It's All About TJ, Mostly

Fashion Madness TJ Night Out is articulated with nicely made fashion.

I added an articulated TJ to my collection through an eBay seller who offered him with an "or best offer" option.  TJ along with two Fashion Madness Keyshias, purchased from the same seller, arrived last week as my first doll purchases of the year.  Wow... three dolls already during the 1st week of January.  Hope this is not a sign of my doll spending. 

TJ poses in front of the cardboard liner of his box.  The flaps of the box contain his silhouette, which I think is pretty cool.

TJ's fashion is nicer than I expected.  He wears a heather gray turtleneck sweater that has a Velcro closure in back.  Heavyweight denim fabric was used for his jeans.  His black and white check coat has a stand-up collar and black satin lapels.  His black vinyl sneakers with mock laces were made for left and right feet, not for either foot like some doll shoes.

TJ poses without his jacket. 

TJ is articulated at the wrists, elbows, knees and other usual areas.  His ankles are not articulated.  I took a nude photo of TJ and So In Style Darren for a very brief, not detailed, comparison of the two.

TJ and So in Style Darren pose for a body comparison

TJ's body is more muscular than Darren's, but his shorter legs made me think he would be shorter.  His longer torso makes up for the short legs because when side by side, the two are actually about the same 12-inch height.  I like the appearance of TJ's knee joints; however, if the lower leg is turned even slightly, he "wants" to bend his knees.  Perhaps someone has told him that many women like men with "bow legs" and he is attempting to give that appearance.  Even though he tends to bow his legs, he can stand without the aid of a stand.  His feet are slightly longer and wider at the forefoot than Darren's but the two can share shoes.  Surprisingly, they can share (some) clothing, too, as illustrated below.

TJ can wear the Ken track suit that Darren was wearing and Darren can wear TJ's Night Out fashion.  The sunglasses that each were wearing cannot be worn by the other.  Darren's sunglasses are too small for TJ's over-sized head; TJ's are too wide for Darren.

I wanted to see how TJ displays with a Fashion Madness Kenya.  The doll I dressed as Teresa Graves' Get Christie Love character volunteered to pose with Darren.

TJ and Kenya are a cute couple.

As indicated, Weekend Fun and Special Day Keyshia traveled here with TJ.

Weekend Fun and Special Day Keyshia

I will write a followup post on Keyshia soon.  In the meantime, if you are curious about her, Roxanne's Dolls has written a wonderfully illustrated review of Weekend Keyshia. 
 

More About My Articulated TJ:
TJ came with a few minor flaws that were probably not noticeable to the seller.  This is the way of the Kenya World.  Unless you are purchasing the dolls in person and can examine them up close and personal for visible flaws, you might wind up with a doll with imperfections.

TJ's right hand did have a noticeable gray powdery substance on it that was visible through the box.  Initially, I thought the vinyl of his hand had turned an ashen gray, but both shoes had this same dusting of gray stuff all over them.  I removed him from the box and washed off his hand, both shoes -- inside and out -- and his feet.  I have no idea what this was or what TJ had been up to.  I wrote the seller* to inform him of this as well as TJ's vinyl flaws, described below. 

He has a nose rub where the tip of it was pressed against the plastic lining of the box.  I used a pencil eraser to dull the shine of the rub some, but it is still visible.  He has a scratch in the center of his forehead that looks like a scar, other minor vinyl rubs to his bald head, and a discolored indentation at the nape of his neck.  Most of these were probably not noticeable to the seller, but had the doll been examined in person, a collector would have seen the "powder," the nose rub, and the forehead scar.  I took a chance on ordering online because I wanted an articulated version and the same seller had both Keyshias.  All were purchased for a "best offer" price with free shipping.  I am a little disappointed in TJ's flaws, but the fact that his clothing is better than expected, Darren can wear it, and he can wear Ken Fashionistas fashions, I won't sweat it.

*The seller, whose shipping was super sonic fast, offered to replace TJ after I returned him at my expense.  I informed him that since I had already removed TJ from the box and had basically taken care of the visible flaws as best I could, I would keep him, but I did want him to be aware that some of the dolls have issues.

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Throwback Thursday: This Little Boy

Circa 1950s Martha Chase Doll

First seen in my post regarding dolls received for Christmas, this 14-inch lad arrived beautifully gift wrapped, accompanied by a note from Debra R. (the person who gave him to me) which stated, "I tried to find this little boy a better outfit and I know I have one but it is packed away.  I will try to find it and send it to you."

Initially, I did not know his history (name, when made and by whom, etc.).  I looked in doll reference books and could not find him, but I knew his face looked familiar.  In my "Thank you so much!" email to Debra, I wrote: 

"The little boy doll is very interesting.  I wish I knew who he was.  At first I thought he was Horsman’s Cotton Joe, but he is not marked and Cotton Joe had a composition head and cloth body.  This little boy is all Latex material.  I washed his face with vinegar to try to remove some of the stickiness.  It helped some.  He will display well with similar dolls from his circa 1940s time period.  His outfit is fine.  I will pin his hat on the inside to make it fit better or I might sew it to fit." 

Debra replied:

"...The little boy doll is the Martha Chase stockinette doll that is on page 25 of your second book."

Oh-my-goodness, I thought.  Had it been a snake, he would have certainly bitten me.  I flipped to page 25 of my second book, Black Dolls A Comprehensive Guide... and there he was, courtesy of Janice Larsen-Tyre.   I had to laugh at myself.  I looked in every book except my own.

