Eskimo Pie Doll: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

In the United States manufacturers and advertisers solidified, circulated, and sustained racial stereotypes through millions of objects and images produced and sold during the 19th and 20th centuries. These distorted images reinforced discrimination and segregation, casting people of color not as producers or consumers, but as servants and second-class citizens. Manufacturers, advertisers, and retailers designed these images and objects to make white consumers feel secure about their social status. With the power to amuse and to sell, these things remained rooted in American commerce and lived as a divisive and harmful part of American culture into the late 20th century.

This object is part of the manufacturing, business, and advertising collections. We're currently doing more research on the individual stories of design, production and consumption of these objects. Stay tuned for a more detailed accounting of the history of this collection.

Materials, dates and provenance

• maker: Eskimo Pie
• Object Name: Doll
• Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 36 cm x 21 cm x 10 cm; 14 3/16 in x 8 1/4 in x 3 15/16 in
• ID Number: 1996.0143.11
• accession number: 1996.0143
• catalog number: 1996.0143.11
• Credit Line: Eskimo Pie Corporation (through David V. Clark)
• 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.