#20: The designer of Black Barbie, the illustrator of Rice Krispies, and an antique car show
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Enjoy weekly SC history and upcoming SC historical events
Dear reader,
Welcome to Newsletter #20 of The South Carolina History Newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.
Welcome “frankeppes” “roederkelly” “joseph.tysinger” “ahinkle” “13csigg” and “scott.broam” to our SC History Newsletter community! Woohoo!
I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter, and as always, please feel free to reply to this email with your ideas and suggestions on South Carolina history you’d like to learn more about. I’m only a click away.
Additionally, please join us & keep the conversation going by becoming a member of our SC History Newsletter Facebook Community here! I can’t wait to meet you.
And now, let’s learn some South Carolina history!
Yours truly,
Kate
(Writing from Greenville, SC)
3 ➳ Upcoming SC History Events
While I have curated the following 3 events below to feature in today’s newsletter, please click here to visit my SC History Events Calendar that organizes all the events I have featured in the newsletter to date, as well as others I have discovered. Please let me know if you’d like to add an event to the list! Reply to this email or send me a note at schistorynewsletter@gmail.com.
I.
Saturday, March 9th at from 11:30 am - 2:00 pm | “Community Quilting” | Oconee Station State Historic Site - The Richards House | Walhalla, SC | $5 per participant
“Experience part of the historic lifestyles of Oconee Station State Historic Site. The Green sisters homesteaded this property for 70 years and were renowned for their crafting. Join a ranger in creating a community quilt patterned after the quilts the Green sisters displayed in their home.”
II.
Sunday, April 7th from 3:00 - 4:00 pm | “Author Meet & Greet w/ Aliene Shields Humphries on her book ‘The Importance of South Carolina in the American Revolution’” | Florence Country Club | Florence, SC | FREE & Open to the public
“The Samuel Bacot Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is hosting a Meet & Greet with author Aliene Shields Humphries. Mrs. Humphries is a proud life-long South Carolinian, a former teacher and the author of two books. She is a member of the South Carolina Humanities Speakers Bureau. She hopes to promote the learning of history and our own family history.”
III.
Sunday, April 14th 2024 from 1:30 - 4:30 pm | “Antique Car Show & Craft Fair” | Historic White Home | Rock Hill, SC | TICKETS: Members & children are free, but non-members must purchase tickets at the door (undisclosed on website)
“Join us at the historic White Home for a day of fun, food, and history. You'll get to explore classic automobiles from all eras, shop from dozens of unique vendors, and enjoy the spirit of the local community. Plus, your ticket includes a self-guided tour of The White Home, a must-see historic site in Rock Hill! Members + Children are free.”
2 ➳ SC History Fun Facts
I.
Did you know that the Chief Designer of Mattel's Barbie dolls for over 25 years, and the creator of the first Black Barbie, was originally from Spartanburg?
Louvenia (Kitty) Black Perkins is an African American fashion designer from Spartanburg, SC. The majority of her career was spent designing clothing for Barbie dolls and she is the creator of the first Black Barbie in the late 1970s.
She grew up in segregated Spartanburg and went to Carver High School, Spartanburg’s Black high school, which “closed then the school system was desegregated in 1970.” After high school, she followed her dream of becoming a fashion designer and moved to Los Angeles to attend Los Angeles Trade Technical College. She graduated with a degree in fashion in 1971.
Fate was on Kitty’s side in 1976 when she saw a blind job ad in the newspaper from Mattel. She said in an article from The NY Post in 2023:
“Then, I went out and purchased my first Barbie doll. And instead of making one outfit, I made six. The vice president of the company hired me on the spot. And on top of that, the six outfits I brought in — they put them in the line that year.”
Only a few short years later in 1978, Kitty became the principal designer for Barbie, and only a year after that, Black Perkins was designing the first Black Barbie. While there had been black dolls in the Mattel line before then, they were only “friends” of Barbie. There had never been a stand alone Black Barbie before. Black Perkins said of the design process:
“Barbie offers a whole new way for children to imagine and play. With that in mind, knowing that the Afro-American community was looking for something that they could identify with and that children could be proud of, I think we achieved that with the Black Barbie doll.”
In 1991, the Los Angeles Times reported that “Black Perkins was responsible for 100 designs a year, amounting to over one fifth of all the designs for Barbie.” Her designs include the "First Black Barbie" (1979-1980), "Shani and Friends" (1991), "Holiday Barbie" (1988, 1989, 1990, 1996), "Fashion Savvy Barbie" (1997), "Bathtime Barbie" and “Brandy" (1999).
She was the Chief Designer of Fashions and Doll Concepts for Mattel's Barbie line for over 25 years and has received numerous accolades including:
Doll industry's highest honor, the Doll of the Year (DOTY)
Woman of the Year honoree by the National Council of Negro Women
She is also an inductee into the Black Hall of Fame
And here is a video where Black Perkins describes her thought process on the design of Black Barbie.
II.
Did you know that the illustrator of the iconic cereal figures of Snap, Crackle, and Pop! for Rice Crispies was a prominent farmer in Rock Hill, SC?
While illustrator Vernon Grant was originally from Nebraska, he became an “adopted son” of Rock Hill, South Carolina. Grant knew from a young age he wanted to be an artist. Little did he know that by his early 30s he would have created some of the most beloved characters/logos of the 20th century — the Snap! Crackle! and Pop! gnome-like mascotS of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. Grant became the lead illustrator for Kellogg’s products and became so popular that in 1935, “the company sent him on a world tour to promote their cereals.” Simultaneously, Grant was also illustrating children’s books and magazine covers. Life magazine ranked Grant as “America’s favorite children’s artist” and on the magazine side, Grant “joined the ranks as one of America’s top magazine illustrators, and was second only to Norman Rockwell for having the most illustrations featured on the covers of magazines.”
So where does Rock Hill come into the story? Well, Cupid has something to do with it :) Grant met and married a woman named Elizabeth Fewell, who was a native of Rock Hill, SC. They had 2 children together, and in 1947 established a 670 acre farm outside Rock Hill “raising Angus cattle and Concord grapes.” Grant became a prominent farmer in the area and received awards from various state agricultural associations. He also became actively involved in Rock Hill’s town leadership. In the late 1950s, Grant led the Rock Hill Chamber of Commerce, and helped establish the Come-See-Me festival, which features a mascot that he designed, called Glen the Frog (pictured below). Grant’s vision for the festival was for it to strengthen the economic base of the city. His vision has endured. The Come-See-Me Festival has become one of the largest all-volunteer festivals in South Carolina and hosts over 100,000 people each year. Additionally, a new festival, ChristmasVille, was started in Rock Hill in 2006. The festival “spotlights Grant's many Santa Claus and winter illustrations.” The festival mascot is Grant the Gnome (pictured below).
1 ➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
I.
“I had a sense that it was going to be well received. I had no idea it was going to be as groundbreaking as it is now, but if you look at the history of Barbie, the reason Barbie is number one is because she was the very first of her kind. When we did Black Barbie, she too became the very first of her kind.
Before Barbie, there wasn’t a doll that was an adult figure. There were only baby dolls, and it was all about a nurturing system of play. Barbie offers a whole new way for children to imagine and play.”
—Kitty Black Perkins, Chief Designer of Fashions and Doll Concepts for Mattel's Barbie line for over twenty-five years and designer of the first Black Barbie
Sources used in today’s newsletter:
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