Difference between revisions of "Black doll"

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[[File:Black dolls.jpg|thumb|200px|''Various [[antique]] to [[Modern era|modern]] Black dolls from the collection of Debbie Garrett'']]
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#REDIRECT [[About BlackWiki's Mission]]
A '''black doll''' is a [[doll]] of a [[black person]]. Representations, both stereotypical and realistic, fashioned into playthings, date back centuries.  More accurate, mass-produced depictions are manufactured today as toys and adult collectibles.
 
 
 
==European manufacture==
 
Several 19th-century European doll companies preceded American doll companies in manufacturing black dolls. These predecessors include Carl Bergner of Germany, who made a three-faced doll with one face a crying black child and the other two, happier white faces.  In 1892, [[Jumeau Dolls|Jumeau]] of Paris advertised black and mixed race dolls with [[Bisque doll|bisque]] heads. Gebruder Heubach of Germany made character faces in bisque. Other European doll makers include Bru Jne. & Cie of Paris, Steiner, Danel, [[Société Française de Fabrication de Bébés et Jouets]] (S.F.B.J.), and Kestner of Germany.
 
 
 
==American manufacture==
 
[[File:Negro Doll Company ad (Nashville Globe, 28 August 1908).jpg|thumb|Ad for the Negro Doll Company, Nashville, Tennessee, 1908]]
 
American entrepreneur [[R. H. Boyd|Richard Henry Boyd]] founded the [[National Negro Doll Company]] in 1911 "after he tried to purchase dolls for his children but could find none that were not gross caricatures of African Americans."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blackthen.com/a-father-creates-the-first-black-doll-company-for-his-daughters-because-he-could-not-find-any-dolls-that-were-not-gross-caricatures-of-african-american/|title=Former Slave Creates The First Black Doll Company For His Daughters, Here's Why {{!}} Black Then|website=blackthen.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref>
 
 
 
American companies began including black dolls in their doll lines in the early 1900s. Between 1910 and 1930, Horsman, Vogue, and [[Alexander Doll Company|Madame Alexander]] included black dolls in their doll lines. Gradually, other American companies followed suit.
 
 
 
In 1947, the first African American woman cartoonist [[Jackie Ormes]] created the Patty-Jo doll, which was based on ''Patty-Jo 'n Ginger'', the cartoon panel she penned for newspapers at the time.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://zocalopoets.com/2015/02/28/jackie-ormes-torchy-candy-patty-jo-ginger/|title=Jackie Ormes: Torchy, Candy, Patty-Jo & Ginger!|date=2015-03-01|work=Zócalo Poets|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}}</ref> The doll was a realistic black doll, breaking the mammy doll stereotype.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2018/01/19/the-rediscovered-legacy-of-jackie-ormes-the-first-black-woman-with-a-syndicated-comic-strip/|title=Perspective {{!}} The rediscovered legacy of Jackie Ormes, the first black woman with a syndicated comic strip|last=https://www.facebook.com/comicriffs|website=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref>
 
 
 
[[Beatrice Wright Brewington]], an African American entrepreneur, founded [[B. Wright's Toy Company|B. Wright's Toy Company, Inc]]. and mass-produced black dolls with ethnically-correct features.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/apr/25/black-dolls-collection-african-american-history|title=From controversy to empowerment: the history of black dolls|last=Sayej|first=Nadja|date=2017-04-25|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref> Also an educator, Wright began instructing girls in the art of making dolls in 1955.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blackdollcollecting.blogspot.com/2010/02/moments-in-black-doll-history-beatrice.html|title=Black Doll Collecting: Moments in Black Doll History - Beatrice Wright Dolls|last=Enthusiast|first=Black Doll|date=2010-02-23|website=Black Doll Collecting|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref>
 
 
 
During the 1960s and in the aftermath of the [[Watts Riots]] in Los Angeles, California, [[Shindana Toys]], a Division of Operation Bootstrap, Inc., is credited as the first major doll company to mass-produce ethnically-correct<ref>[http://blackdollcollecting.blogspot.com/2010/02/mibdh-shindana-story-and-one-of-its.html MIBDH: The Shindana Story and One of Its Main Characters] (retrieved May 5, 2017), The Shindana Story, Originally printed in the March/April 1990 issue of Doll-E-Gram, published by Lavern E. Hall</ref> black dolls in the United States.
 
