Black Doll Collecting: January 2020

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Extended Preorder Sale for Brains and Beauty Nia

Brains and Beauty Dolls Nia

The third doll by Brains and Beauty Dolls, Nia, is now available to preorder. The doll retails for $89.99 but is now being offered for a special low sales price of $69.99 from now until March 31, 2020. After March 31st ,the preorder price will increase.

NOTE: 100 preorders are needed to make Nia a reality. Without this minimum order, Nia will not be produced. So help make Nia a reality by placing your preorder now from the Brains and Beauty Dolls website.

Nia’s Specifications:

Nia is 18 inches tall with beautiful brown eyes and beautiful black locs.
She has a half cloth body and movable head and limbs made of smooth ebony-colored vinyl.
Nia speaks 20 empowering phrases, and
Her voice can be personalized with your own empowering phrases!

Nia will arrive as shown here.

Included with Nia are:

A pair of red shoes
Denim jumpsuit

To illustrate the variations in the Brains and Beauty Dolls' complexions, Malia, Nia, and Khari posed together.

Again, the low preorder price of $69.99 is only good from now until March 31, 2020, so preorder Nia today from the Brains and Beauty Dolls website.

Brains and Beauty Dolls appreciates your support in helping them meet the 100-doll minimum preorder goal for Nia.

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Monday, January 27, 2020

Antique Composition Doll by Trego Doll Manufacturing Company

This 25-inch antique composition doll by Trego Doll Manufacturing Company has a ball-jointed body. She is jointed at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees. She wears a replaced Shirley Temple-style wig. She has brown sleep eyes and an open mouth with four upper teeth. My doll's eyes have probably been replaced and the teeth may have been replaced as well.

Close-up of teeth

Very little is known about the Trego Doll Manufacturing Company. This U.S. company is said to have attempted to complete with German doll makers. Formerly located at 3267 Third Ave., New York, Trego made dolls under the Trego name for only three years from 1918-1921. According to Doll Reference, “The Trego Doll Manufacturing Company made antique composition dolls; some dolls have imported bisque heads, others have composition heads, both dolls have composition German like multi-ball jointed bodies.”

This photo illustrates the ball joint in one of my doll's knees.

On the doll's upper back, TREGO is written within a rounded rectangle above MADE IN U.S.A.

The January 1921 issue of Toys and Novelties documents "Indian" and "Negro" dolls made by Trego in various sizes including the 25-inch size like my doll. I have only found two online images of other Black dolls like this one (see related links at the end of this post). It can be safely assumed that Black versions were made in fewer quantities and few are available today.

My doll was purchased in 2011. Below are the original photos that the seller used in the auction listing.

Photos From 2011

Updated Photos

I recently took updated photos of this doll for an antique doll photo-sharing event. While taking the photos, I noticed a couple of flaws in the composition that I wanted to repair. She had one major flaw when she arrived, but the other flaw was relatively new.

This photo illustrates the ball joint in her elbow. The wrist is ball-jointed as well.

It was when the above photo was taken that I noticed the ring finger was missing from the doll's right hand. This is the flaw that was present when she arrived, but it had completely slipped my mind. At the time of her arrival, I had no plans to repair the finger. But since I've replaced other dolls' fingers in the recent past, I decided to replace hers.

Here is a better look at the hand with the missing finger.

In the above picture, in addition to the hand with the missing finger being visible, the portion of the composition above her left knee that was missing is partially visible. That was her second flaw which was not present when she arrived.

This is a better image of the huge piece of composition that was missing above her left knee joint.

This photo and the next one illustrate her rounded bottom that is designed for her to sit, although she can stand as well.

This is another somewhat off-centered view of her bottom from the back.

The Repair

I used several layers of Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler to rebuild the missing composition above the left knee.

The wood filler was also used to strengthen a weak portion of the side of her left calf.

I used air-dry clay to (crudely) sculpt a new finger. All areas were left to dry overnight. The area above the knee was sanded some prior to painting.

Post-Repair Photos

I used a mixture of brown acrylic paints to match the existing paint and to repaint the knee joint...

...the side of the leg...

...and to paint the new finger. Again, the finger is a little lumpy, but she has all her digits now. That's what matters.

