Donate

Barbie

Two-year-old Lula-Belle Butler-Wenlock-Simpson, right, who was born with heart problems and underwent open-heart surgery, poses with a Special Friends doll whose scar mirrors her own.

‘Special Friends’ dolls reflect the lives of children with special needs

Education

When Victoria Band’s son was diagnosed with hearing loss, she wished she could give him a doll with hearing aids to reflect his disability. Last year, she started her own line of dolls with scars, cleft lips, hearing aids and oxygen tanks.

A posed Barbie doll.

American Icons: Barbie

American Icons
Barbie dolls are seen in a window of a toy store.

Barbie typewriter toys had a secret ability to encrypt messages — but they didn’t think girls would care

Culture
Mattel's Barbie dolls on sale are pictured inside a shop of a life-size "Barbie Dreamhouse" during a media tour in Berlin, May 15, 2013.

Venezuelans are rushing to the store to buy Barbie dolls after the government imposes a price cut

Business

Barbie Berlin Dreamhouse draws protests, hand-wringing over opening

Global Politics

Doll Wars: How Barbie Killed Sindy

Business, Economics and Jobs

Wholesome, demure, Sindy was the UK’s most popular doll with about 80 percent of the fashion doll market at her peak in 1985.

The World

Prehistoric Pets

They may not be warm and cuddly but robotic dinosaurs are among the cool – and pricey – toys available for kids this holiday season.

The World

American Icons: Barbie

Arts, Culture & Media

How did the Barbie doll become such a powerful symbol and ubiquitous toy? For our ongoing series on American Icons, we look at how Barbie started, how she endured, and what her future may hold.