Black Firm Joins Toy Industry

Ebony magazine's December 1969 cover image features Marc Copage (of  Julia show fame) and actor Johnny Brown as Santa Claus.

It was newsworthy in 1969 when Ebony magazine featured a 6-page article about Shindana Toy Company in the December issue. I recently discovered and purchased this issue because of the Shindana article, " Black Firm Joins Toy Industry." Behind-the-scene images at the Shindana doll factory and offices in 1969 and captions from the article (modified for the photo layout in this post) are shared below.

At Shindana Toy Co., an all-black Los Angeles firm manufacturing special "soul doll babies," under combined auspices of a black self-help group called Operation Bootstrap and Mattel, Inc., factory workers operate and remove a hot batch of doll bodies from 880° F ovens (above and below). Later, dolls are painted and stitched together so that final product looks like models displayed (below) by a company worker. Shindana, which now produces some 1000 dolls a day should gross $450,000 this year.

In the Shindana Dolls factory, a Shindana factory worker operates and removes a hot batch of doll bodies from an 880° F oven.

Two versions of Shindana's Baby Nancy are displayed by Shindana worker, Mary White.

Introducing Baby Jane, a new doll specially designed for Sears Roebuck & Co., is Shindana's Director of Research and Design, Bob Penny. The company's latest model will have eyes which close when the doll is placed in a reclining position.

Newly painted doll heads are carefully placed onto turntables for drying. The original design for Shindana's 13-inch doll Nancy (the company's first model) was developed by three high school students within a three-month period. Although the firm now produces only four models, it is working on new ones and plans manufacturing other types of children's games. "We want to do everything except war toys," says the company's General Manager Robert Hall.

Before dolls are shipped out, each is packaged in cellophane-wrapped boxes. Although the factory is run on an assembly line basis, Manager Hall says there are no inspectors. "Each employee," he explains, "inspects the other. They're all proud that they're putting out a black product, and they just don't want our things to go to stores looking bad."

For little girls who prefer Afro styles, worker Carrie Rossner (above) roots natural hairdo onto dolls. Shindana has one of a few machines in the country which can root hair automatically.

For young miss who would prefer a doll with twin ponytails, Shindana worker Eloise Reed arranges the hairstyle accordingly. Studies will determine which hairstyle makes the biggest impression on children.

Once the hairstyle is selected, the doll's head is stitched (above) to its body. Then it is dressed and packaged. Shindana, which started with a workforce of 10 to 15 in 1968, now employs more than 70 workers in different sections of the factory.

In his office (above, top) Sales Manager Herbert Thompson (sitting) gives a sales pep talk while across the hall (above, bottom) Operations Manager Phil Gilyard discusses technical problems with Mattel staff member Dolphe Lee.

In the Art Department, Ed Gentry checks new box designs to be sure that "they're attractive, functional, and capable of selling the product." 

Research and design artist Jim Toatley uses a sculpture caliper to check the size of a doll's head.

Clerical staff takes care of the firm's office functions such as billing, typing, and letter writing. While employee turnover was fairly high at first, it is now down to less than 1%.

The production area of the Shindana Bldg. is hub of the doll-making process. The factory, located in South Los Angeles and which opened in 1968, has brought added revenue to the black community. Many of factory's workers were formerly among hard-core unemployed.

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Traditionally, Ebony's November and/or December issues featured new dolls and toys on the market for parents to consider purchasing their children for Christmas. In addition to the Shindana article (pages 84-91) in the December 1969 issue, a Mattel ad featured four toys for preschoolers; Mother Goose See 'n Say, Sing-A-Song Super See 'N Say, Charlie Brown Talking Storybook, and the Mattel-O-Phone with recordings from Snow White, Santa Claus, Old King Cole, and many others. See Mattel's ad here. 

The entire issue is accessible here, and you can learn more about the company's humble beginnings, Mattel's no-strings-attached funding and support, and other little-known Shindana Toy Company facts.

All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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

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In Case You Missed It

Baby Nancy, Shindana's first doll

The Strong Museum's Zoom event, Black Toys and Toymakers: The Story of Shindana was held on Friday, February 26, 2021. The recorded presentation can be viewed below. After the video, view The Strong Museum's Google Arts and Culture Online Exhibit at the link that follows the video.

 

Google Arts and Culture Online Exhibit

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. To contact me, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Talking Tamu

Tamu is shown as illustrated, described, and valued in The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls (Hobby House Press, 2003).

Talking Tamu by Shindana Toys, a Division of Operation Bootstrap, has the copyright year of 1970.  The doll was reintroduced in the company's 1973 catalog.  I acquired my doll (shown in the above photo from my first book) in the 1990s/early 2000s.  My doll, as I have lovingly described her, is mute but cute!  The option to have her talking mechanism repaired has never entered my mind because to do so would tamper with her never-removed-from-box state.  I prefer to keep her almost exactly as she was when the hands of the Shindana dollmakers created her during the 1970s.  If she still talked, she would be exactly as she was when she left the Shindana Toys doll factory in Watts, California.

I recently had the pleasure of communicating online with @dollstoyscomics, who has a Talking Tamu that does talk!  The 17 sweet phrases (and/or sounds) that Tamu recites were kindly shared with me by @dollstoyscomics, who also shared the above photo of the little doll behind the sweet voice.

