Pages

[Young Black girl articulated paper doll] [graphic].
Paper doll of an unclothed figure of a young Black girl with moveable limbs. The girl is depicted with short, cropped, tightly curled hair, auburn eyes, and slightly smiling. A blue-beaded string necklace adorns her neck. She also wears white, above-the-ankle length socks and black "Mary Jane" shoes. The articulated limbs are attached by brass brads to a white cardboard torso, likely not the original. About the late 1880s, Littauer & Boysen (established circa 1882), a premier German chromolithographer of novelties, began to print articulated dolls for the paper box company. Dennison sold the German firm's dolls to further market its special line of tissue/crepe paper as doll's clothing. The Massachusetts company, established 1844, also manufactured shipping tags, gummed labels, and holiday tags. The firm opened a salesroom in Philadelphia in 1862. In 1898, the firm consolidated operations in Framingham, Ma. from plants in Roxbury, Ma. Brooklyn, N.Y., and Brunswick, Me. where it was originally established in 1844., Title supplied by cataloger., Manufactured and distributed by Dennison Manufacturing Company, Ma., Publication information from Mary Young, 20th Century Paper Dolls Identification and Values (Collector Books, 2006)., Date inferred from published sources, the years of operation of the publisher, and the early era of the style of footwear depicted., Purchased with funds from Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Your home is not complete without the Missouri Steam Washer. The best washing machine in the world. Johnston Bro's. St. Louis. Philadelphia.
Trade card for the small portable washing machine invented by George D. Ferris and marketed by Johnston Bros., "General Agents for the United States." Depicts two male fairies, one white and one African American, presenting a "Missouri Steam Washer. Pat'd. May 1, 1883" to a white woman who stands over a washboard in a wash tub. Steam rises from the tub filled with clothes. The African American fairy, portrayed in racist caricature with orange wings and attired in blue pants with suspenders, pushes in the metal washing machine on a dolly, while the other fairy points to it. The African American fairy image was often used in newspaper advertisements for the machine that operated through placement on a family cook stove, internal perforated steam tubes, and a crank to keep the clothes in motion during washing., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1884., Contains five testimonials, including one by G. R. Brandt and Harry E. Brandt (Hurricane Laundry, 232 New Street), Philadelphia, Pa., printed on verso., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.

Pages