Close-up of finger and knee area

She appears to be happy with the repairs

Recovered and redressed

My Trego girl has now been redressed in her period-appropriate plaid satin dress, off-white eyelet-trimmed half-slip, and white pantaloons. The red patent-leather shoes she arrived wearing have been exchanged for black faux leather shoes. (Yes, I know; she needs leather shoes.) The off-white nylon socks she arrived wearing are either stored or being worn by another doll.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

BOTLO For 40th Anniversary 1st Black Barbie

40th Anniversary First Black Barbie

I cannot describe my excitement when I saw the stock images of the upcoming 40th Anniversary First Black Barbie shown above and below. I am happy the doll is not a replica of the 1980 doll that has already been reproduced as seen here. Two almost identical versions are enough.

She's gorgeous!

This doll appears to use the Selma sculpt, which I will welcome warmly since I do not own a doll with that sculpt.

The doll is limited to no more than 20,000!

The 40th Anniversary First Black Barbie is described on the back of the box (minus a double-word error) as follows:

Making her debut in 1980, Black Barbie became the first-ever black fashion doll to actually have the name Barbie. She wore a stylish red dress and had her hair in a curly Afro hair style; she sparked a new era of possibility for girls everywhere. To celebrate her ruby anniversary, 40th Anniversary First Black Barbie doll wears a flowing, trumpet-styled gown with cut-away sleeves, inspired by her iconic original outfit. Her hair is styled in a sophisticated up-do, a subtle nod to her original look. Finishing touches include golden hoop earrings, necklace, and a matching clutch. Then, like now, this doll captures the original doll's signature statement: "She's black, she's beautiful, she's dynamite!"

Additional Stock Photos

The doll is listed on Amazon UK in what appears to be a pre-order as
Barbie GLG35 Playset. She should be available to U.S. buyers soon for $39.99. A Google search offered the description that will be on the Barbie Mattel website, but the link led to their home page at the time of this publication. Amazon . com should have her as well.

According to a Barbie Fan Club Member, the doll will be available at the Barbie Mattel website on 02/03/20. I will continue to be on the lookout (BOTLO) between now and then.

Update 2/1/20. She is on Amazon at the time of this update.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Teonnie's Quick Redress and Handle Repairs

Teonnie enjoys being redressed.

While looking through some doll clothes for doll shoes, I saw this Magic Attic fashion that was purchased over a decade ago and decided to see if it would fit Teonnie.

Teonnie models most of her new-to-her clothes.

I tried the navy blue-print skirt on her first. The waist is only slightly wider than Teonnie's slender waist, but she can wear it without the skirt twisting around.

The white camisole, which snaps closed in the back, fits her perfectly as do the navy blue Mary-Jane-style shoes. A pair of knit tights were stored in the same package with the fashion, but I am not sure if they came with it. They also fit her perfectly.

Lastly, Teonnie tried on the denim jacket, which is lined in white satin-like fabric and tagged Magic Attic. The jacket snaps closed at the fur-trimmed cuffs, which makes it easy to put on and take off.

Teonnie models the complete fashion that was Magic Attic Allison's 2003 starter outfit as seen here.

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The handles on two doll cases that I use for storing Barbie clothing and clothing for other 11-to-12-inch fashion dolls were broken. I did not take before photos before repairing these.

One case is a 1963 double-sided Barbie case as shown above in a photo after the handle was repaired.

The other case is a 1970s fashion doll case by Miner, again photographed after the repair. The image of the brown girl on the front of this case can be seen better here.

My first attempt at repairing the handles was with a hot glue gun. The glue did not bond the parts. I then wrapped and molded air-drying clay around the connected parts. This was allowed to dry and harden. The clay areas were painted after the clay dried as illustrated in the next two images.

The repaired area of the handle of the Barbie case was painted with black acrylic paint. Black enamel paint would have provided better aesthetics or sealing the acrylic paint with a glossy varnish, but I had neither of those available.

Repaired area of the Miner case handle was also painted with misty white acrylic paint.

Even though both cases are filled to the brim with doll clothes and accessories, which makes them heavy, I believe the air-drying clay will hold the handles together. This was a quick way to handle an annoying problem.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

More About Hanna

A circa 1950s Hanna Fuhrer doll

This is Hanna, first seen and described in a blog post published on January 16, 2017. As a refresher, Hanna was the first doll to be added to my collection in 2017. This circa 1950s doll was made on the style of Sasha Morganthaler studio dolls. She has a papier-mache-type mask face and brown cloth body. She is very well made. Her eBay seller described her wig as being made from an animal's hide. Because the hair sheds, I made a cap for Hanna. I named the doll after the Swiss artist who made her (the artist's signature and city are signed underneath the doll's shoes, Hanna Fuhrer, Zürich).

Other than her knit cap, which I made, Hanna is all original.

