Skip to content

Doll leads to 1940s female photographers

Posted in Dolls, and Photos

I could barely read the maker’s name on the neck of the doll. That’s the first place to look to find out who made a doll, vintage or modern. The dim overhead lights at the auction house weren’t giving up much brightness to aid me in deciphering the tiny inscription.

The last name appeared to be a little clearer: Bannister. I turned the doll toward the light, then away from it and the name was finally revealed: Constance Bannister. It was not a maker I was familiar with, like the Madame Alexander dolls that show up pretty often at auction.

Constance Bannister babies
The Constance Bannister doll I bought at auction.

It was a cute little pink baby doll with red flushed cheeks, sleep eyes that opened and closed, molded brown hair in curls, and wearing a cotton robe that needed cleaning. The doll was among several others in the lot, a couple with their heads ripped off. The Constance Bannister doll was a little dirty, but had all of ts fingers and toes.

I wasn’t sure if I would buy the doll, but I certainly was curious about who Constance Bannister was. So I went in search of her, and what I found was very enlightening.

Bannister was a photographer, well-known in the 1940s and 1950s for her photographs of babies. She had come years before the famed Anne Geddes captured a diverse group of babies as flowers, animals and other amazing things, along with fixing them in unusual surroundings.

Constance Bannister babies
Constance Bannister with her Graflex camera.

The baby doll at auction was made by the Sun Rubber Co., which apparently took advantage of the photographer’s fame in the 1950s by making a doll in the image of her babies. In addition to the little ones, Bannister photographed food, animals (especially cats and dogs), New York City scenes and people.

Bannister was one of more than 10,000 female photographers of this era, with the numbers increasing after World War II, according to the book “A History of Women Photographers,” published in 2010 and written by Naomi Rosenblum.

The war had opened up the U.S. military to women photographers. With men fighting in the trenches, the military had to train non-soldiers as photographers, and women – especially African American women, most already in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) – benefited. The black women included Elizabeth “Tex” Williams, the first black woman accepted into the Signal Corps photography school in New Jersey in 1949 and graduating at the top of her class; Emma Alice Downs and Grendel A. Howard.

Constance Bannister babies
A “Bannister Baby” (left) and the doll I bought at auction.

Born in Tennessee, Bannister moved to New York as a teenager in the 1930s to attend photography school, after which she got her first job with the Associated Press in Palm Beach, FL, according to a website maintained by her daughter Lynda. She returned to New York and began working for the Chicago Tribune, shooting shows headed from Broadway to the Windy City on road tours. She also opened a studio near Central Park and was a photographer for the Ice Capades and the ballet.

Later, she started photographing babies in diapers, taking more than 100,000 photos and becoming famous worldwide. They became known as “Bannister Babies,” and she wrote cute and humorous captions to go with the pictures. They could be seen in books, magazines, calendars, and on posters, billboards and TV shows, according to the website. They even sold war bonds during World War II, and Bannister herself became a pinup girl.

Some of the photos were also used for propaganda. Bannister used them in two anti-Russia books in the 1950s. The U.S. Information Agency in 1953 used them as props, showing the babies reacting to Communism in both their expressions and in humorous captions.

Constance Bannister baby photographer
A Constance Bannister photo of an African American mother and baby. From the blog b.vikki vintage.

Given the times, I wondered if Bannister had photographed any African American babies. I found one photo from the 1940s of a black mother and baby but this was more a portrait, not a Bannister Baby. In a catalog that accompanied a 2008 exhibit of Bannister’s works, her daughter noted that Dorothy Height of the National Council of Negro Women worked with Bannister in the 1960s to put the face of a black child on the cover of one of her calendars. I’m not sure if it was ever done; I could not find such a calendar via Google. I found one black baby photo by Bannister said to be from the 1960s.

