Message From: HBcoop@aol.com Date: Sun, Aug 13, 2000, 11:46am

To: echristian@webtv.net

Subject: Re: How do you know this doll..African is from the 1930s...

I have had a doll dressed as a Maori boy from New Zealand and yes, it is similar to the Masai doll but a bit different. The Maori people generally have facial tattooing and their clothing was made of many quills and feathers.

The bead work and the color of my doll's loincloth are usually attributed to the Masai people. This doll looks very much like other composition dolls that were made in the USA in the 1930's and sold to many different companies.

I believe it was quite common for the dolls to be supplied to the different African tribal peoples to be dressed by the women of the tribes for the tourist trade. I wish there were more books on this subject, but there has been little written on the International dolls. I even had to go to the library and research ethnic costuming to find out where a doll may have come from. Hope this helps and thanks for your inquiry.

By the way, there is one good reference book on International dolls called "Folk and Foreign Costume Dolls" by Linda Jean Frame by Collector Books, PO Box 3009, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. Gayle