Circa 1940s Cloth Dolls by Justyne Smith

Eight cloth dolls made by Justyne Smith c. 1940, a gift from Trish Williams

Trish Williams, a fiber artist and quilter of Peoria, IL, sent me the above group photo of dolls on 11/29/23 and asked if I would be interested in them. She wanted to gift them to someone who would appreciate the dolls. In answer to my query about the dolls' provenance, Trish wrote, "This collection of vintage dolls honors James Napier and his aunt both of whom have passed on." I didn't want to press her for more information, but I recorded what she wrote. 

As illustrated in this photo, most of the dolls bear the artist's cloth label on their upper backs which reads "Hand Made by Justyne Smith."

I received the dolls on 12/06/23 which is when I discovered the artist's name. My search for information about the artist, Justyne Smith, was futile. I found nothing online about her. I did find that her nephew, James Napier, was a sculptor from Illinois who was co-owner of World of Sculpture with his wife.

I notified Trish of their receipt on 12/08/23 by Facebook Messenger. I also mailed a thank you card to her to express my appreciation. I kept all the dolls in storage until I could find the time to provide the necessary rehab each needed. I also had to research the best way to clean vintage cloth dolls. They weren't dirty, more dusty than anything else, and their clothing needed attention. 

A Facebook (FB) timeline update from another FB friend and quilter notified me of Trish's untimely passing on 1/15/24. 

A note card from Trish arrived a few weeks after she transitioned. (The top left image is the outside of the note card; the top right is her handwritten inscription; and the lower section was written on the back top of the envelope).

On 2/7/24, I received a handmade and handwritten thank you note from Trish that again thanked me for the card I sent her and for my support. Before I saw the handwritten statement on the back of the envelope that read, "Mom wanted me to mail this. Kemba," I wondered how she was able to send it after she passed. Even though she was gravely ill, Trish extended her graciousness with the thank you note just a few weeks before she passed, and while she was apparently unable to mail it herself, she asked her daughter to mail it for her.

Receipt of the note card from Trish gave me the motivation to start the doll rehab for three of the eight cloth dolls. What was done and what I've learned not to do with the remaining five is outlined below. 

The First Three

The first three are seen in full in this photo before rehab commenced.

This photo illustrates the first three close-up. The doll on the right arrived nude.

This is their close-up from the back upon arrival.

I decided to hand wash each doll part-by-part without submerging them in water. Rehab commenced with the blonde crying doll seen on the far left in the first photo.

Doll 1

The hair and body of the first doll were hand-washed with a mild detergent.

I made the mistake of running water over this doll's face, body, and limbs to remove all the soap I had applied, the results of which are illustrated in the completed photos below. The washed bangs extended below the eyes. To avoid cutting them, I rolled the bangs on sponge rod rollers and hung the doll outside to dry for several days (bringing it in at night). 

The first doll was hung outside to dry for several days and even after that, I kept the doll nude inside for a couple of weeks to be sure that it was thoroughly dry.

The apron of the dress was torn

While the first doll dried. I repaired the torn organdy apron of its dress. I folded the frayed edges under and secured them in place with Stitch Witchery between the folds. This created an inverted off-center V. I added a button to the top of the inverted V and sewed matching buttons for the two buttonholes in the back. (The dress was not dirty, so I did not wash it. I did hand wash the doll's panties, which are not shown.)

One side of the torn apron has been repaired with Stitch Witchery.

Both sides of the torn apron have been repaired and a tiny button added to the top of the repair.

Two buttons for the two buttonholes in the back have been added in this photo.

After drying, the rollers were removed from the bangs. Some areas of the cloth dried darker than others. I believe this was caused by the type of spongy, possibly dyed, stuffing the artist used. Some of the color of the sponge stuffing must have bled onto the outer fabric. I contemplated painting the face but decided to leave well enough alone. She's crying and maybe that's because of her uneven color.

To complete this 17-inch doll's rehab, I added ribbons to the ends of the re-braided yarn braids. She's still sad, however.

Close-up of the 1st doll's completed rehab

Doll 2

The doll that arrived nude was surface-washed next. But again, my heavy-handed use of too much water on the face caused it to dry darker in some areas. I applied a remedy that will be illustrated below.

Doll 2 has been hand-washed and rinsed.

There were tiny holes in the cloth feet before washing. The holes enlarged with my heavy-handed washing, rinsing, and squeezing out the water. Some of the spongy stuffing is exposed through the larger holes.

Doll 2 hangs outside to dry. (My husband didn't like this look and said, "What is this the K K K? We don't hang black dolls by the neck here."  So, I removed the jute from the doll's neck that I had attached to a clothes hanger and placed it around the doll's waist the next time I took it outside to hang dry.

Full-length view of dried Doll 2 with patched feet. Note that the dark area on the face is heart-shaped.

To lighten up the darkened heart-shaped area on the face, I applied powder makeup. The heart shape is still visible but not as much in this photo.

This is a close-up of the face after the powder makeup was applied. Again, painting this area was an option, but I didn't want to make it worse.

I did paint Doll 2's feet because I didn't care for the patched look. The painted feet are illustrated next.

The feet have been painted and sealed.

In my closet of infant and children's clothing, I found an infant-size pink and white dress that fit this doll perfectly. At a dollar store, I purchased infant-size pink booties to cover the feet, but I actually like the exposed painted feet better.

She was dressed in this picture before I applied the makeup to her face. Can you see the heart shape?

The pink booties cover the entire foot area.

Here she is (before the makeup was applied) wearing her booties.

 

After makeup, the heart shape is still visible on this 25-inch doll's face, but I will leave her face as is. The heart shape is there for a reason.

Doll 3

After discovering the untoward results of using too much water on these dolls, I used baby wipes only to wipe down the boy's cloth surface after the clothes were removed. I used baby wipes on the red yarn hair as well. One of the lapels of his white shirt was stained. I treated the stain with stain remover, soaked the shirt in Oxy-Clean and Liquid Tide with Oxy-Clean overnight, and hung it up to dry after a good rinse. I did not wash the pants or the coat. I ironed all his clothing pieces after the shirt dried. This process in pictures follows:

The hair and body of Doll 3 have been wiped with baby wipes—no submersion in water for this one.

He arrived with some light spots on the left lower cheek area. Except for surface wiping with baby wipes, I didn't attempt to alter this area.

His shirt has been washed and ironed and his pants have been ironed.

Finally, this 26-inch boy wears his complete ensemble including his ironed jacket.

A Combined Before and After Photo

Before (top photo); after (bottom photo)

With three completed, I have five more to go.  

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

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