Reader seeks identity of a black bride doll

Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.

Today’s question is about the identity of a black bride doll.

Question:

I found your article on the Internet concerning black dolls. I was hoping you could help me or direct me to someone in Florida that can. After doing some research, I think I have a B. Wright doll. My aunt gave her to me 33 years ago, but on the box it’s written Hattie Wright 1960. Can you help me?

Answer:

From my research, it seems that Beatrice Wright made her dolls for sale in the late 1960s, so this one seems a little early for her. I have seen some of her dolls from 1967 on the web, and all were marked with her name.

Can you give me a little more info and send photos? Is there a manufacturer’s name on the doll’s neck or back? The maker’s name is usually pressed into the neck. Is there a manufacturer’s name printed on the box. Also, did the doll actually come in that box; sometimes original owners inadvertently place their doll in a different box.

Also, is the doll hard plastic or a somewhat softer vinyl? Most dolls from the ’60s are a harder vinyl. Pls do send photos of the doll’s front and back, its neck and the box with any identifying info. I’m not an expert but I do know a doll expert and I can ask her. I’d like to help you solve this mystery.

Reader’s response:

I say I believe it a B. Wright because I saw on another website that Beatrice Wright named dolls after her family members. I can’t find a name or date on her, but I’m scared to touch her. lol. I don’t want to break anything or tear her dress accidentally. I’ll send you pics. All I have is on the box, that is original. Her skin is real feeling, she has rooted hair.

My reply:

She’s a lovely doll. From the photos, her face looks vinyl and her hands look to be latex. She doesn’t quite resemble the B. Wright doll for sale on this site (Note the marking on the doll’s neck).

I think that you will have to gingerly remove the top part of the dress and veil to check the neck and back to see if they are marked. Also, how is the dress fastened? With buttons (clothes on older dolls were usually fastened with buttons or tiny brass safety pins)? With snaps? With Velcro? The last two denote that the dress is likely modern. But the doll could have been re-dressed.

Could it be one of the Deluxe Reading dolls? The cheeks, mouth and eyes are similar, but I’m not sure if the company made black dolls.

Reader’s response:

Her dress is closed with the brass safety pins. I’ll open the dress to see what I can find. Thank you for helping me. She doesn’t look like the Deluxe Reading dolls. Her lips aren’t like that and she has real eyelashes on top and bottom.

More on the search:

I sent photos of the doll to Debbie Garrett, an expert who has written two books on black dolls, and asked if she recognized the doll.

Garrett’s response:

No, I am unable to identify the doll. I do not think she is a Deluxe Reading doll and I know she is not by Beatrice Wright. She looks a little similar to a doll I own by Valentine; however, my doll is from the 1950s and the two are only similar. They are not the same.

Urge (the reader) to check the doll’s neck and back for any manufacturer’s marks. That is the only way a definite ID (if the doll is marked) can be established. It would also be helpful to know the doll’s height.

Follow-up response from Garrett:

I checked the Horsman doll book but did not see a similar doll. I do have a Horsman doll from the 60s or 70s that has a very similar if not identical face. Her name is Ruthie. Ruthie was used by Horsman for several years wearing different fashions. There probably was a Ruthie bride. My doll is 16 inches tall and is marked Horsman T16 on the neck.

Background research on the Ruthie doll:

The Ruthie doll face was made by Horsman in the 1950s, composed of what was called Magic Skin that was very soft. The Ruthie face apparently was placed on different types of dolls – all one-piece vinyl stuffed dolls, jointed and not – with various names. During the 1960s dolls actually named Ruthie were made of a sturdier vinyl, and had dimpled knees and jointed arms and legs. Here are some Ruthie dolls.

Reader’s response:

Thank you so much for helping. I believe she is Ruthie. She looks just like her with the skin and her knees are dimpled like the dolls in the pictures. She also is all one piece – no jointed parts. However, she does not have the neck markings. She does have a silver hole in the top of her back, possibly for sitting her up on a doll stand?? And her shoes say “NY doll shoe co.” I believe she is Ruthie.