A Child's Doll, Gifted Twice

The former childhood doll of Ellen Gordon was a c. 1965 Christmas gift from Ellen's sister.

Meet Elle. She is a 14-inch handmade cloth doll that was the former childhood doll of Ellen Gordon. Ellen sent me the following message through Facebook Messenger, which outlines the doll's history and how "Elle" (the doll's new name) became part of my personal collection. With Ellen's permission, I am allowed to share the pertinent parts of our messages.

Hi, Debbie! Been enjoying your posts for a couple of years now. Quick question - would you have any interest in a handmade doll made c. 1965? My sister sewed it for me when I was little. She's not a sophisticated and detailed beauty, like many of the beautiful dolls you post, but I think she has her own charm.

And she's reflective of an exciting and (sadly) unjustifiably optimistic time in history when we thought things were changing rapidly and irreversibly. Black dolls were really not available then, and one Christmas my sister decided to address that shortage with her gift to me.

…I am downsizing to move, and feel it's time to let go of my dolls - LOL! She was much loved, and I'd be thrilled if she could find a home with someone who would enjoy having her.

(Of course, I accepted the offer, but I informed Ellen that I would need to redress the doll before installing it in DeeBeeGee’s Virtual Black Doll Museum.) In hindsight, redressing the doll was not really necessary because of the sentiment the doll holds, but that has been done, and I enjoyed every second of thought that went into completing the redressing task.

My Reply:

Hi Ellen. Thank you for letting me know you've enjoyed my posts. I love the background story about the doll your sister so lovingly made for you. I would love to accept her, even though I am also in the process of downsizing. If I accept her for the museum, I'd have to dress her. If you don't mind my doing that, let me know. Did you name her?

Ellen’s reply:

OH, I'm so glad! It means a lot to me that she will have a good home, and others can enjoy her.

Good luck with your downsizing - it's a TON of work…

As to this doll's back story… when I was a child I thought (I suppose like all children) that most families were like mine. Later I realized how wrong I was.

I have to laugh a little at how stereotypical we were in some ways of mid-century liberal progressive Jewish families, but I am very grateful to my parents for ensuring we were raised with an awareness of a larger world.

My parents were both products of the radical Eastern European Jewish of the '20s and '30s. They were extremely vested in the anti-war movement, the civil rights movement, the protest against atomic testing (and the resulting Strontium 90 in cow's milk), etc. I attended my first march against the Viet Nam war in my stroller. I remember helping my mother make protest signs for other actions when I was about 4 or 5…

Anyway, I guess my fondness for this doll relates to her connection with an optimistic and energizing time, when it seemed that tremendous progress was being made (and indeed it was), and radical social transformation was just around the corner (sadly, it wasn't).

Plus she's very sweet - I think my sister (about 13 or 14 at the time) did a really good job embroidering her face!

I'd be thrilled to have you dress her properly - I have no idea where her clothes vanished to. She will arrive in the panties (I think also handmade by my sister for her) and vintage doll sweater and socks (not original to her) that she has lived in for the past 55 years.

And, sadly, as I sit here and look at the line up of my beloved childhood toys - about a dozen dolls and bears I've kept all these years - it disturbs me that I cannot remember ANY of their names. That seems odd to me, but maybe not. Each of them had an imagined personality, a soul, to me, and I remember those, which I suppose are more important than their names.

Am I a crazy old lady? Perhaps! But I'm delighted for this doll to have a new home!

Just let me know where to send her, and I'll ship early next week. Thank you SO much! And thank you for the important (and fun!) work you have done in assembling such a wealth of historic dolls and information on them.

Elle's Redressing

After Elle arrived, redressing ensued, was completed, and photographs were taken for this blog post and for DeeBeeGee’s Virtual Black Doll Museum. 

Elle was redressed in a floral-print pink dress and white lacey ankle socks. I added two pink ribbons to her hair.  She insisted on keeping on her handmade red silk panties, which I gladly permitted.

This close-up of Elle's lovely embroidered face illustrates her continued happy disposition.

There was no question that Elle would continue wearing the vintage pink sweater. The charming sweater is the reason the pink dress was chosen for her.

Elle's redressing was completed with the addition of white patent leather shoes.

I am thrilled to have Elle in my collection and as a permanent installation in DeeBeeGee’s Virtual Black Doll Museum even though as Ellen wrote, “She's not a sophisticated and detailed beauty, like many of the beautiful dolls you post, but I think she has her own charm.” I concur wholeheartedly.  

Thank you again, Ellen, for your willingness to part with Elle and for choosing me as her new human. She is truly a special gift that represents the important roles childhood dolls play as comforters, companions, confidantes, and secret keepers for the humans (young and old) who own them.

After 6 a.m. CST on 11/3/23, view/read Elle’s museum installation here.

 

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, 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.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

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
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When I Saw Her Standing There

A group of exhibited dolls from the collection of Marjorie Loring Gauley

An online doll friend solicited my help in finding a museum or another organization to donate her Black-doll collection. She shared a link to photos of some of the dolls when they were displayed in a past exhibit.

In one of the pictures (shown above), I saw a doll that interested me. I asked for more information about it. At that time, the dolls were packed and stored. She promised to share the information later.

At one point, before making the decision to donate the collection, I attempted to help her sell some of the dolls. After the decision to donate, I shared the names of a couple of individuals who are involved in organizations that work with children. One of her goals was for the dolls to be enjoyed by children. The main goal was to keep the small collection together.

After communicating with one of the two people I recommended, Marjorie Loring Gauley chose to donate the dolls to Karen Oyekanmi's American Black Beauty Dolls Association.

