In South Central Los Angeles, California, the intersection between Central Avenue and 61st Street, the location of the Shindana Doll Factory, was officially renamed Shindana Toys Square on February 12, 2026.
The dedication ceremony for the new honorary street sign took place to honor the legacy of Shindana Toys, a trailblazing company that produced ethnically correct Black dolls and toys in the area during a pivotal chapter in Los Angeles history.
Founded in 1968 as a division of Operation Bootstrap, the factory served as the central manufacturing hub for what became the world's largest Black-owned toy company. Baby Nancy was Shindana's first doll.
Read and view more about this honor and Shindana Toys at the following links:
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for detailed installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls.
http://virtualblackdollmuseum.com
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.
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
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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:
There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
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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.
__________
Thank you for following and sharing using the share button below.
Check out what I am selling here.
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!
