Before Barbie was a movie star, she was a model for a stamp.
The new “Barbie” film, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie as the title character and Ryan Gosling as boyfriend Ken, set a record last week as the best opening for a film with a female director. It also had the highest opening weekend earnings so far this year.
The movie is based on the Barbie doll that toy company Mattel began selling in 1959. While her first career was that of a fashion model, her jobs have run the gamut over the decades from astronaut in 1965 to president of the United States in 2023.
In 1999, Barbie was included in a pane of 15 stamps commemorating the 1960s, part of the Celebrate the Century series of postage stamps.
For that stamp, Barbie was shown wearing pearls and a red pillbox hat — favorite accessories of first lady Jackie Kennedy, a style icon of the era.
Smithsonian Magazine has more on Barbie’s history.
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