Readers ask about black dolls

Each week, I’ll be answering your questions to help you learn more about your items and determine their value. Many of you have asked me to price your items, which I cannot do because I’m not expert enough in all categories to do that.

Value and prices are not necessarily static. They change depending on when items are offered for sale and whether someone is looking to buy them at a given time. Check any item on eBay from week to week or month to month and you’ll see sale prices all over the place. Sometimes the difference can depend on the condition of the item.

Since I get many questions pretty often, I’m choosing several each week to do some preliminary research and outline my search as a way to help readers do the same on their own. It’ll be similar to what I do with my blog post: using the free resources available on the web. You can also check out my blog post that guides you in determining the worth of your items.

This week, I’m helping to identify several black dolls and guiding readers to resources on them:

Question:

I have a black doll (not sure if it’s Barbie or not), but it’s from the ‘60s and back then it was worth $2,500. I’ve looked around the internet a lot and I can’t find anything like it. What should I do now?

My Answer:

All Barbie dolls, regardless of color, are pretty recognizable. Did you check the back of the doll to see if there’s a manufacturer’s name or any symbols? If so, there are a few reference websites (including dollreference.com, which I use often) where you can find out more info. Barbie dolls also have an inscription on the right butt cheek.

If there are no symbols, the search is a bit tougher. You’d have to check those reference sites and look at dolls until you see one that looks like yours. Or find a doll forum on the web – including eBay forums – provide a photo and ask folks on the forum if they recognize the doll. There are many doll collectors out there who are experts.

You mention that the doll was worth $2,500 in the 1960s. Where did you get that info?

Pls email me a photo & I’ll see if it’s one that I recognize. At auction, I keep coming across dolls I’ve never seen before. There were a lot of dolls made (and are still being made).

Reply:

I went to the website you gave me and … found the doll. There’s an “1100 Black Francie bendable leg” on that page. The doll shown has long black hair but if you read the description, it says the very first version of this doll had red rusty hair with long eyelashes and light brown eyes. That is the one I have.

The reason I said it was worth $2,500 back then was because that’s what I was told by another doll collector who owned a doll shop. It was worth $2,500 in 1992. I’m selling this doll in hopes to help me get money for college.

Note: I didn’t reply after she found the doll, but my answer is that 1992 was a long time ago. I’d suggest that the writer do Google and eBay searches to see how much the doll fetches today. (See info below from an expert who identified the doll as Julia.)

Question:

I am a comic-book collector and all of my family, friends and co-workers know this so when they get something that appears to be antique they come to me. One of my co-workers brought me this doll and asked if I could find out how much it is worth so I am doing my research now and that is how I found you.

If you can find the time can you identify this doll? If not, I will continue my research.

My Answer:

Can you email me a photo of the doll? Also, check the doll’s neck and upper back to see if there’s a manufacturer’s name. If not, you’ll have to do a bit more research to find out who made it.

As for worth, here’s a blog post I wrote with tips on finding the value of your items.

Reply:

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to respond. I went to the main library in Baltimore City and I found nothing. There is nothing on the neck but there are some letters on the hip.

Note: I wasn’t able to identify the doll, although she looks very familiar. She appears to be a newer doll. The writer never sent me the letters on the doll’s hip. I would suggest that she, too, check out some of the doll reference sites on the web. She should also check the library for books by Debbie Garrett, who writes a blog called Black Doll Collecting. The Philadelphia Doll Museum, which has been around since 1988 and holds an annual doll convention, is another source, along with a new black doll museum that just opened in Mansfield, MA. She should drop each a line with a photo of her doll. Since they are collectors, they may be able to identify it.

Question:

I was referred to this site by Michele Otey who is repairing a doll dressed as “Little Black Sambo.” I love this doll and was wondering if anyone had seen one similarly dressed. Of course, he has no markings and I have never seen a doll quite like this one. Any ideas?

My Answer:

I haven’t come across this doll either, but I don’t come across many black dolls at auction, or in my readings and research. Topsy was apparently a popular black doll made by several different manufacturers.

You mentioned that the doll was dressed in Little Black Sambo clothes, but you didn’t send a photo of the clothes. Was the doll wearing clothes/colors similar to those of the character in Helen Bannerman’s book?

Reply:

The doll came with clothing identical to a book I have from 1939 by Sam L. Gabriel Sons & Co., New York. It has “Linenette” on the cover, which , I think, describes the material the booklet is made from. I will try to attach a photo for you. I know it’s not politically correct any more but Sambo was my favorite book as a child and I love my doll.

Thanks for any information you may have. (Let me know if you need a photo of the book I have.)

My Answer:

Pls do send a photo of the book cover, too. There’s an updated re-telling of the Sam story written in 1996 by African American writer Julius Lester and beautifully illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, one of my most favorite children’s book illustrators. It’s called “Sam and the Tigers.”

Reply:

I finally found another book like mine on the internet. This one is identical to mine.

Note: Another place to check is the doll’s clothing, especially if it is original. A tag on the clothing could help identify the doll. I could not find a doll like it, but it was likely made by one of the major doll manufacturers.

To my readers: If you can identify either of the last two dolls, please drop me a line.

Update:  Debbie Garrett, an expert on black dolls who wrote the book “The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls,” offered this information on the dolls:

“Unmarked composition or any unmarked doll unless it was very popular is usually difficult to identify, namewise. The absence of original clothes and the fact that many manufacturers used the same molds increase the difficulty in pinpointing unmarked dolls’ identification. The (Black Sambo) doll in question appears to be a composition doll from the era cited (1930s). The doll was probably redressed by someone as Little Black Sambo and not necessarily marketed as Little Black Sambo.

The doll identified as Black Francie is actually Julia. Mattel used the 1960s Christie mold for the 1969-1972 Julia dolls. There were several versions. The red hair is the Julia identifier. The fiber used for Julia’s originally brown hair oxidized and turned red in later years. “

The Julia doll was modeled after the Diahann Carroll character in the TV show “Julia.” 

The Antique Trader’s “Black Americana” price guide has an entry for a “Stockinette WPA Little Black Sambo” doll made in the 1930s. The doll is stamped on the back, and marked on the jacket and shoes, according to the 2005 guide. The 22″ doll has a stockinette head painted brown and a cloth body. It wears a red jacket, blue short pants, and red and purple shoes. It was designed by Helen Clark and sponsored by the Milwaukee County and Milwaukee State Teachers College, according to the guide.