Name: Super Style Huggy Bean
Made by and When: Golden Ribbon Playthings, 1990
Material: Vinyl head, lower arms, and legs; brown cloth body
Marks: (Head) Golden Ribbon Playthings / 1984 HG-108; (Cloth body tag) Huggy Bean / 1984 Golden Ribbon Playthings Inc.
Height: 17 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Dark brown rooted hair, brown-painted eyes, closed smiling mouth with luscious lips
Clothes: Kente-cloth-print skirt with matching shawl and headband, white short-sleeved blouse, white panties, white socks, and yellow vinyl mock-laced sneakers.
Other: Huggy Bean, a huggable, soft-bodied doll, was introduced in 1985 by Yvonne Rubie, president of Golden Ribbon Playthings, Inc., a black-owned company. Some of the first dolls were featured in Ebony magazine’s 40th anniversary edition published in November 1985 (see the 3rd and 4th gallery images).
It was, is, and will always be relevant and necessary to have representation of ourselves, our vast cultures, and our accomplishments front and center for our children and the world. —Yvonne Rubie
https://shoppeblack.us/the-huggy-bean-doll/
Read an interview of Huggy Bean’s creator here where the rise and fall of the company is discussed.
Gallery
An Ebony magazine article (Nov. 1985) featured Huggy Bean.
Reference:
“Black Toys: They’ve Come a Long Way Since 1945.” Ebony. Vol. 41, No. 1, November 1985, pp. 355 and 358.
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