After WW2, the German newspaper Bild started a comic strip about a conniving Blonde named Lilli.
Sexy, perky, with sultry eyes, pouty lips & a pony tail, she was always hunting for a “sugar daddy”.
Later, a doll was made of her. This more or less inspired Barbie.
I’ver heard that there were printed collections of the comics in Germany. Trade paperbacks, I believe.
I’ve also seen am on-line site where the cartoons were printed in English.
Judging by the typefont, these English-Language-Lillis were taken from a book. Sadly, that website has vanished.
I’m looking for that book, & its title. English, German or either.
If it helps (and you don’t already know) the name of the Lili cartoonist is Reinhard Beuthien, and the full name of the paper the cartoon appeared in was Bild-Zeitung.
I own a pop-history book on Barbie (Forever Barbie by M. G. Lord) with a chapter on Lili and a few examples of the strip (in German). I was hoping that the book you’re looking for might be listed in the bibliography. No luck, though – apparently Lord got the strips from reprints of the paper itself rather than a collection.
One more hint, though. Lord attributes some of her information on Lili to Billy Boy’s, Barbie: Her Life and Times – maybe you could track down a copy and check the bibiography.
