1920s Harlem Renaissance doll

(Posting in a separate thread so as not to thread-jack; original thread at http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ult...f/2155/t/32356 )

Agh, I just got done telling my mom that I definitely can't buy another AG for QUITE a while, although I think it would be fun to have a '20s girl and dress her as such. And then Molly92 has to (inadvertently) post such a great idea for a historical!!!!

No, I'm certainly not doing it any time soon; I haven't even finished an outfit for Nellie, for goodness' sake! And I have fabric for 4 more doll dresses waiting for me... [img]tongue.gif[/img] But for future reference, how would/does the African-American AGs' hair look cut short? Would any of them look good with a 1920s-type bob? If I were to make any sort of '20s doll (African-American, white, Asian, whatever), I'd definitely want to buy her secondhand (and hopefully with her hair already cut)--it seems such a waste to buy a brand new doll and chop her hair. Do you think it would work well?

(And no, I'm REALLY not buying her anytime soon. Well, unless I happen across one at a thrift store. Agh, bad enablers! [img]smile.gif[/img] )

The bobs were curled and waved with bobbie pins (that's why they are called that!), so a new wig that's default set is waves or loose curls would probably work better.

Lots of people, children in particular, still had long hair though in the 20s. The flapper bob was controversial, and so it was mostly older teen and 20 something women who had it.

At http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/1928CAT3. ALL the girl/teen models have short hair. That's not to say that everyone in the era had short hair (and those aren't even photos shown), but I imagine it would have been fashionable. And I can definitely imagine a city girl with short hair. (Plus I like short-haired dolls; I'm far too lazy to deal with a curly-haired doll! [img]smile.gif[/img] )

I suppose I COULD get a somewhat longer-haired doll and set the "finger waves" myself, though; I think I've read of folks setting their dolls' hair with boiling water? Or maybe that was just Barbies. [img]redface.gif[/img]

(Well, I guess the PROPER thing to do would be to look up the hairstyles of African-Americans in the time period, espeically girls, but I'm not exactly supposed to be planning a doll I may make a few years from now this evening... [img]smile.gif[/img] )

Quote:

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Originally posted by Kenshinchan:
At http://www.costumes.org/history/100pages/1928CAT3. ALL the girl/teen models have short hair.

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It depends on the year alot too, that's 1928, so it's more common, eariler on, it was less so.

http://www.costumegallery.com/movie1a.jpg

Shows some photos from eariler in the decade and at in the eariler years you see the one in the bottom right hand corner alot. A loose bun, with the front waved like a bob. That can be done on dolls with VERY long hair, and is how I cheat, so I don't have to cut my girl's hair.

LOL, Sara; my pics were from 1928 and yours were from 1920, so if we split the difference to put the doll in 1924 (as per the other historicals), we're both right! [img]wink.gif[/img] (I did a fair amount of research on 1928 for a role-play so that's the year I know best. [img]redface.gif[/img] )

Supernonamegirl, certainly post a few years from now when you make your doll! If you're worried about her future, you could always have her move somewhere safer in her Changes book. [img]wink.gif[/img]

Eventually, (like way eventually) I plan on getting #26 and making her a "Harlem Rennaisance" Girl. THe Harlem Rennaissance is actually part of the "black migration" that started after WWI in which the African Americans began to move to the cities of the north, instead of the rural areas of the south for better oppurtunities, escape from racism and oppression and away from the lynch mobs that were becoming more rampant.
My girl would probably be heading to Detroit in her meet book, because I have a special place in my heart for it and the research could be completely hands-on, but I also worry about her future then.