Barbie’s still waiting
QUESTION
Which doll was first – Ken or Barbie? BARBIE and Ken are the most famous doll couple in the world, but, of course, like Adam and Eve they were created separately.
However, unlike the father and mother of Creation, the woman was made first.
Ruth Handler created Barbie in 1959 after she had been inspired on a visit to Europe by a German doll Bild Lilli who herself was based on a comic strip in a German newspaper.
Upon her return to the US, Handler reworked the design of the doll (with help from engineer Jack Ryan) and the doll was given a new name, Barbie, after Handler’s daughter Barbara.
The doll made its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York on March 9, 1959 and this date is used as Barbie’s official birthday.
Barbie has her own backstory. She is from the fictional American town of Willows, Wisconsin and is the daughter of George and Margaret Roberts.
Of course, it was not long before Barbie was given a mate, Ken Carson, in 1961. Ken, too, was named after one of Handler’s children.
Barbie and Ken have been together for 54 years now, bar for a hiatus from 2004-2011, but have never married.
Russell Arons, vice-president of marketing at toy firm Mattel announced the split in 2004 saying: ‘[They] feel it’s time to spend some quality time – apart... Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end.’
He did though mention that they would ‘remain friends,’ while also raising the intrigue by suggesting that their split might have had something to do with his not wanting to commit to marriage.
Of course, this had the effect of increasing interest even further in the dolls to get back together and the pair were officially reunited on Valentine’s Day four years ago.
Mary Donnelly, by email.
QUESTION
During World War II, the Germans developed the Mistel, comprising a piloted fighter aeroplane mounted on top of a pilotless bomber packed with explosives. What is its story and did the Allies develop an equivalent? PIGGY back aircraft combinations are far from rare but the Mistel (Mistletoe) combination of fighter on top of a bomber was unusual, in that the bomber was a disposable, albeit slow, stand-off missile.
The combination was flown by the pilot of the fighter on top of the unmanned bomber.
The fighter broke away from the combination by firing explosive bolts, after aiming the lower aircraft at the target. The upper component was either a Messerschmitt 109 or Focke Wulf 190 and the bomber was a Junkers 88, although jet-powered versions were planned.
As many as 250 Mistels are reported to have been constructed. The concept was one in which a 7,700lb warhead containing a 3,800lb explosive charge was bolted onto the front of the disposable bomber.
The warhead was the hollow charge type, similar to a bazooka warhead, but larger. When exploded, it fired a molten jet of metal at up to 25 times the speed of sound into its target.
Sufficient to penetrate, or drill a hole through up to 24 feet of steel armour or a greater thickness of concrete. It was intended to destroy warships at anchor; Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands archipelago, and Gibraltar were mooted as targets.
Operation Iron Hammer was another proposal in which around 56 of the weapons would have been used to destroy Soviet electricity generation around Moscow and Gorky. These latter targets would have been one way missions and any attack on Gibraltar would have involved over-flying neutral Spain. Scapa Flow was considered the best target but British defences would have made it a difficult operation.
Mistel was deployed against the D-Day landing beaches, though to little effect. The weapon was used again in attacks on the Oder bridges in the final weeks of the war. Holes were blown through parts of the bridges but the weapon was unsuited to the task and no great damage was effected.
John Beaks, Chesterfield, Derbys. THE Americans briefly used a similar idea. Both the US Air Force (operation Aphrodite) and US Navy (operation Anvil) used war-weary bombers, stripped and filled with 30,000lb of explosive. The idea was to fly the bombers by radio control to their targets.
The Americans enjoyed similar success to the Germans. Lt Joe Kennedy, brother of the future US president, was killed on one of these operations.
The RAF had the manned Lancaster bomber which could accurately deploy 12,000lb and later 22,000lb bombs.
While all this was being tried, the USA were developing the ultimate single powerful bomb and an aircraft to deliver it, the atomic bomb and the B29 bomber.
Mick French, Norfolk.
QUESTION
Did former US President Herbert Hoover really give everything he earned to charity? HERBERT Hoover (1874-1964), America’s 31st president (19291933), is usually regarded as one of the US’s worst. He took office in 1929, the year the economy plummeted into the Great Depression.
Although the policies of his predecessor Calvin Coolidge undoubtedly contributed to the crisis, Hoover’s inability to deal with it meant that he bore much of the blame in the minds of the American people.
A mining engineer before entering politics, the Iowa-born president was widely viewed as callous and insensitive to the suffering of millions of desperate Americans.
This view was completely unfair as Hoover was a great philanthropist. He was one of the founders of the Committee for Relief in Belgium during World War I.
At the time, the German occupiers were starving Belgian civilians, and the British blockaded the country. The CRB raised more than $1 billion to feed 11 million starving people of Belgium.
Hoover received no compensation for his charity work, an example many colleagues followed. He also refused honours that various groups wanted to award him.
According to historian Glen Jeansonne, ‘Hoover did not simply save Belgium, much of Central Europe, and the Soviet Union from famine during the era of the Great War; he performed small acts of kindness virtually every day.’
When Hoover worked as a public servant, as Food Administrator, Commerce Secretary, and his term as US President, he refused to accept payment. He saved his entire salary and gave it to charity.
According to his biographer George Nash: ‘Hoover practised the philanthropic virtues that he professed. As President, he declined to spend any of his salary on himself. Instead, he gave it away to charities or as income supplements to associates.
‘During their long marriage, he and his wife extended charitable assistance to countless needy recipients, usually anonymously and through surrogates.
‘In the Thirties, Hoover’s brother concluded that he [Hoover] had given away more than half of his business profits for benevolent purposes. Characteristically, however, Hoover concealed most of his benefactions, with the result that their full extent may never be known.’
After losing re- election, Hoover continued his charitable work.
A central focus of Hoover’s philanthropy was organisations that fostered character among young men.
He managed the Boys’ Club of America, building it up from 140 clubs to more than 600 at the time of his death. During World War II he established the Polish Relief Commission after Hitler invaded Poland. After the war he established the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace to help prevent another global war.
Eric B. Newland, Los Angeles.
QUESTION
Is it true that Silvio Berlusconi was once a cruise ship singer? What other interesting jobs have our leaders had? FURTHER to the earlier answer, as a student of quantum physics at East Germany’s University of Leipzig, Angela Merkel worked as a barmaid. Apparently cherry brandy was the East German drink of choice at that time.
Barack Obama sold ice-cream for Baskin- Robbins while l i ving in Honolulu. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev was a street cleaner. Former Icelandic Prime Minister – and the first openly gay world leader – Johanna Siguroardottir – was a former flight attendant.
Mrs E. Rowse, Worcester.