Barbie's Taiwanese Homecoming

A plastic, fantastic tale of globalization.

Holiday Dmitri from the May 2005 issue

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Mattel showed the world that Taiwan had a vibrant labor market that could produce things faster and more efficiently than her neighbors. But as the other countries in the region industrialized and became "Asian tigers," Mattel eventually left the island for cheaper pastures. While some former employees pursued opportunities elsewhere in Taiwan, there was no major drop in Taishan's population. With the skills many Mattel laborers learned and the money the company generated in their community, the initial unemployment didn't last long.

The resourceful people of Taishan turned into small businessmen, starting their own companies in the textile and plastic molding industries. Eventually those industries too moved to China and Southeast Asia because of lower labor costs. Again Taishan residents had to find another means to generate local revenue.

Gone are the days when America's major exports to the world came directly from her land or her factories. Today, it's the mass production of the culture industry--movies and CDs, fast food and sneakers--that the world craves.

The cover girl of this American Dream is still Barbie, Mattel's most successful product line, which garners approximately $1.5 billion per year. Since Barbie's creation in 1959 by Ruth and Elliot Handler, the plastic princess (named after the Handlers' daughter Barbara) has established herself as the world's most popular fashion doll and a cultural icon. According to Mattel, three Barbie dolls are sold somewhere in the world every second.

Barbie's presence in countries like Taiwan suggests the strength of America's cultural influence. In the last four decades the Mattel doll has represented 45 different nationalities; today she graces the aisles of toy stores in more than 150 countries. America's sweetheart has evolved, reflecting the current times and fashion (from UNICEF diplomat to Harley Davidson biker, country star to astronaut), but one thing remains constant. Barbie's cross-continental popularity derives from one particular quality: Her ability to embody infinite possibility.

Now Barbie could become the main tourist attraction in an Asian town. Instead of traditional clay teapots or jade jewelry, Taishan wants its claim to tour-guide fame to come from an 11-and-a-half-inch borrowed artifact from modern Western culture. That is, Ku and her colleagues are trying to re-brand their hometown as Barbie Town.

Museum of a Living Doll

The entrance corridor to the Taishan Doll Museum is a time capsule of photos recording the history of the city during the Mattel era: glamour shots of glowing Mattel girls; images of Mattel weddings; a snapshot of workers meeting the company's CEO, Bill Auer; a picture of a group of young girls (presumably the workers' children), each holding a doll with the Mattel logo while Taiwan's national flag flies in the background.

The museum's first room is the Hall of History, which familiarizes visitors with the origins of doll manufacturing and the transformation of Taishan industry. Next comes the Museum of Dolls, an introduction to the different cultures of dolls around the world that showcases Barbie in various sartorial styles. Some are even dressed in traditional Asian garb from Taiwan's aboriginal tribes and in Chinese Cheongsam silk gowns.

The museum has a doll-making classroom where Taishan residents can learn to design and make clothes for Barbie. Some of the best examples are on display. The youngest contributors are schoolkids; the oldest, an 81-year-old woman who created a Barbie decked in army desert fatigues.

It's not difficult to find other museums with a more substantial selection than Taishan's 400 Barbie dolls. The Strong Museum of Rochester, New York, has more than 1,500 Barbies; Holland's J&M Barbie Museum carries around 2,500; and in Hawaii there's the Hawaii Loves Barbie Doll Museum, with about 5,000 plastic dolls. It's hardly a contest, though, for the Mother of All Barbie Collections: Evelyn and Robert Burkhalter's Barbie Hall of Fame Museum in Palo Alto, California, which held 21,000 dolls, but was recently purchased by Mattel. Only Mattel's collection was larger.

It's not the size that counts, Ku stresses. "We've got history," she says. "The others don't."

Taishan's history is a rags-to-riches tale of how an American company came into a poor country and brought jobs for its citizens. Because Mattel raised the whole city's standard of living, even after the toy company's departure, the town was able to thrive by adapting to the free market. Only now, instead of Barbie making, Taishan is Barbie marketing.��