Will the real Amosandra please stand up?
The late 1920s popular radio show, Amos ‘n’ Andy, featuring white actors playing the Black characters, Amos ‘n’ Andy, became a TV show in 1951 with a cast of African American characters. The televised show, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communication’s website “lasted some two years before the program was canceled in the midst of growing protest by the Black community in 1953. It was the first television series with an all-Black cast (the only one of its kind to appear on prime-time, network television for nearly another twenty years).”
Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll headed the radio cast of characters, while Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams, Jr. played the TV roles of Amos Jones and Andrew Hogg Brown, respectively.
Gosden’s and Correll’s Sunday, February 20, 1949, episode, sponsored by Rinso White & Lifebuoy Soap, is particularly of note for Black-doll enthusiasts. In this episode, entitled, ‘Amosandra is Born,’ “Amos and Ruby are expecting and Andy and the Kingfish, [played by actor, Tim Moore] are to be the godfathers… Amos and Ruby became parents for the third time -- with daughter Arbadella and son Amos Jr. receiving a new baby sister, and her name is Amosandra. The new godfathers find themselves with a ‘hot’ baby. This episode led directly into a very successful marketing venture, with the release of the Amosandra baby doll by the Sun Rubber Company of Barberton, Ohio -- the last and one of the most collectible items in a long line of ‘Amos ‘n’ Andy’ licensed merchandise.” (Radioarchives.org)
“Sun Rubber's chief executive, the late T.W. Smith,” is said to have been “such a purist that he went to Harlem to work with a Black photographer so he could get the features and skin coloring just right.” (Mary Etheridge, Past Playthings, November 12, 1998.)
Amosandra Toy Fair Ad, ca. 1949
This little one is still quite popular and surfaces from time to time on online auction sites. Due to the rubber material from which Amosandra was made, and based on how well the doll has been stored throughout the years, the condition of the rubber will vary. In some cases, the rubber has dried, hardened and cracked. In other cases, the doll may be well preserved. Those interested in adding an Amosandra doll to their collections should search online auction sites and do not hesitate to ask questions regarding the condition of the rubber.
Images, text, and ad are from Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion, pages 63-64, copyright 2008 Debbie Behan Garrett.
Answer to question: The real Amosandra is on the left in the first image. The doll on the right is a porcelain reproduction.
Updated 09/26/2021 - Visit DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum to view the Amosandra installation.
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As a white blond 8 or 10-year-old in Central California, I fell in love with Amosandra in a Montgomery Ward catalog, and my grandmother ordered her for me for either my birthday or Christmas. I kept her name. I didn't know any Black people then. The doll was so very cute. Good to read her history here. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet. Amosandra is a special doll. I recently purchased an Amosandra ad that was originally published in a Montgomery Ward catalog, circa 1949. It might be the same ad that incited your desire to own the doll.
Deletedbg
I, too, was a blonde-blue-eyed little girl in California who got Amosandra for Christmas when I was 8. It was love at first sight, and when my close-in-age younger brother and I moved to Europe in 1954 (when I was 9), she was the only doll I took with me. My brother loved her too and she traveled everywhere with us--we were her "parents" and made up elaborate stories about our life with her. I learned how to knit to make clothes for her. I ultimately gave her to my now 46 year-old also blonde,blue-eyed niece (that brother's daughter) when she was a little girl! I still have photos of the doll from 1954, but it doesn't look as if I can upload them here!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your Amosandra story. Does your niece still have her? I would love to see a photo of your childhood doll, unfortunately photos cannot be uploaded into the comments unless you use a link or URL to a photo uploaded elsewhere.
Deletedbg
I just received this baby, from a dear friend who entrusted me with her, I LOVE HER, my friend told me her and her sister fought over this baby when they were little girls, she is perfection except for the squeaker that is missing, not sure why someone had to have that, I have a few pics I would love to share, she is my favorite and I cannot believe I got to be the 'keeper' of her. I am taking notes of my friends kids and grandkids, because I do believe someday she will belong in the right hands ..https://www.facebook.com/messages/t/selena.d.smith
ReplyDeleteIt was sweet of your friend to entrust you with Amosandra. Enjoy her.
ReplyDeletedbg
I just turned 77 last week. My parents always tuned into the Amos n Andy program every week. I sat across from the radio and laughed and laughed. I was raised in W.Va at the time where blacks & whites were still separated, however, my mother bought me an Amosandra baby. She was my first baby, I loved her very much and took her everywhere with me I don't know whatever happened to her but I do think back to her often, I couldn't remember who she belonged to on the show and didn't realize she had other siblings. Thanks for the info I wish they would bring some of those old shows back.
ReplyDeleteYou’re welcome! It’s wonderful that you had an Amosandra as a child.
ReplyDeletedbg
This blue eyed blonde fell in love with my Amosandra doll at Sunday School in the early 60's. My mom was the teacher and got permission for me to bring her home during the week. My attachment was so great that Mom purchased her from church so "Victoria" could live with us forever. She was my favorite dollie! She was stored away when a girl moves to teenager but I moved cross country as a young adult and she came with. Unfortunately, she developed rubber rot & I threw her out years later. Hopefully, I'll be able to find another one to show my grandkids Nana's favorite dollie. Thanks for sharing her story!
ReplyDeleteI too, was a blonde little girl and got this doll as a after Christmas gift from my mom, I love all dolls and had many, I probably was the only girl in Sioux City, Iowa to have this doll, I’m sad I don’t remember what happened to her or my other baby dolls.
ReplyDeleteAm so proud that my mother realized the importance of buying a doll of color for me, her child of color in the late forties when there were mostly white dolls for little girls.
ReplyDelete. I lovingly remember one of my first baby dolls, Amosandra, who could drink and wet so I had to change her diaper. She was made of rubber so she could be bathed. When I was older, she was put in a storage room and damaged her in the intense South
Louisiana hot weather. I so regret that because I would have kept her.
I am so glad your mother realized the importance of buying a doll of color for you, too. I'm sorry to hear that your beloved Amosandra was damaged in storage.
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