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| Custom Black Bild Lilli Photograph courtesy of T. Fisher |
I received an email and photographs from a collector who has acquired a beautiful brown-painted version of Bild Lilli, the doll that inspired the creation of the original Barbie. Tonya asked:
Were black versions of these dolls created along with the white ones in the 60's, or are the dolls we are seeing painted or OOAK dolls?
... I know that [my doll] was custom made, but I am curious about whether there are any older, original models out there.
I replied:
After my reply to Tonya, I conducted a brief online search to enhance my Bild Lilli knowledge. What I found is the doll was developed from a comic strip character published in the German tabloid, Bild. The character's appearance and demeanor mimicked that of a sexy, blonde pin-up girl. In Bild Lilli a History Catches Up, Anne Zielinski-Old interviews "Germany’s premiere collector of the Lilli doll," Inge Astor-Kaiser for Fashion Doll Quarterly, wherein Barbie's predecessor is described as "the mother of the modern fashion doll." According to IAK,Without conducting any extensive research on the existence of an authentic black Bild Lilli, my answer would be, no, since the doll was originally manufactured in Germany as a man’s gag toy. It has been written that [Bild Lilli] originally represented a prostitute. Because of its German origin and the fact that it was [originally] designed for men, I doubt that a dark-skinned Bild Lilli was made. Many companies used the same mold to create clones and of course dark-skinned clones have been produced, but they were never given the name Bild Lilli.
Her personality was naive, sexy but at the same time clever, she was easily able to wrap men around her little finger, yet she was still youthfully innocent. A doll that had an expression between a teenager and a woman. Lilli was a beauty and she was a lady of fashion. Lilli was a symbol of the new femininity, a symbol of liberation and the satisfaction of women's pent-up demand for consumer goods. Her perfect body, her high heels, red lips and fingernails, her ponytail and the wisp of hair curling over her forehead, her made-up eyebrows and her cheeky expression exuded sex appeal, confidence and independence. She wore the outfits of dream careers like stewardess and ballerina, or a sporty look for tennis or ice skating. She turned heads in ball gowns, furs, haute couture, lingerie, and American style casual clothes.
Other websites of note that focus on Bild Lilly's history include:
Bild Lilli Doll History 1952-1964
Bild Lilli Clones and Competitors (mentions Eegee's rare black Babette)
Bild Lilli doll (on Wikipedia)
I also found a blog that defends Bild Lilli's honor, Barbie's Predecessor Was a Businesswoman not a Prostitute.
None of the online information answers Tonya's question. So the purpose of this blog is to ask readers who happen by: Do you have additional Bild Lilli knowledge to share beyond what I have provided Tonya regarding the manufacture of dark-skinned Bild Lilli?
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| Custom Bild Lilli holds a mini replica of Bild - Photo courtesy of T. Fisher |
Question 2: Was Bild Lilli a businesswoman with standards, as the blogger feels, and not the gold digger or worse that some have labeled her?
Thanks in advance!
dbg
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You know I don't know anything, lol. I just had to comment about how lovely she is and how much I want that white kimono.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I appreciate your comment, Muff. The doll and her kimono are quite lovely! I would love to own both!
ReplyDeletedbg
I got nothing, but I appreciate the information you shared about this doll. I had no idea. Very interesting history.
ReplyDeleteI've seen pictures of other black Lilli dolls. I don't know if they're all custom or not but around the time Ruth Handler was making the first barbie other companies in countries like Spain and Hong Kong were using original Lilli molds to make their own knock-off versions. So they might have made a black version.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this additional information.
Deletedbg
Hi, I just stumbled upon this blog post upon researching about this topic and I have found a seller on eBay that claims "I am her original owner and this Severine has been never displayed." The doll is still in its original packagings so it has not been customized.. So I guess this answers the question that black dolls were indeed produced!
ReplyDeleteHello Zoya. The doll on eBay is a repainted white Bild Lilli. The artist,
DeleteJulian Kalinowski, repaints and names the dolls Lalka Bild Lilli. The verbiage "I am the original owner" is referring to the seller being the original owner of the repainted doll on auction.
So as I replied to Tonya in this post, Black versions of Bild Lilli were not manufactured. You will, however, find modern repainted versions like the doll shown in this blog and the one in the eBay auction.
dbg
My bad, thank you for clarifying:/
ReplyDeleteNot a problem. You're welcome!
ReplyDeletedbg
I’ve been learning a lot about dolls recently. Knowing the suppressed history of Bild Lilli made me sympathetic 2 her. This one is gorgeous — perfectly painted & still looks like Lilli. Her kimono’s lovely too. Would love 2 C perfect reproductions of Lilli along with dark skinned versions.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading this post and for your comment. You can find examples of Bild Lilli dolls and reproductions on Pinterest. Go there and search "Bild Lilli".
DeleteI really don't think that Bild Lilli was a gag gift for men, because if she was, then why did they make so many outfits for her, I think they may have been around a hundred and fifty outfits for this doll, so I don't think that a man would buy a doll for another man back then and an outfit go with it, oh by the way she was a secretary, she may have been a gold digger secretary never the less that's what she was, she was not a prostitute like we were led to believe all these years by Mattel.
ReplyDeleteIt has been documented by several doll historians that Build Lilli, a comic-strip character initially, evolved as a gag gift for men. It was 7-1/2 inches initially. The 11-1/2-inch dolls and fashions were produced later.
Delete"On August 12, 1955 the Bild Lilli doll was sold in smoke shops and a few toy stores as a gag gift intended for adult males. Later Lilli was exported to other countries including the United States. The Lilli doll is all plastic and 7 1/2″ or 11 1/2″ tall, she came in a clear oval tube with a round plastic stand as the bottom marked Bild-Lilli, dolls sold in the United States the stand says Lilli." Doll Reference
*Bild (spell check created the spelling error in my comment above.)
Delete