Did you know that Barbara Millicent Roberts, better known as Barbie, is from Willows, Wisconsin? While there is a Willow Township in Richland County, Barbie’s town is fictional, as is Willows High School, her alma mater. Barbie is meant to represent a Midwestern girl gone glamorous, one who has followed her career dreams as doctor, astronaut, or army officer while still maintaining her small-town values. Barbie debuted in 1959, and by 1961, when Orville and Frances Fox of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, bought this doll and its accompanying case for their granddaughter Beth in Madison, Barbie’s looks had not changed much. Ruth Handler, cofounder of Mattel, Inc., based the original doll and its curvaceous body on one she had seen in Switzerland, not realizing the Swiss version, with its long legs, small…
