A Dainty Repair

Baby Dainty a now 11-1/2-inch composition doll by Effanbee dolls, circa 1920s.

This 1920s composition doll by Effanbee, Baby Dainty, was won in an eBay auction in 2013 and made her first blog appearance shortly thereafter.

When selecting dolls back in February to include in the Eye of the Collector Exhibit at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Baby Dainty was a consideration. The damaged areas of her composition head caused by crazing (cracked/loss of composition) prevented her inclusion, but led to my desire to repair the head.

Filling:

Crazed areas on top of Baby Dainty's head

Additional crazing on the side of head

In the above and following two photos, I have used Aleene's Tacky Glue (which is clear) to fill in the cracks and crevices in the top of Baby Dainty's head and on one side of the head.  I used large globs in areas where the composition top layer was missing to create an even surface. Elmer's Wood Filler works better, particularly for the deeper areas in need of repair, but I used what I had on hand.

I repaired the most damaged areas only, the top and side of the head.  She has some cracks on her face, but these are not as detracting.




Painting:


After the glue dried, black acrylic paint was used to paint the entire hair area of Baby Dainty's head.

Sealing:



After the paint dried, it was sealed with clear matte varnish to provide a similar sheen as the rest of Baby Dainty's head and body.

She's all fixed and back on display, wearing her bonnet, but now she wears it because it is part of her outfit and not to conceal any damage.


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Bye-Lo-Inspired Effanbee Causes Reflections

1920s Black composition doll by Effanbee

Before her arrival, I knew nothing about my latest composition doll other than what was written in her vague eBay description.  She had been described as "Vintage Black Effanbee 1924." The company's name in raised letters molded into the back of her composition back prove that she is indeed an Effanbee doll.

Founded around 1912 in New York City, Effanbee stands for the surnames of the two men who founded the company:  Bernard E. Fleischaker (EFF) &  Hugo Baum (BEE), also known as F & B.


The eBay seller offered several pictures, which included a handwritten tag pinned to the doll's dress that reads:

Effanbee
Colored
1924's
purch 3/29/78
[scratched out word] dressed

Note the use of the adjective "colored" to describe the doll's ethnicity.

The auction had been listed at least twice before my win.  I had planned to bid the last day during the first listing, but it ended before I could place a last minute bid.  So I emailed the seller to express my interest in completing a buy it now if it would be kindly relisted with that feature.  The auction was relisted with the same beginning bid for another 7 days by the hopeful seller but without a buy it now.  I waited it out and became the one and only bidder on the final day.

After the doll's arrival, in hopes of discovering her given name, I scoured the pages of the book, Effanbee dolls that touch your heart by Patricia Smith (Collector Books, 1983).  I was not surprised by the absence of an image of my doll in the book because black dolls are not the book's focus.
   
Thank goodness for the Internet.  I Googled "black composition Effanbee doll" and found an identical doll in a Ruby Lane shop, the description of which included the doll's manufactured name, Baby Dainty.

Close-up of Effanbee Baby Dainty

Mystery solved!  The Ruby Lane shop's detailed images confirmed my suspicion that my doll's lighter brown composition lower limbs, in comparison to the head and torso, are not original to the doll.  The original Baby Dainty has cloth legs which I find unattractive.  One of my doll's previous owners obviously replaced the cloth limbs with the composition ones, which I appreciate. 

Baby Dainty's dress is also not original, but I can tell by the addition of undergarments (full slip and matching panties) that the entire outfit was hand sewn with love.  She has some major crazing issues on the top of her head where the composition has lifted, but her matching bonnet covers this flaw.  I may eventually fill in and seal the crazed areas, but for now she will be left as is including the minor facial cracks. 

On re-referencing the Smith book for any mention of Baby Dainty, the doll is described but without any indication that a black version exists.  Smith wrote:

1925:  Ernesto Peruggi of New York City designed New Born Baby for Effanbee.  The design was copyrighted by Fleischaker, and since they were late in producing their version of the Bye-Lo Baby [aka the Million Dollar Baby, sculpted in the likeness of a three-day-old newborn by Grace Storey Putnam, circa 1922], they called theirs Baby Dainty and Baby Effanbee...

I am happy to now own Baby Dainty as well as a reproduction Bye-Lo that I acquired several years ago.

Reproduction black Bye-Lo baby uses a Grace Putnam mold, marked COPY.BY/GRACE S. PUTNAM/MADE IN GERMANY

Both dolls' 1920s origin made me reflect on the following 1920's facts.

My father, who would have turned 91 this past April 9, was 3 years old in 1922.  I know he experienced a fair share of racism here in the U.S. and was looked upon as a "colored" man by non-black Americans.  Daddy endured many obstacles, supported his a family, and lived to be 76.   RIP Daddy.

Also in 1925, on May 19th, civil rights leader Malcolm X was born in Omaha, Nebraska.  On August 25th of that same year, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was organized.  A. Philip Randolph was chosen president.  (Source:  From http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/timelin3.html)

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As in the case of Baby Dainty and the Bye-Lo baby, dolls are more often than not positive reflections of the people they portray.  They are inanimate representations of how society perceives people.  Dolls also have the ability to capture moments in time and to stimulate reflections of the past, both positive and negative.

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