Barbie, the iconic fashion doll with the top-heavy figure and high-heel arches, turns 50 tomorrow, with no need for Botox and no threat of hot flashes. Mattel has kicked off global events to celebrate the middle-age status of the much-beloved and often controversial 11½-inch doll that has held the imagination of generations since 1959.

Barbie’s 50th birthday is being marked around the world with numerous pink-carpet events. But the most meaningful celebration of her milestone is in the stories shared by baby boomers who loved her as youngsters and collect her as adults.

. . . Stephanie Shareck Werner’s Barbie family had an enviable life - a dream house, airplane, convertible and eternal youth. But those once-cherished playthings - like so many of their brethren - have been vanquished to a dull and dusty retirement in her mother’s attic.

Mattel sold 300,000 Barbie dolls in 1959, her inaugural year.
Barbie is from Willows, Wis., and attended Willows High School.
Barbie has four sisters: Skipper (1964), Stacie (1992), Kelly (1995) and Krissy (1995).
The first Barbie with the blond or brunette ponytail and black-and-white striped bathing suit sold for $3. A mint-condition 1959 Barbie is worth an estimated $27,450 today.