MIBDH: Coleman, Baker, Holiday -- Trailblazing Trio

Moments in Black Doll History (MIBDH):  Read about these fabulous historical women honored in doll form by Alexander Doll Company here.

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Moments in Black Doll History - Alexander Dolls

I would be remiss if I omitted dolls by Madame Alexander, another forerunner in including black dolls in its doll lines.  Founded in 1923 by Beatrice "Madame" Alexander Behrman, the earliest black Alexander dolls that I have encountered were made of composition.  The Topsy-Turvy doll pictured above is attributed to Madame Alexander as it is well documented that Alexander made a doll like this, but it does not bear manufacturer's marks.  This was a common practice with companies who sometimes used molds sculpted by others. 

As illustrated, one side is a black doll whose head is jointed; the other side is a white doll with an unjointed neck.  The black doll has three tufts of hair and molded hair; the white doll has molded hair.  They share the same body, which measures 7 inches. 

Topsy-Turvy dolls originated as cloth dolls and have a very interesting story that I shared in chapter 1, page 46 of Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion.

Topsy Turvy, also known as Double Doll, Two-in-One, and Upside Down dolls first appeared in the South in the 1800s. These dolls share one body. Each doll’s dress or skirt, when flipped, hides the other doll underneath. It is widely believed that servants made these dolls for their children using dress scraps. The slave child would play with the white side in the absence of the slave master. Upon the slave master’s approach, the child would flip the doll over to the black side to hide the forbidden-to-play-with white doll. Others postulate the dolls were made by slaves for their masters’ children, who were forbidden to play with black dolls. In the absence of their parents, the white child would play with the black doll and flip the doll to the white side upon their parents’ or other disapproving person’s approach.

Another historically significant doll by Madame Alexander is Cynthia, a hard plastic doll made in three sizes (15, 18, and 21 inches -- some doll historians document the sizes as 14, 18, and 22 inches).  Cynthia was made for one year only, 1952-1953 and uses the Margaret face mold.  Above is the 15-inch version with custom-made clothing (two dresses that replicate her original dress) and other fashions professionally made for her.

Leslie, from 1965, an all-vinyl, 17-inch fashion doll, is another doll by Madame Alexander that has maintained popularity among vintage doll collectors.  The above doll uses the Polly face.  Another version uses the Elise head sculpt.  Rumored to have been named for the actress, Leslie Uggams, Leslie was produced until the early 1970s wearing an array of fashions, including the popular bridal gown.  Her counterpart is Elise. 

These and other dolls by Madame Alexander continue to enhance the collections of doll enthusiasts.

Baby Ellen (1972), Victoria (2002), Pussy Cat (1992), and an earlier Baby Ellen (1965)

Friends From Foreign Lands and International 8-inch dolls by Alexander

Jamaica (1987), Africa (1991), Africa (1988), and Mali (1996)

Click here for the history (through 2001) of the Alexander Doll Company.

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Moments in Black Doll History - Effanbee Dolls

The Effanbee Doll Company* was founded by two businessmen who were first neighbors and friends in Atlantic City, New Jersey--Bernard E. Fleischaker and Hugo Baum.  After forming their doll company, its trademark name became EFF (for the "F" in Fleischaker) and BEE (for Baum)--Effanbee.   Their motto became, "Dolls that Touch Your Heart." Like Horsman dolls and a few other companies that will be mentioned in subsequent posts, Effanbee dolls incorporated dark skinned dolls into their lines shortly after the company's inception in 1912. 

Initially this blog was to be devoted to Marilee (1924), pictured above, standing, with Sweetie Pie (1930s), but other early black dolls by Effanbee deserve recognition. 

Snowball a.k.a. Black Grumpy and Patsykin/Patsy Jr. date back to years 1913 and 1930, respectively.  Both are of composition construct; however, Snowball's composition is limited to the head.  The body is cloth with red circular striped cloth legs (covered by the doll's pink polka dot romper).  Patsy dolls were very popular during the first quarter of the 19th Century so much so that several other manufacturers made Patsy look-a-like dolls, mostly in white, but black Patsy look-a-likes can still be found today.  Effanbee has produced several modern versions of black Patsy dolls as well.

Marilee and Sweetie Pie are less common finds than the well-documented Black Grumpy and black Patsy dolls by Effanbee.  Both dolls were eBay finds.  Marilee was a basket case.  She arrived as an incomplete restoration without pupils.  It is uncertain if her lamb's wool wig is original or if black Marilees had a different style wig.  The white ones did.  I completed the restoration, intentially giving her fuller lips, and I added synthetic, brown pupils, which replace the doll's original brown, tin pupils.  She was my first composition restoration. 

Sweetie Pie was described by the seller as having been stored in an attic along with her white counterpart.  The white doll was in extreme preloved condition while Sweetie Pie was near mint.  My best guess is the prior owner of the two dolls played with the white version more.  After her doll-play years concluded, the dolls were stored together, possibly along with others, in the attic of her childhood home.  The dolls were later sold together at an estate sale with the eventual auction of my doll on eBay.  I recall there being a bidding war at the end of the auction, but I was determined to win Sweetie Pie. 

*The Effanbee Doll Company is now owned by Robert Tonner and maintains the original motto:  "Dolls that Touch Your Heart."

Horsman's Black Baby Bumps

Horsman's Black Baby Bumps, 1910

images courtesy of eBay seller:  bloodhound*usa

Baby Bumps by E. I. Horsman dates back to 1910.  With the exception of color, the black version is identical to the white doll, which was marketed as an "Art Doll" or character doll fashioned after a real child.  Constructed with a flange composition head and velvet body with jointed limbs, the doll was one of Horsman's "Can't Break-Em" dolls.  (Supposedly composition dolls would not break.) Thus the name "Baby Bumps."

