Barbie play with paper dolls, and noticed that she often enjoyed giving them adult roles. At the time, most children's toy dolls were representations of infants. Realizing that there could be a gap in the market, Handler suggested the idea of an adult-bodied doll to her husband Elliot, a co-founder of the Mattel toy company. He was unenthusiastic about the idea, as were Mattel's directors. During a trip to Europe in 1956 with her children Barbara and Kenneth, Ruth Handler came across a German toy doll called Bild Lilli. The adult-figured doll was exactly what Handler had in mind, so she
Elliot Caplin it had a 1974 workshop production for several weekends at the Cricket Theatre on Second Avenue in an effort to interest potential backers. The play was eventually produced in 1982. Among his many other plays are "A Nickel for Picasso", a fictionalized account of his brother losing his leg. He also wrote a book about his brother, "Al Capp Remembered". Caplin lived in Larchmont, New York, with his wife Ruth and their three children, Donald, Joan and Toby. He died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 2000. Elliot Caplin Elliot Caplin (December 25, 1913 - February 20, 2000) was a comic strip