 
 
Other popular collectible black dolls include manufactured play dolls past and current, manufactured dolls designed for collectors by companies such as [[Alexander Doll Company|Madame Alexander]] and [[Tonner Doll Company, Inc.|Tonner Doll]], artist dolls, one-of-a-kind dolls, portrait dolls and those representing historical figures, [[reborn doll]]s, and [[paper dolls]]. In addition, [[American Girl]] has also released black dolls portraying girls of color from various points in American history such as Addy Walker and civil rights-era Melody Ellison, as well as those from the present day.
 
 
 
To honor the history of black dolls, in 2012, three sisters named Debra Britt and her sisters, Felicia Walker and Tamara Mattison opened the [https://nbdmhc.org/ National Black Doll Museum of History and Culture] in Mansfield, Massachusetts. It features over 6,000 black dolls<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/black-is-beautiful-why-black-dolls-matter/|title=Black Is Beautiful: Why Black Dolls Matter|work=Collectors Weekly|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en}}</ref> and its mission is to nurture the self-esteem of children and preserve the legacy of black dolls.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2018/05/national-black-doll-museum|title=Learning from Toys|date=2018-04-06|work=Harvard Magazine|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en}}</ref> Roughly 1,000 black dolls are also on view at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20181108185250/https://philadollmuseum.com/ Philadelphia Doll Museum], which was founded by Barbara Whiteman.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://whyy.org/articles/doll-museum-embodies-passion-for-history-hope-for-future/|title=Doll museum embodies passion for history, hope for future : WHYY|work=WHYY|access-date=2018-11-08|language=en-US}}</ref>
 
 
 
[[Mattel Toys]] created the first black dolls in the popular [[Barbie]]  line, Francine and Christie, in 1967 and 1969 respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chocolatedoll.com/african_american_barbie_creation.html|title=Chocolatedoll.com! Finally the History of Black Barbie|website=www.chocolatedoll.com|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref> This caused controversy at the time they were released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chocolatedoll.com/barbie_controversy.html|title=Chocolatedoll.com! The Controversy of Barbie|last=Design.|first=PGC|website=www.chocolatedoll.com|access-date=2018-11-08}}</ref>
 
 
 
==See also==
 
* [[African American culture]]
 
* [[Golliwog]]
 
* [[Topsy-Turvy doll]]
 
* [[Philadelphia Doll Museum]]
 
 
 
Books, 1987
 
*''Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide 1820-1991'' by Myla Perkins, Collector Books, 1991
 
*''Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide Book II'' by Myla Perkins, Collector Books, 1995
 
*''The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls'' by Debbie Behan Garrett, Hobby House Press, 2003
 
*''Black Dolls Proud, Bold & Beautiful'' by Nayda Rondon, Reverie Press, 2004
 
*''Collectible African American Dolls Identification and Values'' by Yvonne Ellis, Collector Books, 2008
 
*''Black Dolls: A Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating Collecting and Experiencing the Passion'' by Debbie Behan Garrett, 2008
 
* "The Scripts of Black Dolls" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=f_mgPpS-xXsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=racial+innocence&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NvABT_KdC4T20gGU8aTRAg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=racial%20innocence&f=false ''Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights,''] by Robin Bernstein, 2011
 
* See also Robin Bernstein, [https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/4795341/Bernstein%20PMLA%20126.1.pdf?sequence=1=false ''Children's Books, Dolls, and the Performance of Race; or, The Possibility of Children's Literature,''] ''PMLA'' 126.1 (2011): 160-169.
 
 
 
==References==
 
{{Reflist}}
 
==External links==
 
* [https://statenisland.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/5F14845E-72EA-4A05-87A9-530630762535 Baby doll, Acme Toy Company, ca. 1925, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database]
 
 
 
{{African American caricatures and stereotypes}}
 
{{Authority control}}
 
[[Category:Dolls]]
 
[[Category:African-American culture]]
 
[[Category:Stereotypes of African Americans]]
 

Latest revision as of 05:27, 8 October 2020