After recently updating my post from April 11, 2012, Baby Mine or Black Baby Bumps (see link at the end of this post), I thought it best to do a separate followup post for those who might need to identify their doll as either made by Horsman (Baby Bumps) or by Ideal (Baby Mine).
In 2015, I was contacted by a woman who owns a doll that is almost identical to my doll; however, the romper her doll wears is made from different material. After our communication, I concluded that our dolls are Baby Mine and not Baby Bumps as I had originally documented in 2012. After updating the original post to reassign my doll's manufacturer to Ideal instead of Horsman, I contacted J. Saurenman to inquire if she still had pictures of her doll. She reshared pictures and granted me permission to post those here.
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| The fabric of the romper worn by J. Saurenman's Baby Mine is blue and white check; my doll's romper is blue and white plaid. This doll's romper has three pearlized buttons on the placket. My doll's romper is buttonless. |
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| The two dolls' rompers are tagged at the waist "Ideal Baby Mine." My doll's tagged romper and the different fabric used for it is illustrated on the left. |
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| The head and face are crazed (composition has lifted or cracked) in several areas. |
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| The extent of Saurenman's doll's crazing is further illustrated in these photos. Her doll and my doll bear the same mark: WAP or perhaps reverse letters that spell PAW. (Why a doll by Ideal would be marked this way, is unknown. Many early manufacturers used molds sculpted by others and perhaps this is the case with Baby Mine.) |
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| The above photo illustrates my doll's head mark which is identical to J. Saurenman's doll's mark. |
As indicated in my original Baby Mine or Baby Bumps post, Horsman owned the trademark to the Baby Bumps sculpt. After Horsman's doll was on the market, several copycat dolls were made forcing Horsman to warn other dollmakers of their trademark ownership. Horsman's Baby Bumps was introduced in 1910 and Baby Mine reportedly was introduced in 1911. Was Ideal's doll a copycat? Did they cease producing the doll using this head sculpt after Horsman issued the warning?
One last photo from Saurenman shows the inside of her doll's composition head. The following side-by-side photo of my doll and her doll is shared for a final comparison.
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| My Baby Mine is the doll on the left. J. Saurenman's doll is on the right |
In my original Baby Mine or Baby Bumps post, the next image of a little girl is shared.
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| Scanned photo from the book, Black Dolls From the Collection of Deborah Neff illustrates a girl with two dolls, one of which appears to be Ideal's Baby Mine. |
One of the two dolls in the above photo appears to wear a romper that is similar to my doll's and Saurenman's. In this Pinterest pin, the doll identified as Baby Mine by Ideal, 1911, wears a romper that appears to be the same as the one worn by the doll in the above photo.
Thank you again, J. Saurenman for initially contacting me in 2015, for sharing the story of your doll, for resharing the doll's photos, and for allowing me to publish them. It has helped me confirm the identity of my doll and perhaps will help others do the same.
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