Lilli, the German “sex doll” that became the iconic American Barbie Doll

[stlukesguild]

Lilli, the German "sex doll"...

So it turns out Barbie’s original design was based on a German adult gag-gift escort doll named Lilli. That’s right, she wasn’t a dentist or a surgeon, an Olympian gymnast, a pet stylist or an ambassador for world peace. And she certainly wasn’t a toy for little girls…

 

[Artyczar]

That is so interesting. I always thought sex workers were legal in Germany for some reason, but I guess not. And not in the 50s. The 50s were such a conservative era that this doll was certainly not for kids since sex work was so taboo. I guess Handler's vision of "cleaning up" Lilli's act made Barbie a better "influence" for little girls, even though it really never was and has been something of a cultural I-don't-even-know-the-right-word for all girls. It's probably attributed to 99% of eating disorders in girls and a plethora of other bad self-image issues. She would have been better off as she was, even though that didn't make sex work look good either!

 

[Hermes2020]

The 20s and 30s were wonderful, decadent years in cities like Berlin. I can understand why people like Isherwood were attracted to Germany. I can also imagine his anguish when Heinz, his lover, was forced to serve in the German army.

 

[stlukesguild]

Yes, Paris was the unrivaled Art capital of the period... but Weimar, Dresden, Berlin, Prague, and Vienna formed a serious cultural juggernaut and some of my favorite Modern artists, writers, composers, film-makers, and art movements including the Bauhaus, Die Brücke, der Jugendstil, Wiener Secession, Paul Klee, Max Beckmann, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Hermann Hesse, Thomas Mann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Richard Strauss, Otto Wagner, Rich Korngold, Franz Kafka, Rilke, Robert Weine, Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, etc... Unfortunately, the period didn't last long.