Long blonde hair, bright blue eyes and sculpted long legs; this is everyone’s ideal woman and every little girl’s ideal doll. In the 50 years since her creation in 1959, Barbie has set the standard for dolls across the country by selling over a billion dolls and becoming the best selling toy of all time.

This information is featured at the exhibit Celebrating 50 Fabulous Years with America’s Favorite Doll, which is on display at the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City. The exhibit features over 136 Barbie dolls, including a first edition Barbie. According to museum educator Laura Taylor, the museum chose to do the exhibit because they were seeking to do exhibits relevant to our community.

“Barbie has been a major part of little girls’ childhood for five decades. She reflects popular culture and in some cases influences it,” Taylor said. “I think the exhibit is an opportunity for people to examine children’s material culture as a mirror to what is important to us as a society.”

To some girls like junior Malayia Reece, Barbie was more than just a doll.

“Barbie meant my whole childhood,” Reece said. “She was my fake best friend.”

Like Reece, Barbie played a role in English teacher Katie Davis’ childhood. She received her first Barbie in the first grade and now watches her seven-year-old daughter Paige share the same connection with Barbie.

“She calls it baby-mommy time because when I play with her, it reminds [Paige] that I was once a kid too,” Davis said.

Through Davis’ “baby-mommy” time, she has witnessed part of the evoultion of Barbie. This evoultion is also documented in the exhibit, showcases how Barbie has evolved from decade to decade in order to stay an accurate example of the modern woman.

The creator of Barbie, Ruth Handler, has a philosophy in the exhibit saying that by through Barbie every girl could be anything she wanted to be.

With this philosophy, Barbie, as the doll and with her accessories, has given little girls the basis for their imagination.

“When I was younger it was just the doll, you could make up whatever world you wanted,” Reece said. “Now with all the accessories the world is made up for you.”

Freshman Kyra Clair didn’t have to use Barbie’s accessories; for her Barbie came to life.

“My favorite memory was probably when my mom dressed up as Barbie at Toy’s R Us,” Clair said. “When we went to go see her it was fun and it was also cool because you basically saw Barbie come to life.”

More memories of Barbie were shared at the Miniature and Toy museum. At the end of the exhibit, patrons are encouraged to write their own Barbie memories and place them out for others to see. Taylor’s favorite story comes from Amelia, age 43, who said that one of her happiest memories was coming home from camp to find that her mom and sisters had made a big display of her first Barbies on her bed.

“[Barbie] is an iconic toy,” Taylor said. “She has been around now for so long that grandmothers, mothers, and daughters have played with her. She is intergenerational.”