Mattel, Inc.

Harold 'Matt' Matson and Elliot and Ruth Handler founded Mattel in a garage. Ruth Handler created Barbie in 1959 — the first mass-produced American fashion doll with an adult figure, adapted from the German Bild Lilli — and it became one of the best-selling toys ever made. Hot Wheels followed in 1968, Masters of the Universe in 1982. Mattel acquired Fisher-Price in 1993 and Tyco in 1996.

Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler, who started in a Los Angeles garage workshop — the name combines Matt and Elliot — with Elliot's wife Ruth Handler running the commercial side and later conceiving Barbie.

Mattel began with picture frames, made dollhouse furniture from the offcuts, and found the furniture was the business. Matson sold out early; the Handlers built the company. Its first real success was in toy instruments and music boxes, and in 1955 it made the decision that changed toy marketing permanently — sponsoring the Mickey Mouse Club with a year-round television advertising commitment, at a time when toys were advertised to parents at Christmas.

Barbie followed in 1959. Ruth Handler had watched her daughter play with paper dolls of adult women and concluded that girls wanted to project forward rather than practise mothering; the doll was adapted from the German Bild Lilli and became the most commercially successful toy ever made, along with the most argued-about. Hot Wheels in 1968 attacked Matchbox with low-friction wheels and Californian custom styling and took the die-cast market. Masters of the Universe in 1982 established the muscular fantasy action figure.

Mattel is now the largest or second-largest toy company in the world depending on the year, and it has absorbed a great deal of this encyclopedia along the way: Fisher-Price, Tyco, Matchbox, American Girl, and the Corgi and Dinky names at various points. It is also a case study in the risks of the licensing model — its fortunes swing sharply with the success of individual properties and film tie-ins.