An ad for Num-Zit teething lotion in Ebony magazine in March 1960 included a contest asking parents to send in photos of their teething baby’s smile to win a $1,000 savings bond. In the ad was a photo of a black baby snapped by Bannister, one of the judges.

Constance Bannister baby photographer
“Constance Bannister, New York, New York” is inscribed on the doll’s neck.

I saw Bannister Babies published in the St. Petersburg, FL, Evening Independent newspaper in 1960 under the title “More Baby Talk” with captions. Life magazine published this sweet upside down baby photo in its January 1950 issue. Her photos kept turning up in the magazine, but the women photographers’ book noted that it wasn’t easy for women to get this works published in Life. They were mostly commissioned to shoot domestic topics.

Male photographers apparently didn’t make it easy for them, either. The book told of women who were nudged from great shooting spots by abusive male photographers. Bannister recalled printing her photos in a hotel bathroom after finding out that male photographers had deliberately scratched her negatives, among other things.

At auction, I bought the doll and the ragtag group that accompanied it. In my search to learn more about Bannister, I came across a black doll said to be a Bannister that was sold at auction in Ohio in 2011. There was no indication of when it was made.

 

 

17 Comments

  1. Kim
    Kim

    Hi, Sherry
    Thank you for your interesting story . I still have my Bannister Baby from the 50’s, the only much loved doll I saved, with the precious face. I was at a neighborhood estate sale and bought a beautiful and delicate dress with crocheted booties for her. I’ll turn 70 in July and am patiently waiting for Grandchildren, I hope to pass my doll on.

    May 30, 2022
    |Reply
    • sherry
      sherry

      Hi Kim, she is a lovely doll. I’m very glad you kept and cared for her over the years.

      June 1, 2022
      |Reply
  2. Gayle Nelson
    Gayle Nelson

    Hi, I still have my bannister baby that I got for Christmas years ago. I’m 75 now and have a darling portrait of my daughter holding my bannister baby. She is in excellent shape and I intend to leave her to my granddaughter who is one. We will take a portrait of her with the bannister baby. Thank you, GAYLE

    December 20, 2021
    |Reply
  3. Kimberly Warner
    Kimberly Warner

    I received my Bannister Baby doll in 1956 when I was 2. She needs new eyes and one of our dogs chewed one hand and one foot. I wish my doll could be repaired. I am now 63 and cherish the dolls I received as a child.

    July 24, 2017
    |Reply
    • sherry
      sherry

      Hi, you can have the doll repaired at a doll hospital. Google to see if there’s a reputable one near where you live and give them a call. If not, you can contact a reputable shop via Google & mail the doll. Just be sure to check them out before sending your doll or paying any money.

      Good luck,

      Sherry

      July 24, 2017
      |Reply
  4. Karen
    Karen

    Sherry (or anyone else interested),

    An episode of Strange Inheritances was recently filmed about the collection of Constance Bannister’s photos which were left in her will to her daughter, Lynda. The show will be aired in the near future on Fox Business News.

    If you are not familiar with the show, here is a link to the season that the episode will be on:

    http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/01/17/sneak-peek-strange-inheritance-season-3.html

    Lynda lovingly manages the collection and also has several of her mothers dolls.

    January 19, 2017
    |Reply
    • sherry
      sherry

      Thanks for the heads-up, Karen. I’ll try to keep an eye out for it. I’d love to see more of her photos and the dolls.

      January 19, 2017
      |Reply
    • Cathy
      Cathy

      Hi Sherry
      I saw the episode about Constance Bannister and the Bannister doll on Fox Business this morning. I think I have the doll but it does not have the markings that are mentioned. It was a strange coincidence that today was my first time to watch the show and the topic was something related to an item from my childhood. I guess maybe my doll isn’t the ‘real’ doll but that’s ok. I have a love of sewing and my first project using a sewing machine was a dress for this doll. Recently I found the dress in my mother’s basement so baby now has something to wear. Glad to have found your posting.

