The Zionist roots of Mattel

Generations of children have enjoyed playing with classic favourites such as Barbie and Hot Wheels, but did you know that the creators of these much-loved toys were Jewish Zionists?

Mattel is a giant in toymaking, and it was started by businessman Harold “Matt” Matson and the Jewish husband-and-wife duo Elliot and Ruth Handler in 1945. Originally, they called the company Mattel Creations by combining the names Matt and Elliot, with Ruth agreeing that the name sounded better without trying to incorporate hers into it. A year later, due to poor health, Matt sold his share to the Handler’s, and they become sole owners and equal partners of the company, initially making and selling picture frames.

Elliot was an artist and used his creativity to make dollhouse furniture out of scraps of frames for the couple’s children to play with. As popularity of the wooden furniture grew, Elliot and Ruth experimented with plastic, and before long, these miniature furniture items were the largest part of the business. The company was rebranded as Mattel and transitioned into making toys full-time. 

The couple had two children, Barbara and Kenneth, and you may see where this is heading. Ruth observed her daughter and her friends using paper dolls with the dollhouse furniture. Ruth noted how they enjoyed pretending to be grownups but the only plastic dolls available in stores were of children and babies. 

It was this observation which led Ruth to create the Barbie doll. And yes, Barbie was named after their daughter Barbara, and the Ken doll after their son Kenneth. You could even say that Barbie is Jewish, after all, she was invented by a Jewish mother and named after a Jewish child.

The Handlers Zionism

Due to Ruth and Elliot’s success in business, they became major philanthropists in Los Angeles, supporting an array of causes, including Jewish ones. “That was our training, our background,” Ruth explained; “the Jewish ethic.”

The Handlers were large donors of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) which supports Jews in Israel. In 1967, when the Six Day War broke out in Israel, Ruth was immediately on the phone to the UJA office in Los Angeles to ask how she could help. The person who answered was overwhelmed with the number of calls and said they couldn’t handle them all as the phones were ringing off the hook. 

Ruth was the president of one of the largest companies in the US and had an incredibly busy schedule, but she dropped everything, drove down to the UJA offices, and helped the overwhelmed staff answer the telephones.

Within a couple of days, Ruth had set up a more efficient system for UJA staff to answer calls and accept donations from the many people who were phoning in to support Israel’s war efforts. She then returned to Mattel to continue leading the company. “That’s what I call public service,” Ruth said. “I felt very good about it.”

Ruth and Elliot Handler have both passed away, but the Jewish and Israeli connection at Mattel remains to this day. The current CEO of Mattel is Israeli-American businessman, Ynon Kreiz, who is married to Israeli Olympian, Anat Fabrikant. Because the Handlers were so supportive of Israel, and with the continued Israeli connection, Mattel is routinely targeted by the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Thankfully, this hasn’t stopped the company from being one of the most successful toy companies on earth.

Mattel was not just a one-hit wonder. Elliot had an invention of his own to add to the toy market, and it too was birthed out of observing his son playing with toy cars. In 1968, Elliot created Hot Wheels, a range of scale-model cars.

Mattel is now a global brand with companies like Fisher Price in its portfolio, and popular toys such as Polly Pocket, UNO, American Girl, Barney, and Bob the Builder under its belt. 

Today, Barbie is the most popular brand of doll on the market whilst Hot Wheels is the most popular brand of toy car. Girls and boys around the world are enjoying the benefits of a Jewish family’s innovation and ingenuity. 

We are also sure that God honoured Ruth and Elliot for blessing Israel. The Bible says that God will bless those who bless Israel and God will curse those who curse Israel. Maybe a large part of the many examples of Jewish success are because Jews are the ones who continually bless Israel. 

The Bible also says the Jewish people are a blessing to the world. Scripture is clearly not talking about Barbie and Hot Wheels being those blessings. However, we are sure many children will be blessed to receive these Jewish-invented toys on Christmas morning, the day when Christians celebrate the ‘reason for the season’; the real way God blessed mankind through the Jewish people.