Delighted by Horsman's 1929 Black Peterkin

Black Peterkin Girl by Horsman, 1929 in need of restoration, photographed with book image of another Black Peterkin Girl

In May of this year, I found this cherub-looking, black version of Horsman's circa 1929 Peterkin doll.  Her extensive vitiligo-looking facial paint rubs probably staved off interest from other bidders and helped me win the auction for a steal.

After the doll's arrival, I entered the following description into my doll inventory Excel spread sheet prior to taking before pictures.

May - Horsman, 1929 - Black Peterkin

13-1/2-inch doll marked E.I.H. Co. Inc., composition head, full arms, full legs; cloth body; wears period-appropriate floral dress, matching bonnet, one-piece underwear; brown painted eyes, black molded hair.

Closer look at the extensive paint rubs

Weeks led to months before the opportune time presented itself to restore her facial pigment and other areas of her composition surface where the original paint had lifted.  Other than that, she had a few crazed areas where the surface had lifted or cracked.  These were all minor cosmetic issues that were easily remedied using an on-hand, water-base acrylic paint mixture of toffee, coffee bean, and raw sienna.  After drying, the paint was sealed with a water-base satin varnish.  Some of the paint rubs, particularly on the doll's head, which were minor, were left as evidence of her aging process.  I made socks for her and found some on-hand, period-appropriate shoes before taking her after photographs.

Black Peterkin Girl now

Full view of Black Peterkin Girl wearing bonnet that matches dress; handmade socks, and period-appropriate shoes

In Collector's Guide to Horsman Dolls Identification and Values 1865 - 1950 by Don Jensen (Collector Books, 2002), the author writes:

In 1916, Peterkin was one of Horsman's first all-composition dolls, made of the new hot-pressed composition, Adtocolite.  Peterkin became one of the most popular character dolls of the composition doll era.  [Helen Fox] Trowbridge* [a young sculptress] modeled the original Peterkin...(page 82).

In 1929, Horsman brought back an old familiar name, Peterkin, though it was not the same all-composition doll that had been introduced in 1918, and marketed into the early 1920s.  The new Peterkin family, which came in a wide range of outfits from rompers to Boy Scout and golf caddy uniforms, bore a strong resemblance to the Campbell Kids... Horsman's new Peterkin had a composition flange head and limbs with a cloth body.  It was marked EIH © Inc.  (Page 131.)

On page 131 of Jensen's book, he values a 13-inch male Peterkin from the late 1920s era at $350 while a 14-inch Peterkin Girl was valued $250.  Both are white dolls.  On page 132, a Peterkin Scout (another white doll dressed in full scout's uniform) was assessed a value of  $$600.  A doll identical to my girl was given a 2002 book value** of $300.00.  Based on the book images, these dolls were in much better condition than my doll.

I did not mind the minor elbow grease required to restore my doll back to a presentable state, no matter her assessed book value.  I enjoy acquiring black dolls from periods long before my existence.  I often wonder about their "lives" before they reached me.  Who were their prior owners?  Did they provide them delight?  Were they loved?  If they could talk, what stories would they tell, etc.?  Sometime their condition answers these questions for me.  In the case of my Peterkin Girl, her condition, other than the missing paint, was basically pristine for her age of 83 years.  Her body was extremely clean as were her clothing, which may or may not be original to the doll.  I believe her previous owner(s) loved her dearly.

Will she provide delight for me?  Yes.  Will she be loved by me?  Yes... for many years to come, I hope.


*Jensen searches for information on Helen Fox Trowbridge

**Book Value is the current market value assessed for a doll or other collectible by an official appraiser or other person with vast knowledge about said item.  Value is based on original cost, current condition, and market trends.  Regardless of book value or other perceived future potential value, a doll or other collectible is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it at a given time.  Book value should never be considered the price at which an item should be purchased or sold.  It is to be used as a general guide. 

dbg

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Baby Mine or Black Baby Bumps

I immediately recognized this doll as Horsman's Baby Bumps, circa 1910, after seeing it identified for sale as Baby Mine by Ideal.  In spite of the severe head and facial imperfections, I wanted this doll for its historical significance.  A non-stereotypical black doll manufactured by one of America's oldest toy manufacturers during a time when black doll manufacture was usually an afterthought, if a thought at all, is always appealing to me.

The waist of my doll's romper is tagged "Ideal/Baby Mine/Trade Mark," but Baby Mine and Baby Bumps are clearly two different dolls, manufactured some 40 years apart by different companies.

