I am an avid collector of all types of Black dolls—from vintage to modern––in all sizes, mediums and categories. The Black dolls that I collect are all positive reflections of Black beauty. However, a few Black dolls collected early on serve as reminders of the negative perception of Black people held by other cultures. These dolls have overexaggerated facial features and overexaggerated skin tones. They range from the prettiest dolls to the dolls considered to be derogatory or to promote negative depictions of Black people. Despite the negativity, I love them all. They represent me. They are part of my culture, my history, and will be a part of my legacy.
Although I was a child who was born in the mid-1950s, it was not until the early 1960s that I became consciously aware of who I am, my surroundings and social standing. I lived in an all-Black world. My neighborhood was Black. My principals and teachers were Black. The pastor and congregation of my church were Black. The neighborhood storeowners and the professionals were Black. Everything was all right in my world except for one significant thing: all my dolls were white! I remember the character Sarah Jane from the movie Imitation of Life, who looked white. She wanted the white doll owned by the white character, Susie, and rejected the Black doll Susie gave her to play with, and dropped it to the floor. I can vividly recall Sarah Jane dropping the Black doll and exclaiming, “But I don’t want the Black one!” At that instant, my approximately six-year-old self wondered, what’s wrong with the Black doll? Nevertheless, there I was, a Black girl with dolls that resided in my make-believe world and did not look like me. There was definitely something wrong with that picture.
It was not until I became an adult that I questioned my mother about the lack of Black dolls in my childhood.
She confessed that very few Black dolls were available to us in the South; the ones that were available, in her opinion, were not a true depiction of Black people. She felt they were derogatory, and she did not want to leave that negative imprint upon me.
Subconsciously, after the birth of my daughter in 1977, I began collecting Black dolls via the dolls that I purchased for her. By that time, there had been a minor progression in the manufacture of Black “playthings.” However, the selection of Black dolls was still quite limited. Because of my childhood experiences, I was determined to reverse the trend of Black girls owning only white dolls: All of my daughter’s dolls were Black. Of course, some of them were simply white dolls colored brown–but they were brown, which was of the utmost importance to me.
The last doll that I purchased for my daughter was a porcelain collector’s doll ordered from a catalog in 1991. After the doll arrived, I decided (for several reasons) to keep the doll for myself. That one doll obviously began to fill the childhood void of not owning Black dolls and prompted my desire to begin a Black-doll collection and to conduct Black-doll research. I purchased current and past doll-reference books in order to learn the identification of Black dolls made during my childhood and earlier. Unfortunately, the Black-doll collector was not a member of the writers’ audiences.
Therefore, most of the doll-reference books available in the early 1990s and prior were quite deficient in Black-doll information. It was not until I purchased Black Dolls: An Identification and Value Guide 1891-1991 (Collector Books, 1993) by Myla Perkins, followed by her second book, Black Dolls: An Identification and Value Guide, Book 2 (1995) that the entire world of vintage Black dolls opened up for me. I am deeply indebted to Ms. Perkins for the extensive Black-doll information her two books provided. As the author of the first, full-color Black-doll reference book, The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls (Hobby House Press, 2003) I can attest to the fact that passion is a key factor in order for the research, documentation and sharing of the same to continue. A successful mission began to find as many of the dolls as possible that were not part of my make-believe childhood world. Further, because my Black-doll knowledge escalated, I have been able to fill the aforementioned void, but the mission has not ended. Whenever possible, via public speaking engagements or casual meetings, I stress to parents of little Black children that it is very important to provide their children with positive reflections of Black people through playthings, literature and art. This will serve to promote a strong sense of self-worth, self-pride, self-esteem, but most importantly, self-love, in their young minds.
“All things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). It was in God’s divine plan for me to experience a childhood devoid of Black dolls. Had I owned Black dolls as a child, it is highly probable that my adult life would be devoid of this passion, and the Black-doll community would be devoid of my book.
I would love to open up the world of Black-doll collecting to others so they, too, can be blessed with positive reflections of Black beauty that can renew their spirits.
Debbie Behan Garrett
Author
Dallas, TX
Posted By: October Gallery
Monday, April 12th 2010 at 8:33AM
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