In October 2019, I received a message through my author page on Facebook that provided additional information about this doll. The person who contacted me gave me permission to share the additional information in an update to my blog post about Hanna. Instead of updating and adding length to the original post, I have created this separate post. The initial message and the correspondence that followed are copied below:

"Hello Debbie, My name is Tim xxxxx and I’m sending this message regarding your doll by Hanna Fuhrer. She came from my ex-wife’s grandmother from Rottweil, Germany. She lived in Zurich after the war for a few years where she acquired the doll. She told my ex-wife that it was a very special doll but nobody in her family can remember why. We contacted a few doll specialists both in Germany and Switzerland and only received one reply from Zurich. This was more than 15 years ago and I don’t remember who they were but they mentioned Sasha Morgenthaler studio as a possible origin. We brought the doll to Denver from Rottweil in 2001 and sold her along with many other items probably in 2014.

I do hope you have better luck in finding out who Hanna Fuhrer is. Kind regards, Tim

I replied:

Thank you so much, Tim, for this additional information on my wonderful doll. If you do not mind, for documentation purposes, I'd like to share what you've shared on my blog. How in the world did you find me?

Tim replied: I somehow stumbled upon your blog with the photos of her, I’m an antiques dealer and was just cruising the internet looking at doll sites and such because I recently came across some dolls from my mother's estate in Boston. Such a small world this internet has made! You are more than welcome to share any and all info. I have shared with you. I wrote my ex about this and she was delighted that you ended up with her, couldn’t have been a better place! Her grandmothers family name was Bilger, I’ve emailed my ex again for her first name, it may take a week or so for a response, she doesn’t have internet where she lives but goes to the city once a week or so.

I replied:

Thank you so much, Tim, for this additional information and for allowing me to include it on Hanna's blog post (I named the doll, Hanna). The Internet has closed in our degrees of separation. (I wrote more, but it wasn't related to Hanna... just some info to help Tim ID dolls from his mother's estate.)

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It is indeed a very small world here on the Internet. More pictures of Hanna can be seen in the original blog post about her: https://blackdollcollecting.blogspot.com/2017/01/first-doll-to-arrive-in-2017.html

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Lovely Roddy Doll From England

1960s doll by Roddy of England

This 1960s 24-inch high-heel fashion doll is stamped "Roddy" on the neck (see image below). D. G. Todd and Company began making dolls marked "Roddy" in 1934. The name Roddy uses letters from the owners' names, Daniel G. Todd and Jack Robinson. Their first dolls were composition. They began making hard plastic dolls in 1948. In the late 1950s, the D. G. Todd company began making vinyl dolls. The company was sold in the mid-1960s when dolls marked "Roddy" were sold under the name Bluebell. It is possible that my doll is a Bluebell doll.

She arrived in March of 2019 wearing a hand-knit halter top and a midi-length skirt with attached shorts. Her feet were bare.

Arrival outfit

The doll has black rooted hair styled in a bubble-cut. The head is marked "Roddy."

A very kind gentleman from Great Britain contacted me after reading my "Roddy Doll Who Am I Post?" He offered to sell this doll to me for a price I could not possibly refuse.

She has very shapely legs.

This ebony-complexioned doll has a soft vinyl face, brown amber sleep eyes, and a rigid plastic body. The body had some surface scratches that I masked with a thin application of Jojoba oil.

The surface scratches she had upon arrival had been masked with oil when this picture and the one immediately above were taken.

I was not happy with her crocheted fashion. So I searched my doll trunk of clothing to find something more suitable for her to wear.

A three-piece red ensemble handsewn for Tonner's 22-inch American Model would have to do until I purchased something else.

The buttons on the coat of the red ensemble are shaped like white snowflakes. I placed masking tape underneath the buttons to protect the fabric and painted them silver to match the silver high-heel shoes that she was going to wear with it.

The buttons were prepped, as described above, prior to painting with silver metallic acrylic paint.

The snowflake buttons are now silver.

Below, this lovely doll models the three-piece ensemble and silver shoes:

In this photo, the ensemble is worn without the jacket.

Modeled from the back without the jacket

Her ears were pierced and red faux ruby stud earrings added.

Next, she modeled the jacket.

Modeled from the back with the jacket

Finally, she shows off her strappy silver lamé shoes.

I commissioned someone to make this doll a more appropriate fashion and shoes. As soon as it arrives, a follow-up post will be published.

Related Links
Roddy Doll Who Am I?
D. G. Todd Co.

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