Next week will signify the 40th anniversary of one of America’s most popular dolls.

Barbie will turn 40 on March 9, and Jill Barad, CEO at Mattel, will ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange that morning. Later in the day, Ruth Handler, creator of Barbie, will be signing autographs at FAO Schwartz in New York City.

“This birthday isn’t so much for the young girls as it is for the adults who were around when Barbie first came about,” said Lisa McKindall, director of marketing communications at Mattel. “It just isn’t very significant for the girls. Forty years is much more significant to adults.”

McKindall said Barbie collecting is the biggest part of Mattel’s business right now, which is why this anniversary will be geared more toward adults.

Mattel will issue four special edition anniversary dolls to celebrate Barbie’s long career, according to the Barbie Web site.

The Gala Edition 40th Anniversary doll will be available in March to members of the Official Barbie Collectors Club. Only 20,000 gala dolls were made.

The Collector Edition 40th Anniversary doll, with a gown inspired by the original Barbie’s black-and-white striped bathing suit, will be available in June.

The Bob Mackie-Le Papillon Barbie doll will be available in August only at FAO Schwartz stores.

The Crystal Jubilee Barbie, available in June, is considered a “high-end collector doll,” McKindall said.

But local stores that sell Barbie dolls say they won’t carry many of the collector dolls and won’t be running Barbie promotions during March.

Ryan Meyers, assistant manager of the hard-line floor at Target, 316 S. Duff Ave., said he wished Mattel would do a promotion at his store.

“We have a bunch of the new WNBA dolls and we’re wondering if anything was going to be going on,” Meyers said.

Wal-Mart, 3015 Grand Ave., hadn’t been informed of any special promotions either.

To further celebrate the anniversary, Jackson Perkins, a rose grower, will be cultivating a miniature pink rose to be named Barbie. This will correspond with a new Barbie to come out in May named Rose.

The U.S. Post Office also is celebrating the anniversary with a Barbie stamp, available in July.

Although Barbie has come under some scrutiny lately for her inaccurate proportions, McKindall said these criticisms have not affected Barbie sales in any way.

“In 1998, we did $1.7 billion in sales,” McKindall said. “At the end of the ’80s we were only doing $400 million.”

Part of the success of Barbie has to be attributed to the new Barbie dolls that come out every year, McKindall said.

“We have a team of designers and fashion designers that work here at Mattel,” she said. “They do a lot of research with girls. They go to places girls hang out and really follow the trends that are popular with that age group.”