The Barbie doll turns 50 this year. The doll debuted at the New York Toy Fair back in 1959 and instantly became popular with little girls everywhere. She was so different from all the other 'baby-like' dolls.

Where did the idea for Barbie come from? Here's a likely but surprising story about her origins. Barbie was based on a German sex doll. The owner of Mattel had visited Germany on vacation in the mid 50's and she had seen the plastic sex doll which inspired Mattel to create a Barbie look-alike. See the story in the video below;

The Barbies photo above is via mauren veras.