A History of Shindana Toys: Dolls and Games with a Difference

Daring to Dream

In 1968, civil rights activists Louis Smith and Robert Hall formed Shindana Toys as a division of their non-profit organization, Operation Bootstrap. The new company focused on three objectives. First, foster self-love and empathy by creating Black toys for Black children and others. Second, inject more jobs into the Black community. Third, use the profits to uplift and improve the community’s quality of life.

Creating Better Opportunities

Operation Bootstrap reflected the principles of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a civil rights organization that sought to address racial inequality through direct, nonviolent action. As CORE members, Smith and Hall wanted to improve the lives in Watts neighborhood through economic uplift. They gathered funds and worked tirelessly to build a robust network of job placements and skills training for Black residents.

Introducing Baby Nancy

In its first year, Shindana produced Baby Nancy, a realistic Black baby doll designed for pretend play. Like other “drink and wet” dolls, she mimicked an infant by drinking bottles and wetting diapers. The doll sold around 15,000 units within three months, far exceeding expectations. Baby Nancy’s popularity inspired later redesigns, such as this pink-boxed version from the 1970s.

Earn, Baby, Earn

Seeing the success of Baby Nancy, other companies invested in Shindana. Adhering to its principles of community reinvestment, Operation Bootstrap channeled its profits back into the neighborhood. Using company revenue, the organization opened the Honeycomb Child Development Center in 1973. The Center provided much needed preschool education and play space in Watts as well as childcare for the children of Shindana workers.

Black and Proud

Moving to a new neighborhood can be a scary situation. Shindana’s line of cuddly Li’l Souls cloth dolls and accompanying coloring books showed kids how to make new homes with family and friends. The Wilky doll decorated his clothing with phrases such as “I’m proud” and “right-on” to share his cultural pride at the new school.

Designing for Creative Minds

"We have attempted to produce dolls that children could relate to; fantasize with; and grow with…It is our opinion that the toy should be a vehicle that helps the child use its imagination to grow, rather than the toy directing the child by its mechanical actions."

Louis Smith
Co-founder of Shindana Toys Inc.
Shindana Toys Catalog
1973

As Seen on TV

To highlight contemporary Black popular culture, Shindana created doll versions of Black television stars such as Redd Foxx from Sanford and Sons and Marla Gibbs from The Jeffersons. One of the company’s best-selling dolls depicted popular comedian Flip Wilson on one side and his drag persona Geraldine on the other. Pulling its string, fans could enjoy some of Flip’s hilarious catchphrases in his real voice.

A New Kind of Action Figure

Expanding their toy line, Shindana recognized the need for more male dolls, but wanted to avoid stereotypical associations with war and violence with the Black community. The company looked to real-world figures for inspiration, such as NBA basketball star Julius Winfield Erving, II, better known by his nickname Dr. J. With a poseable body, the action figure could mimic his signature move: the slam dunk.

Move Over, Shaft

Shindana invented the heroic war veteran Slade to encourage young Black boys to imagine their potential. He was a super-agent action figure who didn’t carry weapons but fought corruption with his intelligence and intuition, combining his college education with street smarts he learned growing up in a disenfranchised neighborhood.

Toys That Build Pride

"Black parents are buying black dolls because they want their children to develop a positive self-image, and white parents are including black dolls on their Christmas lists because they don't want their children to grow up with the same racial hangups that they had."

Robert Bobo
President of Shindana Toys Inc.
1976

Re-playing American History

Created by Theme Productions for Shindana, The Black Experience board game shed light on American histories little taught in classrooms: the unsung trials and triumphs of the Black community. Players began in 1619 when the first enslaved Africans arrived in the English colonies. To win, they moved through time, encountering notable Black abolitionists, scientists, and thinkers, to reach “the beginning of a new Black experience.”

Celebrating Black Excellence

The Afro-American History Mystery Game taught kids about Black history through pop culture trivia. In this volume, players who aced the quiz-card questions on contemporary entertainers and stars earned a chance to fit pieces into one of four picture puzzles depicting their cultural past: Famous Black Women in American History, Black Pioneers of the West, Black Inventors and Scientists, and The Life of Harriet Tubman.

Creating a Diverse World

One of Shindana’s last major lines, the Little Friends Collection signaled the company’s dedication to expanding racial diversity in childhood playthings. The collection offered children a better reflection of the world, featuring a multiracial cast of white, Black, Asian, and Latinx boy and girl dolls. The traditional toy market lacked representation of many races and ethnicities, but Shindana imagined another play world was possible.

The Potential of Black Toys

"For young black children, black dolls can teach youngsters to love themselves. For others, black dolls and games can teach children to love those different from themselves."

“Black Toys Available on Market This Xmas”
Atlanta Daily World
December 12, 1974

“We’re building our thing. We’re dreamers, but I don’t see anything wrong with dreaming.”

Louis Smith
Co-founder of Shindana Toys Inc
1969