      February 16, 2019
      |Reply
      • sherry
        sherry

        Hi Cathy. I hope she is a Constance Bannister doll. She’s a sweet little doll.

        February 16, 2019
        |Reply
  5. Hello Sherry is that baby still available I am a nephew of Constantine Bannister my mother was her sister and her original last name is Gibbs out of Ashland City Tennessee I’d like to purchase the dog if its available for my daughter

    January 5, 2017
    |Reply
    • sherry
      sherry

      Hi John, I’m sorry but I no longer have the doll. I kept her for a long time, though. I’m happy to hear from a relative of Bannister’s and learn a bit more about her. Please check eBay. You may be able to find a doll there.

      Sherry

      January 5, 2017
      |Reply
  6. Karen A Coats
    Karen A Coats

    Sherry, My sister and I each received a Baby Banister Doll for Christmas (1956) when I was in first grade. She came in a pink cardboard carrying case wearing the little white bath robe with hood and a pair of white panties. The bath robe was trimmed in pink, and she also came with a pink dress with blue and pink flowers on the upper half.. She came with a bubble pipe and a baby bottle. She had a small hole in her mouth for the bubble pipe and baby bottle. She also had a tiny hole in her lower back so she wet when you fed her. I still have mine in the original dress. Don’t have anything else that came with her. I think my sister still has her doll, too.
    I took my doll and her case with the accessories to school after Christmas for
    “Show and Tell”. A lot of the children in my class had brought something to show.
    I always remember Mrs. Grosweiler, my teacher, held my doll and case up and walked them around the room to show the other children. She told me how cute it was. She didn’t take the time to walk any of the other children’s toys around like she did mine. I remember it made me feel extra special. I loved my doll and played with it for years. It’s really great to read about her and her history. Thanks so much

    July 2, 2015
    |Reply
    • sherry
      sherry

      Hi Karen, what a sweet story. I’m amazed that you still have her. Most of the dolls from childhood were discarded long ago. I was happy to learn about Constance Bannister through this little doll I found at auction.

      Sherry

      July 2, 2015
      |Reply
  7. Bonnie
    Bonnie

    Hi Sherry,

    I’m so glad you posted your remarks here….

    I’ve had my doll since around 1954, I believe. I immediately named her Betty Anne, probably because I heard my grandmother calling my mother “Betty Anne” all the time! I’ve always loved her but never really looked up what kind of doll she was until today when I was cleaning her.

    Constance Bannister had an interesting connection to babies and it is very nice to know that my doll is related to her.

    I particularly liked seeing your pictures of her light colored skin. Mine has darkened through the years … oxidation probably, but also both my parents smoked. Also I still have the pink outfit you show her wearing in the pictures. I still have it, but didn’t know it originally belonged to her!

    She was my favorite doll growing up, that is until Toodles came along. Then she became and still is my favorite baby doll.

    August 9, 2014
    |Reply
    • sherry
      sherry

      Hi Bonnie, she is a sweet little doll. I’m glad you still have her and enjoyed her. And I’m very glad I was able to give you some information about her and her maker. Constance Bannister seems to have been an amazing woman at a time when it was tough for women.

      Sherry

      August 9, 2014
      |Reply
  8. Virginia Westacott
    Virginia Westacott

    Hi Sherry. I read your posting with interest. I have a Bannister Baby — only mine was given to me one Christmas and I still have her, in perfect condition. She was a loved baby doll, well cared for, and is now on display in a basket in our guest room. Thank you for the nice reminder of the Bannister Baby and a happy Christmas for me many, many years ago.

    May 16, 2014
    |Reply
    • sherry
      sherry

      How sweet, Virginia. When I first came across her I thought she was a cute little doll, and then I read about Constance Bannister and the doll became even more special. I come across a lot of dolls at auction but I’ve never seen another Bannister doll. I’m glad you’re enjoying yours.

      Sherry

      May 16, 2014
      |Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *