Pepsodent Company, American, 1915 - 1944 Search this
Medium:
ink on paper
Dimensions:
H x W: 2 9/16 × 5 7/16 in. (6.5 × 13.8 cm)
Type:
paper dolls
Date:
1931
Description:
A color paper doll depicting a man in an orange car with no roof or doors. The man is looking back over his left shoulder towards the back left wheel of the car, which is flat. The man is wearing a brown cap labeled "TAXI", a white shirt with orange polka dots, a stripped vest, and patched up brown pants. There is a hand-painted black sign on the back door of the car reading “FRESH AIR / TAXICAB / Co. OF AMERICA - / INCORPULATED.” There is a green fire hydrant in the foreground. The bottom of the doll has a black folding tab on each side. The tab on the right has text in white, printed vertically, that reads “COPYRIGHT 1931 / BY THE PEPSODENT CO.” The back of the paper doll is light brown. Black text printed on the back reads “Newly Discovered! / Pepsodent Antiseptic Mouth Wash - / Kills germs 5 to 11 times faster - / checks bad breath hours longer / than other leading mouth antiseptics.”
Statement:
Objects depicting racist and/or stereotypical imagery or language may be offensive and disturbing, but the NMAAHC aims to include them in the Collection to present and preserve the historical context in which they were created and used. Objects of this type provide an important historical record from which to study and evaluate racism.