As very little has been documented about dark-skinned dolls made by Martha Chase, the exact decade of my doll's manufacture and others like him is uncertain.  Based on the information Larson-Tyre provided me in 2008 when I wrote my second book, I recorded the date of manufacture as circa 1950s, which is probably correct.  However, dolls that use the head and body molds used on my doll were used well into the 70s.  A 1977 Chase doll made expressly for the United Federation of Doll Clubs is proof of this, images of which can be seen here and here.

Additional research gleaned from online documentation on Martha Chase dolls indicates she began making dolls in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1889. The dolls are made of stuffed stockinette/stockinet, a stretch-cotton fabric used for socks and stockings at the time.  This material was coated with glue-like sizing and painted heavily with oil paint, resulting in a stuffed latex, water-resistant material.  The heads have raised features (stockinette stretched over a mold) with painted eyes and applied ears.  They were originally marked with a paper label on the back or underneath the arm, identifying them as a Chase Stockinet doll.  Some had a hangtag.  When found today, these identifiers are usually missing.  The aforementioned UFDC-exclusive 1970s doll had both a hangtag and underarm label. 
 
The early stockinette dolls were articulated at the shoulders, elbows, and hips while later ones exclude elbow articulation, like my doll.  I took several photos of him in the buff to illustrate his construct. 

This little boy has raised facial features with painted eyes and an unusual style of articulating the shoulders and hips with a flatter piece of stockinette that creates a hinge of sorts, as illustrated above and below.

A close-up better illustrates his face and articulation.

Note his raised ear and flat upper arm joint.

Full view in profile

About Chase Dolls
While play doll manufacture continued, Chase began making hospital mannequin dolls in 1911.  In the later years, the focus turned away from play dolls to the mannequins used for training nurses.  Mrs. Chase died in 1925 but her family continued making dolls well into the late 1970s (as evidenced by the UFDC-exclusive doll).  According to Dollmakers and Their Stories, Women Who Changed the World of Play by Krystyna Poray Goddu, in 1978 the Chase doll company was "sold to a medical supply company in Chicago, which stopped making the play dolls altogether." 

In the online article, "Martha Jenks Chase's Simple Dolls for Simple Doll Play," posted online by Patricia Hogan on 10/02/2012, Hogan writes:

In 1899, Martha Jenks Chase of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, began applying her talents as a seamstress to making cloth dolls and the collection of the National Museum of Play includes 37 examples of her creations. A doctor’s wife with progressive ideas, Chase objected to the American-made mechanical dolls that filled store shelves. She felt the inventors’ interest in technology overwhelmed children’s imaginative capacity to make the dolls “come alive.” Chase also judged the fashion dolls manufactured in Europe inappropriate because they encouraged children to crave material things. She pronounced most dolls too fragile and too heavy for children’s play. To counter these deficiencies, Chase made her own dolls of stockinet (a cotton knit used for undergarments), stiffened with sizing, and molded into the likeness of real-life children. She painted her dolls with insoluble paints to make them washable. Their cotton stuffing (many dolls of the day were filled with sawdust) also made the dolls lightweight, soft to the touch, and more desirable for the doll play Chase observed in children. Chase’s dolls encouraged children to display affectionate and nurturing behavior in their make-believe play.

Martha Chase set up her doll-making operation at her home in a backyard building called the Dolls’ House. Chase’s small cottage industry employed a number of women as molders, painters, and seamstresses. By 1913 the workers of the Dolls’ House produced play dolls, dressed or undressed, in six sizes ranging from 12 to 30 inches and retailing for $2.50 to $7.50. The dolls, though not cheap by early 20th-century standards, reached customers nationwide and sold well in department stores like Macy’s, Best & Co., Gimbel Brothers, and Wanamaker’s, as well as toy stores such as F. A. O. Schwarz.

Writers frequently refer to the "later years" of Chase doll manufacture when referencing the elimination of elbow joints and the focus on hospital mannequins, but this time frame is difficult to pinpoint.   I for now will conclude that my little boy was made, as Larsen-Tyre indicated in the1950s, several years after Chase's death and before the focus shifted to hospital mannequin doll manufacture.  While my doll appears identical to the 1970s UFDC-exclusive doll, its visible aging indicates it is much older.

What I know for sure is:  Early nineteenth century examples of black Chase dolls have broad facial features while black dolls from the "later years" are often white molds painted brown.  Additionally, finding black versions of Chase dolls from any era is like finding a needle in a haystack because fewer were made.  Finally, what I know for certain is:  I am thrilled Debra thought about me when she found this little boy (and I am even more thrilled that the temporarily lost package in which he was shipped was returned to me by an honest neighbor!) 

More Martha Chase Links:
200 Years of Dolls:  Identification and Price Guide
Dollmakers and Their Stories
Early nineteenth century mammy types with broad facial features can be seen here and here. 
Beautiful example of early black Chase male doll
Martha Jenks Chase, Simple Dolls for Simple Play


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Sale: Daddy’s Babies™ Clowns

The owner of Hamilo, Inc. asked me to share the following sale information with the readers of my blog:

Dear Customer,

We wanted to say thank you in a big way for your business and wish you a very, very

“HAPPY NEW YEAR”!

It is 2014 and we would like to offer you this very special deal for $20.14.

Any two clowns in the inventory with free shipping in the USA!  Just reply to this e-mail with your choices.  We will send an invoice for payment of your dolls and the international shipping fee for non-USA customers.

Email your two choices to:  hamilollc@yahoo.com 

Visit www.hamilobabydolls.com for the current inventory (click the Clowns link).  

The sale ends January 31, 2014

(Daddy’s Babies™ Clowns are jointed and measure approximately 5 inches tall.  The Angels are adorable too.  All make nice gifts.  I recently ordered two Angels as gifts.)

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