Lip Smacking Black Americana dolls

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Posted by Amity
15 years ago
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Description Price tag came with description stating; "...pair of Googly eyed dolls. Stand 6"...Bisque heads and composition bodies which are fully jointed. Features are all painted; side glancing eyes...'lip smacking' expression. Hair is flocked mohair. Dressed in handmade outfits. They have come here from Argentina where there is a very large German population from a Post War immigration and were made in the 1920's. No cracks chips or damage." I have attempted to research the dolls and have had no luck with any similar examples. Obviously they were well taken care of and support a early Black Americana theme. There mouths are the most unusual thing about the dolls, supporting a "lip smacking good" description as seen above. Not sure if they were manufactured as an advertisement tool for some kind of early publicity attempt.
Category Black Memorabilia
Medium bisque with mohair hair and handmade clothes from lace and cotton
Distinguishing marks 2 printed on back of head of both dolls and 'Germany'
Condition Excellent
Size and dimensions of this item approx 6" tall
Date Period early 1900s
History Purchased at antique store. Germany printed on back of both
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Collector Discussion

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mindbogglz 📚 Apprentice 15 years ago

try http://collectdolls.about.com/od/germanantiques/p/googlydolls.htm http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200603A25.html http://collectdolls.about.com/cs/collectingdolls/a/dollvalue.htm for your research. They seem very unusual to me...may have quite a find. A great appraiser... if she doesn't do picture valuations maybe she can refer you to someone in your area... http://www.art-care.com/appraisal/?storefront_id=1204
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WHATIL1K3 🌱 Newbie 15 years ago

I'm not sure why black americana would be considered in poor taste to collect as it was a part of history (no different then someone collecting nazi relics in their war memorabilia). These were made in Germany so most likely they were a child's toy not black americana at all. I agree with mindbogglz that these do seem unusual. I have never seen black dolls like these. My mother use to have what had once been referred too as a tar baby doll (very small porcelain doll no more than two inches tall)and I have seen the ones that look to me like "Mrs. Butterworth" which I have heard were called mammie dolls. http://blackdollcollecting.blogspot.com/2010/03/black-dolls-from-other-countries.html http://www.rubylane.com/dolls/,id=91.2.2.html http://www.btinternet.com/~terry.jennison/Antique-Dolls.htm http://www.7huckleberrylane.com/antique-dolls.html http://www.collectorsweekly.com/dolls/german
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Anonymous (not verified) 🌱 Newbie 15 years ago

Isn't this considered racist nowadays? I thought that most black americana was now considered off limits and in poor taste to collect.
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Anonymous (not verified) 🌱 Newbie 15 years ago

I apologize if I offended anyone with this object. But I assumed this website was in use for people attempting to find the value of any kind of collector or antique object, that was my intention in posting it, not attempting to offend anyone. I was a collector of dolls and the fact that these were unusual interested me in the purchase. They are obviously not meant to be incredibly offensive. Objects that are considered "racist" to me tend to have exaggerated features or things such as "black face." These dolls don't typify either to me. As I couldn't think of a better description term I used "Black Americana." There are a lot of different collectors of a lot of different things and I don't believe those collectors necessarily intend to offend any one particular group of people.
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mindbogglz 📚 Apprentice 15 years ago

Many people collect these ugly reminders of our past simply due to the fact they are important, historically. I saw a guy on BBC Roadshow who is a collector & people send him these type of artifacts...he happens to be black. My dad left me quite a little collection of disturbing items that I wanted to throw away, initially till I learned more about why they are collected. http://antiques.about.com/cs/aroundtheworld1/a/aa052000.htm Yikes, some people even collect Hitler crapola, but also only for the historical significance.

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