According to Collector's Guide to Horsman Dolls Identification and Values 1865-1950 by Don Jenson (Collector Books, 2002):

...Baby Bumps became Horsman's second successful unbreakable composition doll [after Billiken] and its first real character baby, the result of E.I. Horsman Jr.'s decision to shun the old fashioned "angel-faced" doll in favor of those modeled after real children....

...At first, Baby Bumps had a pink velvet body, stuffed with ground cork, and paw-like hands.  Later versions had sateen or muslin bodies and jointed sateen arms and legs.  From 1911, some versions had composition hands.  While most were white, a doll Horsman advertised as Colored Baby Bumps was sold" [as illustrated in the images above, including the velvet or plush body and paw hands].

Horsman was a forerunner in the manufacture of black dolls in the US.  Other early black dolls by Horsman include, a variety of black Babyland rag dolls including a Topsy-Turvy Babyland Rag Doll with two lithographed faces depicting characters, Eva and Topsy, from Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Bingo, Cotton Joe, Sambo, and Topsy were additional "Can't Break-Em" composition dolls manufactured between 1910 and 1914.  Black Dimples, a 13-1/2 inch composition baby with trademark facial dimples was manufactured in the 1920s as was Black Peterkins, a 13-1/2 inch girl, circa 1929.  Patsy look-a-likes appeared in the 1930s, and in the 1940s, a 21-inch, all-composition doll, Rosebud.  Of course there were others. 

Essentially, with the exception of Bingo, Cotton Joe, and Topsy, and later in the 1950s (Pete and his twin sister Polly), Horman dolls were usually dark skinned versions of their white counterparts, but black dolls nonetheless.

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Moments In Black Doll History - Leo Moss Doll Image

Left 18-1/2” Callie with papier mache head, recycled cloth body with composition arms/legs tinted to match the head; 21” Buzzy - papier mache head on recycled composition arms/legs and cotton body tinted to match the coloring of the head. Sitting is Grace Mae Lavett, 20” with papier mache head with brown glass eyes and tears on her checks, recycled cloth body and legs with composition arms tinted to match the head.

With permission from Steva Roark Allgood, Lisa Ambrose of Antique Doll  Collector Magazine (ADCM),  shared the above Leo Moss doll grouping with me.  The image appeared in the June 2009 issue of ADCM in the article, "Reflections on Collecting," written by Ms. Allgood, the owner of these extremely rare, one-of-a-kind Leo Moss dolls. 

Thanks again Steva and Lisa!

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Moments in Black Doll History - Leo Moss

Since this is Black History Month, I have decided to post various moments in black-doll history.  These moments will be in the form of snippets of information about a particular black doll, artist, or manufacturer who incorporated black dolls into their lines or chiefly made them.

The first snippet is about Leo Moss and his dolls. 

The above image was used in the first issue of Black Doll-E-Zine* in the Doll Collecting News section.

Leo Moss, a Black doll maker and Macon, Georgia native, made dolls in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Friends and family are reported to have been the subjects for his dolls, many of which bore sad faces with actual teardrops molded into their papier-mâché faces. It has been written that the tears were added to Moss’s dolls after his wife ran away with the Caucasian toymaker from whom he purchased doll bodies. Another source indicates that when a child cried and could not be consoled while a doll in its likeness was being made, Mr. Moss added the tears. Leo Moss dolls are extremely rare and can sell for thousands at auction. (Excerpt from my book, Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion, 2008)

In communicating with an owner of Moss dolls, Steva Roark Allgood, and reading an article written by her ("To Leo Moss with love" printed in the Fall 1987 issue of UFDC's Doll News), "Leo Moss was a handyman by trade."  While most of his dolls were black, a few white dolls were made on commission.  According to Allgood's article, "Moss traded for chickens and vegetables to feed his family... The dolls were made from paper scraped from walls, boiled and made into a paste.  Each head was molded individually and colored with a spray gun used for killing flies.  Boot dye and stove blacking were used as the base color.  The glass eyes were brown and inset into the heads.  However, a few had painted eyes.  Their hair was molded and their nostrils were usually pierced.  Bodies were cloth with legs and arms mostly composition.  The bodies were made by Lee Ann Moss, Leo's wife, and some were from broken dolls they had been given...  Another source of doll parts was from a toy supplier (a white man from New York) who sold seconds, or defective parts, to Moss.  It is said that later this salesman ran off with Lee Ann taking the youngest child, Mina, with them.  Henceforth, the dolls had tears on their faces, always appeared very sad and dejected, and reflected the unhappiness he felt over this tragic event."

Allgood's five-page article, complete with beautiful black and white images of Moss dolls, continues.

View more Moss dolls here (an image--photographed or scanned by another doll enthusiast--of a page from Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide, by Myla Perkins, Collector Books, 1993). 

Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide Book II by Myla Perkins (Collector Books, 1995) offers additional information and images of Leo Moss dolls.

*I co-founded Black Doll-E-Zine in February 2002.

dbg (still in search of an elusive Moss doll)

2010 IDEX Images

I've been waiting for Terri Gold to post a link to her beautiful 2010 IDEX pictures. She has done so.  I had to stop working to take a cursory view.  I'll view the over 200 images later today.

From what I've seen thus far, Tonner is offering princess dolls... is the dark-skinned one Princess Tiana?  Probably.  Jason Wu definitely has two Princess Tiana offerings.

Again, I'll study the other images later.

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