Cammie Goes to College

Circa 1992 Cammie Goes to College

This United Negro College Fund (UNCF)-endorsed 11-1/2-inch fashion doll is Cammie Goes to College.  Several dolls in a variety of fashions were introduced during the early
1990s, manufactured in China for College Bound Dolls, Inc., which was obviously a subsidiary of Diversified Educational Services.  According to online research, "On Wednesday, July 08, 1992, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for CAMMIE GOES TO COLLEGE by Diversified Educational Services, Detroit, MI 48235."


I once owned at least four of the different Cammie dolls.  Regrettably, I sold all except the featured doll. 

My Cammie wears a navy blue jacket, pleated skirt, and navy and white polka dot blouse with black pumps.  An extra gray jogging suit and pair of white vinyl sneakers are included along with diploma and an informative parent guide and reading list, which is described below in the next set of images. 

A certificate of admission is shown on back of box which also illustrates names of several American colleges and universities.

The side panels also illustrate a host of colleges and universities.

Cammie enjoyed freedom from her box for the length of time it took to snap this photograph.

The familiar UNCF slogan is illustrated on the front of Cammie's box.

Cammie has black rooted hair styled in a side-swept ponytail with bangs, brown painted eyes, and appealing facial features that are unmistakably that of a beautiful African American girl.

The Cammie Goes to College Parent Guide and Reading List has a copyright date of 1991.  The copyright page contains the final verses of the poem, The Reading Mother by Strickland Gillilan:

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold,

Richer than I you can never be --

I had a mother who read to me.

The sections of the parent guide and reading list booklet are as follows:

• Guiding Your Child to Academic Success
• Health and Well-Being:  Parent and Child
• Your Child and Others:  Building Good Relationships
• Home and School: A Partnership for Success
• Parent and Child Together:  Quality Experiences

Reading: The Key To Success is the final section of the booklet, which encourages parents to read to their children.  When the child is old enough, parents are encouraged to have their children read to them.  Scans of the grade-level recommended reading lists are shown below (click on each for a better view of  these impressive lists):

Designed for ages 3 and up, Cammie Goes to College and the accompanying parent guide and recommended reading lists served little recipients well by promoting their academic success and future admission into an institution of higher learning.


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More Teaching Dolls and Test

In 2009 I special ordered a SOMSO-Plast baby which is designed for use as a teaching aid usually in a medical setting.  The version I ordered is designed to teach infant care.  It is anatomically correct, has ball joints for each of its extremities, an open anus, synthetic brown eyes, hand-painted hair, is the height and weight of a 6-week-old infant, and described by the German manufacturer as "a perfect combination doll for bathing, dressing practice and nursing exercises."

These  baby models are sold through medical equipment companies here in the US and when not in stock usually take three to six months to receive.  They are each handmade by the German manufacturer upon special order request.  

SOMSO-Plast Babies for teaching infant care

I wanted a certain dark-skinned model that was not in stock with any US medical equipment company I contacted.  With one company whose price was the lowest, I placed a prepaid order and waited patiently 90-some-odd days for the baby to be made and shipped from Germany.  Instead of receiving the dark-skinned version, I received the white model.  I contacted the US company, who placed a second special order for the correct version.  The second baby arrived in the summer of 2010.  As things worked out, I was able to keep both female baby models.

Even though both are females anatomically, I purchased coordinated girl-boy outfits.

Babies dressed in coordinated outfits (aren't they adorable)?

 After the dolls had been here a while, my daughter noticed them in the doll room in a basket with other life-size baby dolls.  Since they were identical except for complexion, she decided we should conduct an updated version of Dr. Kenneth and Mamie Clarks' Dolls Test, which was first conducted with African American children in northern and southern US states during the late-1940s.  

The Clarks initially used four dolls dressed only in a diaper.  The dolls were identical with the exception of their complexion and hair color.  Two were white; two were black.  With a series of requests of the children, the Clarks discovered that, while 66% identified themselves with the black doll and 33% identified with the white doll when requested, "Give me the doll that looks like you," most children chose the white doll and rejected the black doll when requested, "Give me the doll you like to play with the best." 

My grandson was 4 at the time he took the test, which I video taped, but for privacy reasons, have chosen not to share here. 

A transcript of the questions my Grandson answered can be read below.  These were modeled after the Clarks' Dolls Test requests, but spontaneously updated and amended by my daughter as they were asked.  (To all, with the exception of the ones where an answer is provided, Grandson chose the black doll.)

Which doll would you want to play with?

Which one looks nice?

Which one looks bad?

Which one can dance?

Which one has a nice color?  White doll

Which one looks like you?

Which one can sing?

Which one plays basketball?

Which one plays hockey?  White doll

See more educational SOMSO-Plast babies (models) here.
See Dr. Clark's original Dolls Test data here. 

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