Stymie's New Hat

American child star, Matthew 'Stymie' Beard c. 1930s

Matthew 'Stymie' Beard (January 1, 1925 - January 8, 1981) was an American child star famous for his role as Stymie in the Our Gang shorts comedy series. The Our Gang comedy shorts featured Black and white neighborhood children and their adventurous shenanigans. Created by Hal Roach, Our Gang was one of the most popular comedy shorts series of the 1920s-1940s. Stymie's role lasted five years from 1930 to 1935. After the 1938 Our Gang franchise sale to MGM, the franchise was renamed The Little Rascals. By then, Stymie's contract had ended. His acting career continued sporadically until age 15. Yet, he experienced a few other roles later in his adult life. Because he was so well known as the character, Stymie, Beard adopted the name, Stymie Beard. 

The Little Rascals doll character Stymie by Hamilton Collection and King World Entertainment was released in 1993.

In 1993, Hamilton Collection and King World Entertainment included a 15-inch porcelain Stymie doll in their The Little Rascals doll series. I recently received the Stymie doll shown above as a gift. The doll arrived without his derby. After being here for a few weeks, I made a replacement hat using my modification of instructions found on the Ehow* website. View the photos, captions, and a short video of what was done. 

Plan A

I measured the circumference of the doll's head (8 inches) and used a circle template of the same size to trace a circle onto a piece of paper. The instructions were to use a protractor, but my husband has a template for different-sized circles, so I used that. The next step was to create a circle around the original circle that was 1/3 larger than the original circle. For the top portion of the hat, I was supposed to draw a separate circle 2/3's larger than the original brim and cut out both patterns.

These are the cutout patterns for the brim and the top of the hat (I did not use the top pattern).

Next, I cut out the center of the brim pattern (above left) to create an opening for the head. (I folded the pattern in half and cut out a semicircular area from the folded center.) 

The brim and top patterns were pinned to a 5 x 7-inch self-adhesive piece of black felt.

Next, the patterns for the brim and top were cut out.

The felt cutouts were unpinned from the patterns.

After the cutouts were unpinned from the patterns, I attempted to follow the instructions to insert the top portion inside the brim to create the top of the bowler or derby. Because of the adhesive backing, the felt was too stiff to properly insert into the brim. However, the true reason this did not work is the top piece was supposed to be 2/3's larger than the brim circumference, but it was too small.

Plan B

Instead of cutting out a larger piece of felt for the top portion of Stymie's hat, I made a mold for the top. After covering Stymie's head and breastplate with Saran wrap, I wrapped the doll's head and face with several layers of masking tape and painted the taped area with several layers of Mod Podge to stiffen it.

Stymie's head and breastplate were protected with Saran wrap before the head and face were covered with layers of masking tape.

The line drawn around the mold represents the intended bottom of the top where the brim would be placed.

To check the fit, the brim was placed over the pre-Mod-Podged mold.

Several layers of Mod Podge were applied to the masking tape to stiffen it.

After the Mod Podge dried and the mold hardened sufficiently, it was removed from Stymie's head.

In a view from under the mold, several slits in the excess nonstiffened portion created tabs that were folded outward.

The top was painted with several layers of black acrylic paint.

The painted top mold was inserted into the brim before the white paper that covered the adhesive under the brim was removed. 

Video Explanation of the Final Touches

Stymie's Completed Hat

A black grosgrain ribbon creates the hat brim trim.

Stymie models his new hat from different angles.

Stymie and his hat. :-) 

While I realize the hat brim is too wide and the top is too tall for a derby or a bowler hat like the one the child actor wore in the Our Gang shorts, and that it looks more like a sheriff's hat, I like this look for Stymie. I can always make another hat that looks more like a derby (now that I know how to do it), or I can trim the brim of this hat to give it more of a derby appearance. 

*The link to the Ehow instructions was omitted because several visible unnecessary DOWNLOAD links appeared, and I did not want anyone to click these links by mistake. If you find the instructions from this site, just remember to scroll down to read; do not click anything.

Related Link

Little Rascals Dolls' Museum Installation

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Honey-Chile and Mandy; Our Gang, Too

Honey-Chile and Mandy paper dolls by Whitman

Until acquiring them recently, Honey-Chile and Mandy paper dolls had been on my paper doll wish list for years.

The dolls and their descriptions are included in my book, Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion (2008).  The book-documented dolls were photographed and described for me by their owner, Bonnie Lewis. It was Bonnie's dolls that enticed the black-paper doll enthusiast in me to desire the pair. 

Because of the black-doll she holds, this is my favorite of Honey-Chile's four outfits. Mandy came with three extras.

Bonnie shared, and I documented in Black Dolls, this pair's 1930s origin.  After receiving my dolls and their outfits, I wanted to pinpoint the exact year they were made.

Results of an Internet search for additional information on the dolls leads me to believe Mandy and Honey-Chile were possibly included in the paper doll book, The Paper Doll Family, by Queen Holden (Whitman, 1937).  A copy of  Holden's paper doll book sold for $200 in a June 2010 specialty auction of fine and rare paper dolls.  The book is described as follows: 

17" x 12" Featuring a blue sedan on the front cover with die-cut windows that allow the faces of the paper dolls on the inside to show through as though seated in the car. The auto has the license plate of "Yourtown". The paper doll family ranges from 3" baby to 9 1/2" father and also includes mother, boy and girl, along with black servant in uniform named "Mandy" and black child "Honey-Chile". The back cover has toys including Hurdy-Gurdy, along with dog "Mickey". Inside are four pages of costumes, accessories and toys. Whitman, drawn by Queen Holden, 1937.

In the absence of the book, I am content with Honey-Chile and Mandy and their extra fashions.

Queen Holden's paper dolls are said to have been popular playthings in the U.S. in the 1930s through 1950s.  Holden also drew an Our Gang paper doll book of characters and outfits based on the film shorts and TV series.  Farina and Stymie are included.  Their cut versions are also featured in Black Dolls courtesy again of Bonnie Lewis.  Farina, Stymie, several clothes for both boys, along with Petey (the dog) were eventually added to my paper doll collection.  They documented their arrival on Thursday, May 14, 2009, which was recorded and published in my third book, The Doll Blogs:  When Dolls Speak I Listen.

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