Listen to what Tamu says in the following YouTube audio:




Talking Tamu's voice is quite clear after all these years.  Below is a transcript of what she says in the YouTube audio:

 1.  Tell me a story.
 2.  Tamu means sweet.
 3.  Pick me up.
 4.  My name is Tamu.
 5.  Let's play house.
 6.  Lay me down.
 7.  I'm proud like you.
 8.  Can you dig it?
 9.  Cool it baby.
10. (Crying sound)
11.  Do you like my dress?
12.  (Laughs)
13.  Give me a kiss.
14.  Hold me tight.
15.  I love you.
16.  I'm hungry.
17.  I'm sleepy.

One of Tamu's biggest fans

Felicia Ann Beaty at around age 5 is shown with Talking Tamu, her favorite doll as a child.

It's no doubt that countless 1970s little girls enjoyed their Talking Tamu dolls.  Felicia Ann Betty of Morristown, NJ said,  "That was my favorite doll as a child!"  She has the picture to prove it as indicated above in a photo taken in 1970 or 1971 when she was around 5 years old.

Thank you again @dollstoyscomics for sharing Talking Tamu's sweet voice with me and for giving me permission to share here.

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If you have not watched KCET.net's 26-minute Shindana Toys documentary you can do so below.


Additionally, to promote KCET.net's documentary on the Shindana Toy Company, there are two very interesting articles about Shindana Toys and Operation Bootstrap published on their website that Shindana doll enthusiasts and doll historians will enjoy.  Links to these articles, written by Nadra Nittle and Yolanda Hester, respectively, are included below:

Operation Bootstrap:  Empowering the African American Community Through Entrepreneurship

Shindana Toys:  Dolls That Made a Difference

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Shindana Toy Company: Changing the American Doll Industry

The images in this post are from the KCET.org website to announce Season 4, Episode 6 of their Lost LA series of documentaries that explore historical areas and information about Los Angeles, California.  Episode 6 is described below:

Times are listed in Pacific Standard Time.

Season 4, Episode 6 of Lost LA, as described, highlights the contributions Operation Bootstrap made to the LA community in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts riots.  Shindana Toys, the manufacturer of America's first mass-produced Black dolls with ethnically-correct facial features (not a white doll with Black skin), was one of several Operation Bootstrap businesses designed to create jobs in the LA community to help stimulate economic growth for the residents.

Updated 9:15 p.m. 11/19/19
The Shindana documentary can be viewed from the KCET.org website at this link https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la.

Dolls from my collection are included in this documentary. The photos are now part of USC Libraries archives.

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
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Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
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Baby Nancy ~ Shindana's First Doll

Operation Bootstrap (OB) was formed in 1965 by two African American gentleman in the aftermath of the Watts, California riots, which began on August 11, 1965, and ended August 15, 1965.  In an attempt to rebuild the community, provide job training, and jobs for community residents, Louis Smith and Robert Hall are said to have organized OB with a $1,000 loan from an AA businessman.

As a result of Smith and Hall's dedication, Shindana Toys, a Division of Operation Bootstrap, opened its doors in 1968.  Local residents were employed in the Shindana doll factory, thus achieving OB's goal to provide jobs for poor African Americans and improve the economy in their community.  Follow the Operation Bootstrap (history) link below for an in-depth overview of the company, its founders, and other divisions designed to uplift the Watts (Los Angeles), California community.

From 1968 through 1983, Shindana Toys designed and manufactured dolls that looked like real black people.  Their motto was:  Dolls Made by a Dream.  Shindana, which means competitor in Swahili,  trained and employed doll makers and became the nation's largest manufacturer of black dolls and games.

Baby Nancy #1, Shindana's first doll, ©1968

 Baby Nancy (1968) was Shindana's first doll.  Several versions were released.  According to image #36 in the Operation Bootstrap Gallery PDF file (see link below), the first Baby Nancy had short curly, rooted hair.  Baby Nancy #2 had two long side ponytails with bangs.  The hair color for both versions was black.  In the image above, Baby Nancy dolls on the left and right wear their original multicolored dresses.  The use of different fabrics for dolls that may have been produced in the same year was a common practice for Shindana Toys because they used what was available.  The doll in the middle is a played-with, redressed version of Baby Nancy #1.

Baby Nancy Paper dolls, 1971

As shown above, there were also Baby Nancy paper dolls printed by Whitman ©1971, in the likeness of the second, two side ponytail with bangs, version.  The boxed set includes 23 punch-out fashions, the 9-1/2 inch doll, and plastic stand. 

Baby Nancy, ©1969, gets new face.

The Baby Nancy shown above, stock #2002, has a box copyright date of 1969 and was probably released to market in 1970.  Stock #2003 Baby Nancy, released the same year, had short curly hair.  Both dolls use the Zuri (1972) face mold.  Zuri, which means beautiful in Swahili, was another Shindana baby. 

While Shindana Toys received funding and technical assistance from outside sources such as Mattel and Chase Manhattan Bank, initially it maintained full control of its products and operations.  In 1974, Shindana became the first black-owned company to lease space at New York Toy Fair, gaining national recognition. Unfortunately, the decline in profits ensued after the 1976 tragic death of Shindana's original president and one of the original organizers of Operation Bootstrap, Lou Smith. 

Baby Nancy helped pave the way for the hundreds of dolls Shindana Toys produced.  The doll's manufacture changed the Watts riot chant of "Burn, Baby Burn!" to "Learn, Baby Learn!" and pulled "unemployables up by the bootstraps into paying jobs." Operation Bootstrap (history) 

Non-enlargeable thumbnails of additional early Shindana dolls along with images of key players who organized Operation Bootstrap can be viewed in the Operation Bootstrap Gallery.

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