Elliot Handler daughter, Barbara, who was the namesake of Barbie dolls; and a son, Kenneth (who died of a brain tumor in 1994) who was the namesake of Ken dolls. While a struggling art student and designer of light fixtures, Handler partnered with Harold Matson to design a realistic-looking miniature piano that received roughly 300,000 orders; however, they mispriced the product and lost a dime on each one produced. Mattel received its name from business partners Harold Matt Matson and Elliot Handler in 1945. Elliot's wife, Ruth, took Matson's role when the Handlers bought his share in the late 1940's. Ruth Handler
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