Bébé Bain's Discoveries Part 2 of 4

Continued from Part 1

A doll with a dressing stand and a 6-inch “Dolly Outfit” doll were available in 1932 and 1933, respectively.

Described as one of the “Extra Good Dolls at Sears…” in the 1932 catalog, was a nameless doll and dressing stand.  The stand folded and had pockets for storing sponge, soap, and washcloth.  This 12-1/2-inch composition doll had “tilting head and painted features.”

1933

“Dolly Outfit” was the 1933 SR&C Catalog’s description of a 6-inch all-rubber doll that cost only thirty-nine cents.  Available by mail order only, accessories of a hot water bottle, real nursing bottle, soap, dish, sponge, washcloth, mat, and rattle were included. 

This unnamed baby from 1933 could be bathed in her bathinette.

For only a dollar, an 11-inch rubber doll with composition head and painted eyes included a bathinette and layette.  “You can Actually Bathe Her in Her Bathinette!” read the caption.  For sixty-seven extra cents, a version with moving eyes could be ordered from the 1933 SR&C Catalog.  A sponge, tiny washcloth, and soap were included.

Dy-Dee Louise is shown in her own bathinette.

Effanbee’s Dy-Dee Baby was one of the most popular bathing dolls with drink-wet feature in the U. S.  Introduced in 1933, the doll’s hard rubber head and rubber body made it perfect for bathing.   The rubber parts were made in Akron, Ohio by the Miller Rubber Company, Inc.  In 1933, Dy-Dee family members included Dy-Dee Wee at only 9 inches, Dy-Dee-Ette at 11 inches, Dy-Dee-Kin at 13 inches, Dy-Dee Baby at 15 inches, and Dy-Dee Lou at 20 inches.   A variety of Dy-Dee dolls remained on the market throughout the 1930s and several decades that followed.  Bathinettes were available and their layettes included extra clothes, soap, washcloths, cotton swabs, and other baby care items.  Dy-Dee Baby Paper Doll Book, 1938, by Queen Holden included the Dy-Dee Baby paper doll, bathinette, and layette. 

 Dy Dee Educational Doll was used as a baby care teaching aid during the 1970s.

From 1971-1976, Effanbee manufactured both white and black versions of Dy Dee Educational Doll, which was used in prenatal education, child care centers, and by the Red Cross.  This 21-inch, water-tight all-vinyl baby with molded hair and lifelike ears with ear canal openings, could drink from a bottle and be spoon fed.  In addition to ear canal openings, a hole with plug in the left buttocks was used in training healthcare personnel in the administration of immunizations and other infant injections.  The ear canal openings aided in simulating ear examinations.  In the hands of little mommies, these dolls could be bathed and cared for like a real baby. 

Among other things, thus far, Bébé learned bathinettes, like Dy-Dee’s were an important part of pretend-mommy role play for little girls.  Dy-Dee’s bathinette with its ability to hold water for bathing the doll and a scale for weighing it afforded children a fun experience of mimicking the bath care their mothers’ provided younger siblings as they cultivated their own nurturing skills. 

1935

 American Character’s Wee-Wee was a 1935 Sears Roebuck & Company Catalog exclusive.

In 1935, “the new ‘Wee-Wee’ rubber baby” by American Character was a 1935 SR&C Catalog exclusive.  For the price of ninety-eight cents, this all-rubber drink and wet baby arrived through mail order wearing only a diaper.  Because the ad read, “water won’t hurt her,” using their own accessories, little girls were able to bathe, towel dry, and re-diaper her as often as they liked.  Wee-Wee was American Character’s answer to Effanbee’s Dy-Dee, which led to a court case between the two companies that Effanbee won.  American Character later renamed their doll Bottletot. 

1937-1938

 Water would not harm a “Big Values” doll or American Character’s Bottletot.

A caption from 1937 SR&C Catalog reads, “Bathe, powder, and dress… water won’t harm them. They are so lifelike, made of washable, pure rubber.”   This described American Character’s Bottletot and a “big values,” forty-nine cent, unnamed 10-1/2-inch rubber baby that could “have a bath,” turn its head, and cry.  Priced higher at ninety-five cents, Bottletot could “wet [her] diapers” and cry for a bottle.  Both dolls’ rubber exteriors were “washable, soft, pink flesh-like.”

In 1938, a Roll-o-Bath was made for Bottletot.

