Sugar Baby
Doll
ca. 1930 (made)
ca. 1930 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Effanbee dolls were made by the American firm of Fleischaker and Baum ('Effanbee' being a literal rendition of 'F & B'), which for the first half of the twentieth century was one of America's leading doll manufacturers. The firm was founded in the USA in 1910 by Bernard E Fleischaker, a furniture dealer from Kentucky, and Hugo Baum, a puppet maker who had emigrated from Germany. Their first products were various types of toys, and the 'Effanbee' mark was not used until they had decided to start making dolls in 1913. The partners were innovative, and with the customary German doll supplies blocked by World War One, the firm soon expanded. Effanbee is historically best known for its 'Patsy' girl dolls (said to be the first dolls to be promoted as having a wardrobe of clothes to collect), but the company made a number of lifesize baby dolls in the 1920s and 30s, including the apparently irresistible 'Baby Grumpy', and the first nappy wetting doll, Dy-Dee Baby. 'Sugar Baby' was a new design in 1930, and like most of her predecessors, was marketed as being safe and hygienic, with unbreakable limbs and a 'huggable' cloth body.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Sugar Baby (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Composition and cloth |
| Brief description | 'Sugar Baby' composition and cloth doll, by Effanbee; USA, about 1930 |
| Physical description | Closed-mouth baby doll with sleeping blue-green eyes and light brown eyelashes and moulded hair. The doll has a cloth body with a central seam, and a fixed composition head and lower limbs; the proportions of the body and the moulded creases and dimples of the limbs are intended to give a life-like quality. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Mass produced |
| Marks and inscriptions | EFFANBEE/ SUGAR BABY/ TRADE MARK (back of neck; moulding) |
| Credit line | Given by Miss Constance Phyllis Denne |
| Object history | Frederick and Constance Denne and their daughter Constance Phyllis (the donor, born 11/12/1926) had been living in the USA in the late 1920s. Mr Denne remained there to work when his wife and daughter returned to England, and he sent the doll, which was a new product of the manufacturer for 1930, from America to his daughter for Christmas of that year. The original clothes, which included a romper suit and rain cape as well as a dress and bonnet, unfortunately do not survive. The donor gave the doll a variety of names over the years, but mainly remembers calling her 'Pollyanna' (after the eponymous heroine of the books by Eleanor H Porter and others) as she felt the doll should have a name associated with America. |
| Production | 'Sugar Baby' was a new design in 1930, and like most of her predecessors, was marketed as being safe and hygienic, with unbreakable limbs and a 'huggable' cloth body. Reason For Production: Retail |
| Summary | Effanbee dolls were made by the American firm of Fleischaker and Baum ('Effanbee' being a literal rendition of 'F & B'), which for the first half of the twentieth century was one of America's leading doll manufacturers. The firm was founded in the USA in 1910 by Bernard E Fleischaker, a furniture dealer from Kentucky, and Hugo Baum, a puppet maker who had emigrated from Germany. Their first products were various types of toys, and the 'Effanbee' mark was not used until they had decided to start making dolls in 1913. The partners were innovative, and with the customary German doll supplies blocked by World War One, the firm soon expanded. Effanbee is historically best known for its 'Patsy' girl dolls (said to be the first dolls to be promoted as having a wardrobe of clothes to collect), but the company made a number of lifesize baby dolls in the 1920s and 30s, including the apparently irresistible 'Baby Grumpy', and the first nappy wetting doll, Dy-Dee Baby. 'Sugar Baby' was a new design in 1930, and like most of her predecessors, was marketed as being safe and hygienic, with unbreakable limbs and a 'huggable' cloth body. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | B.10-2002 |
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| Record created | May 21, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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