[2] Seeking to replicate this model, Larguía launched Marilú in association with Editorial Atlántida,[4] which was responsible for publishing advertisements and clothing patterns for the doll in its children's magazine Billiken, the most widely distributed in Latin America at the time.

[3] After experiencing a period of splendor in the 1940s, in the following decade Bebilandia's products began to be eclipsed by those of other national firms, although Marilú and Bubilay maintained their position as the most popular among little girls.

[3][8][13] Advertisements and texts published in the Billiken and Marilú magazines constructed a narrative around the doll, promoting a bourgeois lifestyle and a prescribed form of femininity,[2] and also contributed to the shaping of girls as consumers.

[13] The Billiken and Marilú magazines also included sewing patterns for girls or their family members to craft the doll's clothing, as well as instructional texts and fashion tips to assist in this endeavor.

[3][6][15] Marilú was created by Alicia Larguía, a professor from high society,[8] inspired by the French predecessor of Bleuette, a doll that the famous magazine for girls La Semaine de Suzette gave to its subscribers, in addition to publishing weekly patterns to sew clothes for her.

[11] The release of Marilú was so successful that in March 1933 Larguía managed to culminate her project and assimilate it to the French precedent with the publication of its own magazine of the same name, which was edited weekly until 1936, and monthly throughout that year.

[3] According to researcher María Paula Bontempo: "In the same way that the launching of a product is considered today, it was not enough for it to be in the shop windows; it was necessary to put meanings into circulation in order to make it known, understand it and desire it.

[5] According to researcher Daniela Pelegrinelli: A world of fantasy was created around her, while at the same time a strong transmission of values took place, both of the bourgeois lifestyle and of an accepted type of femininity, emblematized by good taste in dress and the cultivation of virtues such as piety, discretion, elegance and sobriety.

"[5] The store was known for its elaborate window shop designs, which were regularly renewed and functioned as dioramas representing different situations, such as national scenes, classic stories or important social or cultural events.

[5] Located at Florida Street 774, Casa Marilú was not only dedicated to selling the doll and its wide variety of accessories, but over the years it was also consolidated as a prestigious prêt-à-porter fashion house for girls.

[8] The seamstress and creative Sara Souto was the key figure in the operation of the fashion house: she assisted in the design of garments, participated in the trips to Europe to buy textiles and was in charge of decision making in the workshop.

[8] Souto's niece says that "Sara was very respected in the firm, she had a very large desk arranged in a space full of drawings, fabric clippings, papers with fashion magazines and daily work material.

[3] According to Pelegrinelli, Marilú's "prestige had reached a sufficient magnitude to support the opening of her own factory, a maneuver that, at the end of the 1930S, was very risky, due to the scarcity of both previous experience and suitable personnel to carry it out".

[17] Since the arrival of the Argentine-manufactured Marilú, the constant advertising in Billiken began to highlight the local origin of the doll, resorting to nationalism as a sales strategy with messages such as: "Argentine girls: our industry has made one more effort for you.

Wrapped in the folds of our flag, as a symbol of the continuous aggrandizement of our homeland, the first Marilú manufactured entirely in Buenos Aires excitedly greets the Argentine girls and those of all the countries of America.

[18] The commercial partnership between Larguía and Constancio Cecilio Vigil—director of Atlántida—continued to be very close, and from the second half of the 1940s the characters created by the latter had a greater presence in Bebilandia and in Casa Marilú, where they were sold in the form of dolls and appeared in the designs of fabrics or embroidery.

[11] Finally, around 1960 Larguía sold Casa Marilú to her partner Sara Souto, who decided to abandon doll production and dedicate herself fully to women's fashion, which meant the definitive closure of Bebilandia.

[13] Advertisements encouraged girls to regularly change and update the doll's outfits based on occasions or seasons, effectively promoting the Marilú brand's accompanying clothing line.

[13] Moreover, both Billiken and Marilú magazines included sections that featured clothing patterns that girls or their family members could use to sew the doll's wardrobe; and also provided instructions and fashion tips for this purpose.

[7] The earliest models in this group also include a stamp on the back with the inscription "Marilú Billiken" in blue ink, indicating that they were sold in the first few months of their launch at the Editorial Atlántida store.