Doll Bunk Beds - Approximately 80-years-old

Means2Me Category: Toys

Item: Wooden Doll Bunk Beds

History: Day Work, the 1940s and the 1950s

Condition: Very good. I did stick the cereal box stickers on them when I played with them, but they have been removed (residue remains but is not sticky – see pictures.) The new owner may decide to refurbish the item, though personally, I think the item’s condition gives it historical charm. 

Means2Me Story: In the 1950s, my grandmother did day work. Countless black women cleaned the homes of others simply to support and care for their own families. Today, their stories are usually told by the women who hired them and, in some cases, by the younger women they cared for (and for whom the past is mint juleps and porch swings.)  For a different, and truly hilarious accounting of this time period, read Alice Childress’ novel, Like One of the Family. 

Mrs. Donahue, one of my grandmother’s “Miss Ann’s,” had a daughter, Patricia. When Patricia no longer played with her doll bunk beds, Mrs. Donahue gave them to my grandmother, who promptly brought them home for her own daughter, Sherry Rene, to play with. A girly- girl, spoiled rotten as the youngest child in the home by eight years, Sherry Rene loved the doll bunk beds: wooden with slats for each bed. And, better yet, you could convert the bunk beds into two singles. 

As the firstborn granddaughter, I inherited them from my aunt. The sheer joy I got out of playing with the doll bunk beds cannot be quantified. Yet they came with a history that is deeper than play. Day girls of the 1940s and the 1950s were women. Strong women who weathered storms, literally and figuratively, doing work no one else would do – doing the work, sadly, that was often all they were allowed to do. Many of the clients for whom day workers toiled often gave them hand me down clothes, toys, and household items. While some of you may grumble at this and dismiss the hand-me downs as beneath the day workers, please don’t. Were all of them kept? No, not at all. The dingy and worn items were promptly thrown away (correction, per my mother: nothing in “Miss Ann’s” house was dingy or worn because the “girl” knew how to wash, iron, and clean. But, I digress.) In some cases, items with monetary value may have been sold. But every once in a while, something was kept. Perhaps a brooch which made the wearer’s Sunday best come alive. Or a small television that made the new owner’s house the place to be of a Sunday night (are you getting the Sunday as family day theme I have going here!?) 

And every once in a while, a toy, much like these doll bunk beds, which must be at least 80-years-old now, became part of a child’s life. A cherished part at that. I wish I could gift them to someone in my family and tell them the story of how they came to be an heirloom. Imagine that: a black family’s heirloom began life as a white child’s toy. Sadly, my family is dying out, yet I believe this story has to be told. Of course, I hope that the child who receives the item appreciates the story behind them. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll write a story about the day work bunk beds. Mostly, I hope they read this and know how proud I am of each honest day’s work my grandmother did in order to care for her family.

Shipping Policy: Owner of Courtney's Collection will provide a shipping quote upon request. As the items vary in terms of size and weight, please send your delivery address and a shipping quote will be emailed to you within two business days. Insurance is added upon request and at the buyer's expense.