Name: Bindi and Piccaninny
Made by and When: Metti of Australia, 1970s
Material: Rubber
Marks: (Head) Metti/AUSTRALIA
Height: 13-1/2 and 9 inches tall
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Rooted reddish-brown hair, hazel-brown eyes; Bindy has an open smile with painted teeth. Piccaninny has a closed smile.
Clothes/Accessories: Both dolls wear red loincloths and hold cardboard boomerangs.
Other: Metti of Australia manufactured these Native Australian dolls fashioned after First Nations Aboriginal boys in native clothes. Both hold cardboard boomerangs with their names on the front. Piccaninny’s name, by 1970s American standards was and remains a racial slur. According to the web site, Cathie.fr, “the Metti Company discontinued doll manufacture in November 1976. The company’s production manager and his wife purchased machinery from Metti and continued doll manufacture under the name Netta in December of 1976.”
Gallery
_________
Your comments are valued. Donations aid the initiative to preserve Black-doll history.
If you subscribe to DeeBeeGee’s Virtual Black Doll Museum by email, click the post title of the email, which links to the website to view all text and associated media. Please “like” and share this installation with your social media contacts. If you’d like to subscribe, add your email address to the subscribe or sign-up field in the footer or right sidebar. Add your email address to the subscribe or sign-up field in the footer or right sidebar.
Search for specific dolls or specific doll categories, e.g. “antique dolls” using the search field at the website.