Saralee doll designed by Sara Lee Creech: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Saralee doll designed by Sara Lee Creech, Maxeda Von Hesse, Sheila Burlingame, and manufactured by the Ideal Toy Corporation. The infant doll features a vinyl head, vinyl limbs, and the soft torso of the doll is constructed with brown cotton fabric and filled with padding. She is wearing a white organdy dress, bonnet, chemise, baby bloomers, shoes, and socks. She has sleeping eyes that are bright light brown when opened. She also has thick black lashes, thin brown eyebrows and pink lips and tongue. Her hair is represented by molded swirled curls painted a dark brown. The baby doll’s hands are open with the fingers splayed and slightly curled. Her slightly yellowed, white, empire waisted, organdy dress is gathered at the waist. The dress has puff short sleeves gathered at the arm holes, a small satin bow stitched to the center of the waist, and it is embellished across the chest, waist, and near the hem with white embroidered bands. The dress fastens at the back with two white pearl buttons. Underneath the dress is a plain, white, cotton chemise with cotton lace trim that also fastens at the back. The baby bloomers are plain white cotton with cotton lace trim around the pant leg hems, and a thin elastic waistband. The white rayon socks are plain and the Mary Jane-style, imitation leather shoes are also plain white with ties over the bridge of the foot and thick paper soles. The bonnet is white with lace trim. The bonnet visor is shaped with a fabric covered metal wire and has a satin tie at the front that ties under the doll's chin.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1951-1953
• Manufactured by: Ideal Toy Corp. Inc., 1907 - 1997
• Designed by: Sara Lee Creech, American, 1916 - 2008
• Designed by: Shelia Burlingame, American, 1894 - 1969
• Designed by: Maxeda Von Hesse, American, 1913 - 1987
• Subject of: Zora Neale Hurston, American, 1891 - 1960
• Subject of: Loïs Mailou Jones, American, 1905 - 1998
• Subject of: Dr. Ralph Bunche, American, 1903 - 1971
• Subject of: Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, American, 1894 - 1984
• Type: toys (recreational artifacts)
• Type: dolls
• Medium: vinyl with cotton (textile) , metal , paper (fiber product) , imitation leather , rayon and satin
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 18 7/16 × 14 5/16 × 3 13/16 in. (46.9 × 36.4 × 9.7 cm)
• Place made: Queens, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Identity
• Topic: Play
• Object number: 2022.51
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Barbara Marshall-Bailey and her children; Bianca A, Jason Q, and Aliana Grace
• 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.