Hannah by Nancy Revoir Dezotell

Hannah by Nancy Revoir Dezotell

Made in 2006 by Nancy Revoir Dezotell, Hannah is a 12-1/2-inch doll made for the Green Mountain Doll Club of Vermont's 2006 UFDC Regional Conference. 

Hannah close-up

Made of resin with a black cloth body, Hannah has black eyes and a black mohair wig styled in two high-positioned, short side-ponytails adorned with red ribbons. 

Hannah wears a sewn-on red felt dress, white slip, white pantaloons, and molded-on black boots that have real laces. Her red socks are molded on. 

Hannah's doll

Hannah has a black rag doll (made from black jersey-knit cloth) and a booklet, Hannah's Story, by Mary E. Swasey ©2005. The booklet tells her story of living in the foothills of the Green Mountains in Vermont with her loving family. She adores her father.

Hannah's booklet, wooden base, and molded-on boots, and socks are illustrated here.

The first page of Hannah's booklet sets the Winter scene of the story.

The black wooden base had two pegs that fit into a hole in the bottom of Hannah's boots. 

Hannah's base

The text on the bottom of the base is copied below followed by a photograph of the text.

HANNAH

Green Mountain Medley

Region 15

UFDC Regional Conference

Green Moutain Doll Club of Vermont

June 15-17, 2006

Nancy Revoir Dezotell. 

According to the seller, Hannah is signed and numbered by the artist as a limited edition #42 of only 182. I, however, could not find the signature.

More about Hannah

This doll was inspired by the character, Daisy, in the book Daisy and Her Doll by Michael Medearis and Angela S. Medearis (The Vermont Folklife Center, 2000). The book is based on an actual incident in the life of 8-year-old Daisy Turner, a formerly enslaved man's daughter, who was born in Vermont in 1883. Daisy's teacher tasked her with writing about Africa and handed her a "coal-black" doll that was not (in Daisy's mind) as pretty as the other white dolls the teacher gave to the other students who laughed at Daisy's doll causing her to become aware of the difference in her skin color and theirs for the first time. Daisy overcomes this dilemma triumphantly as she did in other aspects of her life. Read more about the book here. See a picture of the beautiful Daisy Turner as a young woman here and read about her here.

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Baby Nancy, Strong Museum National Toy Hall of Fame Finalist!

2020 National Toy Hall of Fame finalist article, "Yahtzee, Baby Nancy, My Little Pony up for honor," in a photo by Virginia.

One of my blog readers emailed images of an Associated Press article published on Sunday, September 13, 2020, in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the 2020 National Toy Hall of Fame finalists. One of the 12 finalists is Shindana's first doll, Baby Nancy! I was very excited to know that Shinanda's first doll has been honored in such a manner. Whether she wins or not, it is important the little doll that started Shindana Toys is recognized.

I contacted The Strong National Museum of Play, the sponsor of this hall of fame, to get clarification on why the 1969 version of Baby Nancy was nominated instead of the 1968 version. (The 1968 doll is actually the first Baby Nancy by Shindana.) Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, curator at The Strong, explained, "We do not have an original version of Baby Nancy in the collection. When we knew Baby Nancy was a finalist we looked for an original and found only one available. Unfortunately, that fell through shortly before the announcement. We’d be grateful for any help you could provide us with acquiring an original." I could not offer any leads other than eBay's auction site. If you have an original Baby Nancy that you would like to donate to the museum please visit their Donate to the Collections page for details.

From the same article is a quote about the finalists.

According to The Richmond Times-Dispatch article, which quotes Christopher Bensch, vice-president of collections,  "These 12 toys represent the wide scope of playthings -- from simple sidewalk chalk that has its roots in ancient times, to Baby Nancy, which proved a turning point in the representation of race in dolls..."

The 12 finalists and a brief description are included in this photo taken by Virginia of the Richmond Times-Dispatch article. 

Unfortunately, I was not aware of Baby Nancy's inductee honor until voting on the finalists concluded on September 16, 2020. The final inductees will be announced on Thursday, November 5, 2020. 

I must once again express how super excited I am that Baby Nancy was inducted and became a finalist.  Thank you again, Virginia, for the newspaper notification.

Related Links

Baby Nancy, Shindana's First Doll

 

Press Release, Finalists

National Toy Hall of Fame Past Inducted Toys

MIBDH: The Shindana Story and One of Its Main Characters

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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.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Yara Shahidi Barbie

Yara Shahidi Barbie is the latest Barbie Shero (seen in an "Internet-captured) photo.

Yes! The Yara Shahidi Barbie is being released! For a short while, there had been rumors that Mattel was not going to produce quantities other than the one-of-a-kind doll. This is one time I am happy the rumors are not true.

Let me get to the point, last week the doll became available as a preorder first through Amazon. It is now on the Barbie.Mattel website for preorder with a planned shipping date of October 9, 2020 at both sites. The details from the Barbie site are as follows:

• Label: Gold Label®
• Designer: Carlyle Nuera
• Release Date: 9/23/2020
• Included with doll: Blazer, t-shirt, pants, shoes, backpack, ballot, doll stand
• Eyelashes: Painted
• Fashion: "Vote" t-shirt, gray blazer and matching pants
• Fashion Sewn On?: No
• Body Type: Made to Move Petite
• Doll Stand: Yes
• Facial sculpt: Yara Shahidi (sculpted to likeness)
• Package Dimensions (H/D/W): 13" x 3" x 9"

Close-up of Yara Shahidi Barbie in an "Internet-captured" photo

The price is $29.99. With Amazon Prime, shipping is free. I am not aware if Barbie.Mattel is offering any shipping discounts.

For additional information, read Allen Voivod's blog about the doll here; or if you desire to preorder, scoot on over to either Amazon or the Barbie.Mattel site using the links in the previous paragraph.

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And in other Yara Shahidi news, the talented actor is scheduled to play Tinkerbell in Disney's live-action Tinkerbell and Wendy. This will mark the first time for Tinkerbell to be portrayed as a Black. Read more here where an artist's interpretation of how a melanated Tinkerbell might look is included.

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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.
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!