Lilli was a German cartoon character created by Reinhard Beuthien for the German tabloid
Bild. In 1953, the newspaper decided to market a Lilli doll and contacted Max Weissbrodt of the toy company
O&M Hausser in
Neustadt bei Coburg. Weissbrodt designed a prototype doll based on Beuthien's cartoons that was sold from 1955 to 1964; that year, Mattel acquired the rights to the doll and German production stopped. Bild Lilli was available in two sizes: . She held three patents, features absolutely new in doll-making: the head and neck were not one form connected with a seam at the shoulders, but rather the seam was mid-neck, behind the chin; the hair was not rooted, but a cut-out scalp that was attached by a hidden metal screw; the legs did not sprawl open when she was sitting. The doll was made of plastic and had molded eyelashes, pale skin, and a painted face with side glancing eyes, high narrow eyebrows, and red lips. Her fingernails were also painted red. She wore her hair in a ponytail with one curl on the forehead. Her shoes and earrings were molded on. Her limbs were attached inside by coated rubber bands. The cartoon Lilli was blonde, but a few of the dolls had other hair colours. Each Lilli doll carried a miniature copy of
Bild and was sold in a clear plastic tube, with the doll's feet fitted into the base of a stand labelled "Bild-Lilli" that formed the bottom of the tube; the packaging was designed by E. Martha Maar, the mother-in-law of the Hausser company owner. Originally the tall dolls cost
DM 12, the small DM 7.50 at a time when average monthly take-home pay was DM 200 to DM 400. Her fashions, mostly also designed by Maar, mirror the lifestyle of the 1950s: She had outfits for parties, the beach, and tennis, as well as cotton dresses, pajamas and poplin suits. In her last years, her wardrobe consisted mainly of traditional "
dirndl" dresses. Lilli's dresses always have patent fasteners marked "
PRYM". Lilli and her fashions were sold as children's toys in several European countries, including Italy and Scandinavian countries; outside Germany she is usually remembered as a children's doll. In the United States, she was just called "Lilli". Some Lillis have been seen in original 1950s packaging for an English-speaking market labelled "
Lili Marleen", after the song. ==Imitations and Barbie==