Baby's soft toy ball; Ames, Iowa; ca. 1900: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Asoft toy (fabric) ball, c.1900, Iowa. Pieced from printed cotton twill with oval childhood vignettes and text captions; the vignettes were engineered in the printing to make a star at the top and bottom of the ball. 7" diameter; 6 pieces machine stitched together, cotton stuffing. The ground is light blue, the vignettes include: “Here’s a Ball for Baby”; Here’s the Baby’s Hammer”; Here’s the Baby’s Soldiers”; Here’s the Baby’s Trumpet”; Here’s the Baby’s Cradle”; “Don’t Take the Ball Away”. Condition generally good, evidence of use and wear; a few old mends; one of the pieces is unpicked for 1/2" at the top center star; there is a fraying 1” tear in the “Here’s a Ball for Baby” scene.

Made for James Arthur Dunn, born April 29 1899 in San Antonio, Texas. His father, also James Arthur Dunn, died shortly thereafter and mother (Mary Ellen (Mae) Gale Dunn, and baby James returned to Iowa

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: ca.1900
• Object Name: Soft toy ball
• Measurements: overall: 7 in; 17.78 cm
• place made: United States: Iowa, Iowa
• ID Number: 2015.0323.01
• accession number: 2015.0323
• catalog number: 2015.0323.01
• Credit Line: Gift of Gale Dunn Kaufmann
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.