Baby Mine was made by Ideal Toys during the 1950s as an all-composition doll with straight legs.   Black versions of Ideal's1950s Baby Mine are not documented in any of my doll references.  This is not to say that black versions made during the 1950s or prior (using different head sculpts and perhaps a head sculpt like Horsman's Baby Bumps) do not exist.   The doll sold to me as Baby Mine, dressed in Baby Mine's original romper, is either Horsman's Black Baby Bumps (originally named Colored Baby Bumps).  It could be a Baby Bumps lookalike, adding to its historical significance, or Ideal quite possibly made a doll using the same head sculpt*.

Other than their original clothing, which bore the outer waist tag, "Genuine/Baby Bumps/Trade Mark," Baby Bumps dolls were physically unmarked by Horsman.  Without original clothing, Baby Bumps' distinct "art doll" character face, sculpted after Kammer and Reinhardt's No. 100 Baby, aka the Kaiser baby, readily distinguishes it from other dolls.

According to Collector's Guide to Horsman Dolls Identification and Values 1865-1950 by Don Jensen,

In the dog-eat-dog toy industry, successful companies such as Horsman continually were fighting off competition, some of it fair, some of it not so fair, from smaller "copycat" firms.

As early as 1910, the Horsman company published "warnings to the trade" in Playthings magazine. 

One such warning regarding copyright infringement of Horsman's Baby Bumps line of dolls is shown on page 105 of Jensen's book, as illustrated below:

Horsman warns other doll makers of their Baby Bumps trade mark.

200 Years of Dolls: Identification and Price Guide  by Dawn Herlocher, confirms that Horsman manufactured black versions of Baby Bumps in 9-, 10-, 12-, and 18-inch heights.  The 18-inch version is probably the most elusive.

My doll, if an authentic Horsman, is the 12-inch version.  Below are additional images of the doll before I restored him using glue to fill in the cracks and crevices followed by an application of paint and sealer.

With a head made of "Can't  Break 'Em composition," that could "take all kinds of bumps," Horsman's chosen name for their doll, Baby Bumps, seems quite appropriate.  Throughout the past 102 years, however, as evidenced above, this Baby Bumps or a knockoff of the same, has not aged gracefully.

He looks much better now, as illustrated in the images below:

Baby Bumps now

Along with Baby Bumps (or his lookalike) the seller included a circa 1930s glass doll baby bottle, as shown in the background of the above image.

Baby Bumps, restored, is now ready for another 102 years.

Whether or not he is an authentic 1910 Horsman doll or a Baby Bumps lookalike remains a mystery.  There are two things I know for sure:  Baby Bumps is now mine and he looks so-much-better!

To learn more about Horsman's Baby Bumps, read a previous post here.

*Update 11/08/2018
After reading Black Dolls From the Collection of Deborah Neff (Radius Books, 2015) and viewing the scanned image below, I have concluded that my doll quite possibly was made by Ideal and is one of their early 1900s composition dolls named Baby Mine.  In addition to the photo of the doll in Neff's book, someone else shared photos of a doll that is identical to my doll, including the tagged Baby Mine blue and white romper that my doll wears.  Our dolls bear the same marks, shown in the next image of the nape of my doll's neck.

The incised marks on the baby's head appear to be "WAP" or PAW written backward.

It would be too close of a coincidence for two people to have the same circa 1911 doll dressed identically.  Ideal's doll might have been sold wearing other tagged rompers in different colors as documented in this Pinterest pin. Because the photo in Neff's book is in black and white, the color of that doll's romper is unknown; however, the style of it is identical to my doll's romper.

What a lucky little girl to have owned not one but two black dolls.  What I now believe to be Ideal's Baby Mine is the doll on the far left.

dbg

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Horsman's Controversial New Arrival Dolls

Li'l Ruthie and Li'l David by Horsman, 1975

My blog post of August 7, 2011, included four doll controversies with image and/or information links to three of the controversial dolls mentioned.  I promised to share additional information about Horsman's 1975 dolls, New Arrival Li'l David and Li'l Ruthie in a subsequent post.  This is that post. 

I purchased this pair of dolls during the 1990s, shortly after I began collecting, in response to a dolls-for-sale ad placed in Collectors United.  I telephoned the elderly (based on the feebleness of her voice), former owner to inquire about their availability.  She was surprised that I had no prior knowledge of  Li'l David and Li'l Ruthie.  She explained to me that they were the first anatomically correct dolls manufactured by Horsman for the play market.  I agreed to purchase the dolls, sight unseen, based on her description of the dolls and the history she provided.

Because of the correctness of their anatomy (and it is very correct), Horsman knew that some parents might be opposed to their children being so informed through doll play.   

The top flap of Li'l Ruthie's box reads:

READ MESSAGE BELOW*
PHYSICALLY CORRECT GIRL DOLL
New Arrival Li'l Ruthie

(Li'l David's box flap reads the same with the exception that "GIRL" is replaced by "BOY."

