Paper doll from the Amos 'n' Andy radio show: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color paper doll depicting a man in an orange car with no roof or doors. The man is looking back over his left shoulder towards the back left wheel of the car, which is flat. The man is wearing a brown cap labeled "TAXI", a white shirt with orange polka dots, a stripped vest, and patched up brown pants. There is a hand-painted black sign on the back door of the car reading “FRESH AIR / TAXICAB / Co. OF AMERICA - / INCORPULATED.” There is a green fire hydrant in the foreground. The bottom of the doll has a black folding tab on each side. The tab on the right has text in white, printed vertically, that reads “COPYRIGHT 1931 / BY THE PEPSODENT CO.” The back of the paper doll is light brown. Black text printed on the back reads “Newly Discovered! / Pepsodent Antiseptic Mouth Wash - / Kills germs 5 to 11 times faster - / checks bad breath hours longer / than other leading mouth antiseptics.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1931
• Distributed by: Pepsodent Company, American, 1915 - 1944
• Type: paper dolls
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 2 9/16 × 5 7/16 in. (6.5 × 13.8 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Amusements
• Topic: Caricature and cartoons
• Topic: Radio
• Topic: Sitcoms
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Object number: 2014.53.8.4
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.