Midge (Barbie doll)
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Midge Hadley is a fictional character in the Barbie line of dolls, by Mattel. She was first released in 1963. Midge was created, along with Skipper, to counteract criticism that claimed Barbie was a sex symbol. Midge had a fuller, gentler face that was less sexually intimidating. Her head mold was stamped "1958", the same as Barbie. She had short red hair and freckles. In the 1960s, she was Barbie Millicent Roberts's original best friend, but was not heard of for many years until 1988. In 1991 she was married to Alan Sherwood, a friend of Ken Carson's.
In 2003, she and Alan were re-introduced with a family consisting of them and two kids, 3-year-old Ryan and newborn baby Nikki. This was known as the "Happy Family" line. Midge was sold "pregnant" with Nikki (who was a tiny baby inside Midge's magnetic removable pregnant stomach), which led to some controversy. This controversy led to Wal-Mart pulling the Happy Family line off their shelves. Later, around Nikki's first birthday, Midge was pregnant with another child, who wasn't named or given a specific gender because the gender was a surprise when the owner opened the doll's box. Midge has two known parents who are simply known as "Grandpa" and "Grandma".
The name Hadley is believed to be a reference to the Douglas Sirk film Written on the Wind.