After this decision was made, Marjie asked for my mailing address. She wanted to send me the doll that I saw standing on the far right in the first picture of this post. This pleased me beyond measure. I gave her my PO Box address.

A couple of weeks later, in an email, Marjie explained that while attempting to ship the doll through a UPS Store, she could not use my PO Box address. My physical address was required, which she didn't have and had no way of getting from me at the time she needed it. In her words, this is what happened next:

I checked to see if I had a phone number for you so that I might obtain an alternate address. In contacts a phone number showed in pale print with your other information saying that Siri thinks this number might be yours. I called it and Karen’s name popped up as she is in my contacts so I cut the call right away.

But in this day and age, she of course, saw the call and called me right back. I explained that the call had been an accident and explained the situation and she provided me with your contact information... Karen and I ended by agreeing with her observation that the call was God running interference to smooth the way, no accident after all. I hope you concur.

I replied and agreed that this was indeed divine intervention. As confirmation of the divine intervention that occurred, had I not shared Karen as a possible recipient of Marjie's collection, or had Marjie chosen the other person I suggested—who does not have my physical address or any of my contact information, in fact, I don't think she knows me—the shipping issue would have been prolonged.) Yes, God was certainly in the mix from start to finish.

A doll with such a sweet face will forever remind me of how God's grace reveals itself through the kind acts of others.

The lovely doll that I had no information about arrived safely. I opened the box, and before removing her, hoping she was not porcelain, I blindly touched her face and discovered that she is painted cloth. Cindi Ciampa made this beautiful doll.

With the doll, Marjie included a beautiful Annie Lee Shades of Color note card titled "Sunday Evening Radio." The front of the card and her handwritten inscription are shared next.

The Annie Lee note card, "Sunday Evening Radio" features a pre-television era family seated in their living room or parlor listening to the radio.

Marjie wrote a touching inscription.

The additional information that I have gathered about the doll and the artist is included in the doll's installation in DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum. Read it here.

Thank you, again, Marjie for your kind and generous gift of Grace, which is the name I have given her. I am honored and feel truly blessed to be Grace's new owner.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, 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.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

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!

HarperIman Dolls

HarperIman dolls sold at Target are manufactured by MerchSource, LLC.

In July 2021, I shared a link to a list of Black Businesses to Support that someone shared with me. On that list was only one doll company, HarperIman. In the same post, I shared a link to their website. At the time of that post, the company was taking preorders for their one-of-a-kind linen dolls. A several-month waitlist followed. Not a cloth doll collector, per se, their dolls did not need to become part of my private collection, but I was happy to share information about this mother-daughter doll company.

A Special Thank You

Little Miss by Madelyn McCraney of Kuumba Art Design Studio

To thank me for my love and support of her art, I received Little Miss (shown above) from doll artist, Madelyn McCraney. Madelyn's Kuumba Art Design Studio dolls were installed in my virtual black doll museum in October 2021 (see the link at the end of this post). 

Little Miss has waist-length black yarn hair.

Little Miss is an 11-inch handmade doll with a wooden head that is faceless. The black waist-length hair is made of yarn. The permanently attached clothing includes a dress made of black leaf-print fabric and an orange felt full-length coat. Little Miss also wears turquoise gloves and a matching turquoise turban accented with a turquoise gemstone over an orange felt circle. 

Included with a doll was a beautiful handwritten thank you card wherein Madelyn shared, "I originally created her to teach a group of after school girls. But they couldn't do it. So I make her as my gift of love from God!"

Little Miss has a curvaceous body.

The artist dated and signed the base of the doll.

Curvy Little Miss, the first doll to arrive in 2022 is a beautiful gesture of thanks and will be treasured always. 

Madelyn's card also included the following sentiment that really warmed my heart, "Thank you so much! Your love for Black dolls gives my work purpose."

See Madelyn’s virtual Black doll museum installations here.

Visit Kuumba Art Studio Design to see Madelyn's other dolls and art here.

Feeling blessed,

dbg


There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________
Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, 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.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

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!

When You Love What You Have

Instagram (IG) photo of a doll made by @fandollshop

This IG post by @jaylasheirlooms was captioned: "When you love everything you have, you have everything you need." I love that!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jayla’s Heirlooms (@jaylasheirlooms)

dbg


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!

Needle-Sculpted Doll by Sandy Wright

I found this one-of-a-kind 18-inch needle-sculpted cloth doll on Ruby Lane during a recent sale.

This lovely doll has needle-sculpted and painted facial features. Her eyes are brown. Her wig was made of mohair which is still attached to the hide.

Her dress is shown from the back in this photo. A white ribbon is threaded through the blouson waist of the dress. The back closes with two hook and eye closures.

She wears a white antique-style blouson dress, white with black polka dot knit bloomers, and black leather handmade lace-up boots as illustrated in the next two photographs.

Knit bloomers

Handmade black leather lace-up boots

Wired arms and fingers

Her arms and fingers are wired for posing. The second and third fingers of both hands are fused together.

Unclothed, her all-cloth body is shown here.

She is signed on the back, "Sandy Wright 1998."

I have seen a couple of other Sandy Wright dolls, but I am not otherwise familiar with the artist. I found a Pinterest pin of a Frida Kahlo doll by Sandy Wright that included the artist's email address. I emailed and asked for additional information about my doll, but the email bounced back. I am not sure if Ms. Wright is still making dolls. If anyone has information about the artist, please share it in a comment. Thank you in advance!

dbg


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.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!