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Doll - Sunny Jim

Sunny Jim

  • Object:

    Doll

  • Place of origin:

    England, Great Britain (made)

  • Date:

    1960-1965 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Printed calico, stuffed with kapok

  • Credit Line:

    Given by A. C. Fincken & Co Ltd

  • Museum number:

    MISC.1-1970

  • Gallery location:

    Museum of Childhood, Creativity Gallery, case 2

  • Image unavailable

The character 'Sunny Jim' has been a popular advertisement for Force breakfast cereal for about a century. Despite this, the advertising profession has tended to regard the campaign as something of a failure, mainly because it is perhaps not obvious whether the product is the cereal or the doll. Although apparently unchanged over the years, subtle differences in Sunny Jim's appearance, such as the angle of his ears and the shape of his necktie, enable keen-eyed collectors to date the dolls quite closely.

Physical description

Calico rag doll depicting a Caucasian male of the early nineteenth century, printed as dressed in a red swallow-tail coat, white trousers, and a black cap with his name on it in white. His white hair is dressed in a long upward curving queue at the back; he wears a monocle and carries a box of Force wheat flake breakfast cereal.

Place of Origin

England, Great Britain (made)

Date

1960-1965 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Printed calico, stuffed with kapok

Marks and inscriptions

SUNNY JIM (name of character
FORCE/ WHEAT FLAKES (product name)

Dimensions

Height: 40.6 cm

Descriptive line

'Sunny Jim' advertising rag doll made in England between 1960 and 1965

Production Note

Original design of doll dates to 1905; this example produced by the donor firm which was/ is the English agent for the Canadian firm which owned the Force wheat flakes brand. Although this doll was donated later, it has the red cheeks which appear only on examples produced during the early 1960s.

Attribution note: Product offer for advertising purposes

Materials

Calico; Wadding

Techniques

Printing

Categories

Advertising; Dolls & Toys

Production Type

Mass produced

Collection code

BGM

Qr_O93823
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