Ruth Handler: From Lilli to Barbie

The American dream comes in many shapes and colors, limited only by one's imagination and work ethic. Ruth Handler, the daughter of poor Russian-Jewish èmigrès, is a prime example. She turned a Swiss toy sex doll into a quintessentially American icon -- Barbie -- one so well-known that more than a billion have been sold. Barbie is so much a part of the American landscape that in 1976, she was included in the American bicentennial time capsule. The voyage from humble beginnings to great weal...