Mudd House Victorian Christmas

[L Verge]

(12-12-2015 03:11 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing and posting! So lovingly displayed and done - one can feel the atmosphere just from seeing the photos!

I have a question (and apologize in advance that I probably don't use as don't know the politically correct terms) - these black dolls, whose were they? Black childrens', white, or both? I assume toys were only for the super-rich (because even my mother's generation grew up greatly without any toys, in/after the war no one could afford).
I didn't have any dolls (not fluffy enough, I loved toy animals), so I am no expert, but seem to remember black dolls were absolutely "in" with other girls because they were so exotic. So I wonder about this.

Great question, Eva, and one that is answered in the exhibit booklet that we give to visitors - and which I will send to you. As to who played with these dolls, you can almost tell from the style of doll. Rag dolls and corn husk dolls were found in black and white households from the Atlantic coast to the prairie farms. One did not have to be rich to have dolls produced in their cultural style, and really the truly expensive dolls came after the Civil War era. Of course, they went to the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt layers of society.

The first black dolls were produced in Europe. And, this will make you happy, Eva, one of the major producers was Carl Bergner of Germany. He's famous for a three-face doll with one face a crying black child and the other two, happier white faces.

By 1892, Jumeau of Paris (one of the most famous dollmakers) advertised black and mulatto dolls with bisque heads. I think we can assume that these were produced for the white market and the more affluent African American families.

American manufacturers began including black dolls in their production lines in the early-1900s. Believe it or not, Madame Alexander dolls were around at this time (1910 and 1930) and produced black dolls.

I think it's safe to say that the style of the doll can tell you what level of society bought it. Also think about homemade dolls from nuts, wishbones, corncobs, etc.