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The Bild Lilli doll was an 11-inch plastic doll with the figure of an adult woman, originally modeled on a risqué gag gift for men. It was based on a cartoon character featured in the West German newspaper Bild Zeitung. Lilli became popular and was made into a plastic doll in 1955, sold in stores. Ruth Handler, cofounder of Mattel, saw the Lilli doll in Europe and it became the model for Barbie, introduced by Mattel in 1959.123

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