The asterisk leads the reader to the warning Horsman included on the lower front of the box to no doubt  eliminate any parental backlash the dolls may have created.  The warning reads:

*This doll has true-to-life features which differentiates little girls from little boys.  For those who feel they do not want their children to be aware of this difference we do not recommend this doll.

This was a clever move by Horsman, one of America's oldest doll companies, having begun operation in the US in 1865.  Horsman is one of the earliest American manufacturers of black dolls (Black Baby Bumps, 1911, being one of their early black-doll products).

More About Li'l David and Li'l Ruthie

Li'l David and Li'l Ruthie  are 13-1/2in (34.29cm) dolls with a one-piece, stuffed-vinyl body.  They have panted hair and painted brown eyes.  With the exception of their different anatomy and outfits, the dolls are identical. 

Li'l David wears a blue and white gingham shirt and diaper that has a front button closure. 

Li'l Ruthie's dress is pink and white gingham.  She has a matching bonnet.  Her diaper also has a front button closure.   Each doll has a pacifier, rattle, and bathing sponge.

An added extra for the little owner is a punch-out birth certificate on the back of each doll's box.

Li'l David and Li'l Ruthie were designed by Irene Szor, who designed dolls for Horsman from 1957 through 1986. 

dbg

BDHT: 1944 Wards Christmas Catalogue ... Colored Dolls, Ad Ploy?

Dainty, Lovable Colored Baby Dolls is the caption for the dolls shown on page 68 of the 1944 Wards Christmas Catalogue with a statement regarding their demand as follows:

In response to many requests for well-made, well-designed colored dolls, we offer these appealing baby dolls of well-known Horsman quality. They’re exquisitely tinted a warm brown, with sparkling brown Glammene sleeping eyes, real lashes. Lips are shaded a delicate rose. Soft cotton-filled bodies, realistically modeled heads, arms and legs of hard-to-break composition. Dainty baby clothing is carefully made and finished.

Scroll up (if necessary) and look at the picture again.  If the ad’s caption and above description are not read, these dolls could easily be mistaken for white dolls by looking at the image only. I wonder if the dolls that customers received in 1944 were as as pale in color as the dolls in the image or if they were in fact a deeper brown in person.  Perhaps Wards featured white dolls in the ad and described the black version.  It was a common practice for many manufacturers to exclude photos of black dolls from the black doll's box, electing instead to use an image of the white version and include a caption on the box that read:  This box contains the Black version.   This practice extended well into the 1980s and possibly later.

I took the liberty of typing the 1944 Wards Christmas Catalogue dolls’ descriptions, but omitted duplicating the complete description of the smaller or larger version of the same doll.

[1] 20-IN. COLORED BABY DOLL cries and goes to sleep. Glammene eyes, real lashes. Soft cotton stuffed body; brown tinted composition head, arms and legs. Hair molded on; head turns. White permanent-finish organdy dress and cap, net trimmed. White slip, knit panties, socks and shoes. 48 T 2457—20 in. tall. Ship. wt. 3 lbs. 12 oz… $5.25


[4] 16-IN COLORED BABY DOLL (smaller version of doll #1) $3.49




[2] 17-IN. COLORED BABY DOLL IN PINAFORE. Black mohair ringlets; Glammene sleeping eyes, real lashes. Soft cotton-stuffed body; composition head, arms, and legs tinted brown. Head turns. Flocked-dot cotton dress, matching bonnet; organdy pinafore. White slip, panties, socks, shoes. 48 T 2459—17 in. tall. Ship. wt. 2 lbs. 8 oz… $4.69


[5] 23-IN COLORED BABY DOLL (larger version of #2). $6.95






[3] 20-IN. COLORED BABY DOLL. Cries like a real baby. Long-lashed Glammene eyes go-to-sleep. Black mohair curls. Soft cotton-stuffed body; head, arms, legs of brown-tinted composition. Head turns. Net-trimmed white organdy dress; ruffled bonnet. White slip, panties, socks and shoes. 48 T 2454 – 20 in. tall. Ship. wt. 4 lbs… $5.95


[6] 18-IN. COLORED BABY DOLL IN COAT. Glammene sleeping eyes, real lashes, cotton-stuffed body; composition arms, legs, turning head, tinted brown, hair molded. Pink rayon coat with net-trimmed cape, collar; matching bonnet; white flock-dot cotton dress. White slip, panty, socks, and shoes. 48 T 2458—18 in. tall. Ship. wt. 2 lbs. 12 oz… $5.79

I checked my composition baby doll collection.  None of my dolls appear to be identical to these and certainly none can be mistaken for white dolls. 

dbg

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