In the 1938 SR&C Catalog, 11-inch Bottletot reappeared, sold alone for ninety-five cents, and Bottletot with Roll-o-Bath was available to order for $2.49.  “She loves her bath so much, we built her own bathinette.”  Described as “wood frame with rubberized cloth tub that could be drained off,” the bathinette had two pockets and a fold-over canvas top.  The layette included lacy dress, bonnet, bootees, stomach band, diaper, bottle, nipple, and safety pins.

 Ideal’s popular 1937 Betsy Wetsy came with a wooden trunk, bathinette, and layette.  

The 1937 Betsy Wetsy, first introduced in 1934, is described in Izen’s first Ideal reference book as composed of hard rubber for the head and soft rubber for the body. This drink-wet baby came with a wooden trunk, bathinette, and layette.  In 1938 Betsy Wetsy was manufactured with layette and suitcase for storing doll and layette.  Layettes included soap and other bathing accessories.  According to Toys and American Culture:  an Encyclopedia by Sharon M. Scott (Greenwood, 2009), “Betsy Wetsy was one of the first dolls produced with both light and dark skin.”   While illustrations from merchants’ catalogs of light-skinned versions are readily available from the 1930s, none are available of dolls with dark skin from that decade or the next.  

Black Betsy Wetsy (1956) appears on page 56 of Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion. 

It is unclear when the first dark-skinned Betsy Wetsy was manufactured; however,  Bébé’s adult showed her a photo of a 1956 black Betsy Wetsy on page 56 in the book  Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion.  She also viewed online photos of other 1950s black Betsy Wetsy dolls that are currently part of adult collections.

Additional Betsy Wetsy Dolls

Sears offered four sizes of Betsy Wetsy in their 1961 catalog.

The 1961 Sears Wishbook advertised four vinyl Betsy Wetsy dolls in three different sizes, three of which came with bathing accessories of Ivory soap, tissues, washcloths, and powder puffs.  Three versions had rooted Saran hair, blonde or brunette; two sizes had molded hair.  Sizes were 13, 17, and 23 inches.  All three sizes could be ordered with layette and plastic molded tub or with layette only. 
 

A pixie-size Betsy Wetsy came with a bathtub for bathing in 1968.

In 1968, a 9-inch Betsy Wetsy, available through the Sears Wishbook, was described as a “pixie size doll as cute as a button… drinks and wets and cries real tears.”  Made of huggable, soft vinyl, this Betsy Wetsy came with a bathtub for bathing.  Her rooted hair could be washed and combed.  A high chair and playpen were included.   Soap and other bathing accessories were not.  Other sizes with bathing accessories were also available in the 1968 Sears Wishbook.  Betsy Wetsy dolls remained popular through the 1980s, providing over 50 years of bathing doll fun!

1947

 Happi-Time baby dolls by Ideal could drink and wet and take a sponge bath.

Happi-Time baby by Ideal, advertised on the opposite page of dolls by Madame Alexander, was offered in the 1947 Sears catalog in 11-1/2-, 13-, and 15-inch sizes dressed in a diaper with a nursing bottle accessory; or as a 14- 15-, or 16-inch doll dressed in a rayon sun suit of assorted colors, advertised as, “Drinks and wets… can be sponged.”  Also available that year was an 11-1/2-inch Happi-Time doll with personalized, functional folding bath and layette that included everything for baby care.  Various sizes and versions of Happi-Time appeared in Sears Christmas Wishbooks for the years 1950, 1952-1954, and 1961.

1949

 Circa 1949, Amosandra ad from Wards catalog features the doll with a separately-sold layette.

Bébé sat quietly on her adult’s lap as an online article was read to her about Sun Rubber Company’s doll, Amosandra. Excerpts from the article (written by her adult in 2005 for The Black Doll-E-Zine) note that the Sunday, February 20, 1949, radio broadcast of the Amos ‘n’ Andy show sponsored by Rinso White and Lifebuoy soap, announced the birth of Amos and wife, Ruby’s, second daughter, Amosandra.   Of the many commercial items created as a result of this show, a 9-inch rubber doll, licensed by Columbia Broadcasting System, named after the new baby, was manufactured by Sun Rubber Company of Barberton, California.   The doll was designed by Ruth E. Newton, who was well known for her children’s books and illustrations.  Introduced at Toy Fair, Amosandra could be purchased boxed alone or in a gift set that included the doll wearing a white flannel diaper, nursing bottle, soap and soap dish, teething ring, hot water bottle, bell rattle, and birth certificate.  Both versions of the doll were advertised in a circa 1949-1950 Montgomery Ward catalog.

Bébé enjoyed learning about bathing dolls made during the 1920s through 1940s and was eager to know about more contemporary dolls from the 1950s through the present.

Continued here.