Barbie," a twelve-inch plastic teen-ager, is the best-known and best-selling doll in history.
Since its introduction in 1959, the Barbie doll population of the world has grown to
12,000,000—more than the human population of Los Angeles or London or Paris. Little girls
adore Barbie because she is highly realistic and eminently dress-upable. Mattel, Inc., makers
of Barbie, also sells a complete wardrobe for her, including clothes for ordinary daytime
wear, clothes for formal party wear, clothes for swimming and skiing.
Recently Mattel announced a new improved Barbie doll. The new version has a
slimmer figure, "real" eyelashes, and a twist-and-turn waist that makes her more humanoid
than ever. Moreover, Mattel announced that, for the first time, any young lady wishing to
purchase a new Barbie would receive a trade-in allowance for her old one.
What Mattel did not announce was that by trading in her old doll for a technologically
improved model, the little girl of today, citizen of tomorrow's super-industrial world, would
learn a fundamental lesson about the new society: that man's relationships with things are
increasingly temporary.