Dr. Ralph Bunche and Eleanor Roosevelt Observe The First True ColoredDoll - Jet Magazine, November 8, 1951

Dr. Ralph Bunche and Eleanor Roosevelt Observe The First True Colored Doll - Jet Magazine, November 8, 1951
Originally uploaded by vieilles_annonces

I found this promotional picture of the 1951 Saralee doll by Ideal thanks to a fellow doll enthusiast. Thanks again, Bonnie and thank you, vieilles_annonces, for sharing your library of Jet and Ebony magazines on flickr.

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Awesome Dolls II

(A portion of) Souvenir Poster from the 17th International Black Doll Show and Sale, 2004

I just read a very nice article by Fern Gillespie on the upcoming International Black Doll Show and Sale that will be held this Saturday, May 29, 2010, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

Reading the article brought back memories of my first two pilgrimages to the Mecca of black doll shows. The first was in 2004 where I had the opportunity to meet and greet with doll collectors I had met in cyberspace and with whom I had networked on a frequent basis via the Internet for several years. It was a pleasure to finally connect their three-dimensional faces with their emails. Seeing so many delightful black dolls, the exhibitors (many of whom were artists) behind the dolls was also a delight. Lunch at Reading Terminal and dinner at the Hard Rock Café with fellow collectors was a blast!

I returned in 2005 to the International Black Doll Show as a collector (in 2004, I was an exhibitor/lecturer/book signer, so I didn't get to enjoy the show as much as I did in 2005). In 2005 I met artists Goldie Wilson, Lorna Paris (I saw her in '04, but didn't really have the opportunity to meet her), Jean Simmons, Lorna Miller-Sands, and Laura Tuzio Ross. I attended Miller-Sands breakfast in 2005. I still cherish the OOAK souvenir doll pin by Lorna.

Thanks Fran for your wonderful article, which helped conjure up the above pleasant memories.


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Vogue.It's Black Barbie Video

I agree with Vogue Italia, "It's been three decades since Black Barbie strutted her way into the lives of young girls and she's still turning heads."

Read more and view a Black Barbie video here.

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L-R Reproduction Black Barbie and the original 1980 Black Barbie