-up girl.
Today, critics would say that Lilli is portrayed purely as an object of desire created to satiate the male gaze. Nevertheless, Bild still describes her today as “cheeky, sexy, independent!”
Lilli quickly became so popular with the paper’s predominantly male readership that Bild turned her into a plastic doll in 1953. She was reportedly a popular gift among men, including for bachelor parties and was sold in tobacco shops, bars and kiosks.
Between 1955 and 1964, Bild sold around 130,000 Lillis with various outfits and accessories that would also attract a female audience. Lilli quickly became a bestseller, even beyond Germany’s borders.
Mattel head transforms Lilli into Barbie
Perhaps the scantily clad Lilli would still be gracing the pages of the Bild newspaper today, if it hadn’t been for Ruth Handler.
Handler, the co-founder of the toy company Mattel, discovered Lilli by chance in a shop window while on vacation in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1956; she and her daughter, Barbara, were thrilled.
Handler had several Lillis sent to Los Angeles. In 1959, Barbie — named after Handler’s daughter Barbara and modeled after Lilli — was launched and has since been sold more than a billion times. Mattel acquired the rights to the Bild Lilli doll in 1964 and stopped its production.
Barbie has since been a dominant presence in children’s bedrooms the world over, and was the inspiration for one of the highest grossing films of all time.
And what became of Lilli? The original comic strip ended in 1961 after the “cheeky, independent” secretary married her boyfriend Peter and disappeared forever.
This article was originally written in German.
