Amosandra by Sun Rubber

Name: Amosandra

Made by and When: The Sun Rubber Company, 1949

Material: Rubber

Marks: ©Amosandra, Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. (on head); Designed by Ruth E. Newton / Manufactured by The Sun Rubber Company/Barberton, OH USA [indiscernible patent numbers] (on back)

Height: 10 inches

Hair/Eyes/Mouth: Black sculpted/inset brown stationary eyes/drinker mouth

Clothes: Original one-piece wrap-around romper

Other: Amosandra was an advertising and play doll named after the baby born to Amos and Ruby on the Amos ‘n’ Andy Show radio broadcast episode, “Amosandra is Born.” That show was broadcast on February 20, 1949. This version included a hot water bottle. The original box illustrates the doll and describes that “She drinks,” “She wets,” and “She cries.” Other versions of the doll dressed only in a diaper and boxed differently were available with additional accessories. The doll in this installation won a 1st place blue ribbon from a Wayne County Doll Club of Ohio competition. Doll photos are courtesy of The Toys Time Forgot, LLC of Canal Fulton, OH.

Slideshow (Use the right or left arrows to advance the slideshow photos.)

The November 20, 2020, online article, “Barberton Company’s Black Doll Changed the Complexion of the Toy Industry,” by Mark J. Price, published in the Akron Beacon Journal, indicates “Thomas W. Smith Jr., general manager of Sun Rubber, came up with the idea for Amosandra. For years, he said, the company had been bombarded with requests for ‘a Negro doll made of rubber,’ and he wanted to produce toys that appealed to all ethnicities, not just white children.” Read more here.

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