Lilli, also known as Bild-Lilli, is a discontinued West German comic strip created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid newspaper Bild, appearing there from 1952 to 1961.
Ordered to draw a "filler" cartoon for the 24 June 1952, inaugural issue of Bild, Reinhard Beuthien drew an unruly baby making a mess in her house; his editor disliked it, so he adapted the drawing into a sexy pony-tailed blonde sitting in a fortune-teller's tent.
[2] The cartoon always consisted of a picture of Lilli talking, while dressed or undressed in a manner that showed her figure, usually to girlfriends, boyfriends, or her boss.
In 1953, Bild decided to market a Lilli doll and contacted Max Weissbrodt of the toy company O&M Hausser in Neustadt bei Coburg.
[8] In 1962, Beuthien created another cartoon character called "Schwabinchen" for a Bavarian newspaper, but it was not as successful as Lilli and the dolls inspired by her were of poor quality.