Another Lost Doll in Providence, RI

©  Kathy Duncan, 2022

Many dolls have been lost over time, but few have merited a reward for their return. On 28 July 1866 The Providence Evening Press of Providence, Rhode Island ran this advertisement for a cloth doll that had been lost on the 13th. 

We can't tell who the doll belonged to or how much the reward for its return would be. All we can determine is that it was special enough to its little owner to prompt a reward for its return. Nothing about this advertisement suggests that it was one of Izannah Walker's dolls except for the fact that it was a cloth doll. Still, it's interesting to note that Izannah was living in the area, making cloth dolls, at the same time this doll was lost. 

Sunny Suzy Washing Machine

           ©  Kathy Duncan, 2022

A recent social media post contained a cream and green-colored Sunny Suzy Washing Machine with its precious detachable wringer. That post drew a lot of responses with assertions that ranged from it being a salesman's sample to a miniature. Instead, the Sunny Suzy washing machine is a child's toy, manufactured by Wolverine, that first appeared on the scene in about 1933. The oldest advertisement that I could find for it was dated Friday, 1 December 1933, and appeared in the Watertown Daily Times.

By 1934, the Sunny Suzy Washing Machine was advertised in papers across the nation. It came in two sizes: giant and baby. This is from a Walgreens advertisement in Chicago:

In San Antonio, the Sunny Suzy was sold in combination with a real wringer washer. It might have actually been a merchant's premium in this instance. Notice that the child's version has only a passing resemblance to the adult model. 

While the cream and green colors of many of the early Sunny Suzy Washing Machines suggest that it dates to the 1920s, this advertisement from 1935 makes it clear that those colors were being used well into the 1930s:

The Woodwell's Fall and Holiday Catalog, 1936, published by the Joseph Woodwell Co. of Pittsburg, PA,  featured several Sunny Suzy Washing Machine sets. The price for each was determined by the size of the Sunny Suzy washer and the number of pieces. Note that a wash tub was still needed with the washing machine, probably in order to transfer the wet clothes into it between the wash and rinse. 

This style of wringer washer was advertised as late as 1948:

Wolverine marketed a wide variety of toys under the Sunny Suzy label. Prior to the washing machine, they marketed a "laundry set" that included a wash tub, rub-board, and clothesline:

My own Sunny Suzy is missing its detached wringer. I had hoped to eventually find a replacement for it, but so far, that has not happened.

A view from the top reveals that it is unlike a real wringer washer: 

Still, the Sunny Suzy Washing Machine is a fun piece and would be right at home with a large doll.