Black History Month; Million Dollar Baby (In a Five and Ten Cent Store)

It was a lucky April shower, it was the most convenient door 

I found a million dollar baby, in a five and ten cent store 

Music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mort Dixon and Billy Rose, 1931

As part of our club's virtual meeting celebrating Black History Month, we introduce a baby from the five and ten cent store belonging to member Sylvia McDonald. While the little Black all-bisque baby in the wicker buggy might not technically be worth a million dollars, Sylvia bought it when she was around seven or eight years old from a five and ten cent store and to her it is priceless (Sylvia thinks that the original cost was 25 cents). Japan first entered the doll market in WWI when German dolls were embargoed, often directly copying German models, and continued producing inexpensive little bisque dolls into the 1950s. The Japanese dolls did not match the quality of the German bisque dolls, but they were also less expensive and just the right size and price for the growing five and dime store chains. The little girl in the green plaid dress is by artist Heidi Ott doll and the other doll was designed by Sylvia Natterer and is named Deborah.

Sylvia thinks that about this same time she bought an Amosandra doll. Created by the Sun Rubber Company in 1949, Amosandra was the first mass-produced rubber Black doll, a cuddly baby who could drink and wet. The doll was produced as a tie-in the the popular radio program "Amos ’n’ Andy,” which later became a short-lived show on CBS television. The original radio show was a comedy featuring two characters, Amos Jones and Andy Brown, Black farm workers from Georgia who had moved to Chicago (and later Harlem in New York City) for a better life. The radio show was extremely popular and it was estimated that at its peak one-third of the country tuned in. The doll coincided with the birth of the youngest child of Amos and his wife, Ruby, her name a mixture of Amos and Andy. On the radio, Amos and Andy were voiced by two white actors (who appeared in blackface for publicity photographs, although the television show did cast Black actors). The show was criticized by some in the Black community as depicting Blacks in derogatory ways.

However, little Amosandra was extremely popular with children of all races, but unfortunately her soft rubber skin hardened and deteriorated over time. This was the sad fate of Sylvia's doll.