ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF ...

Munger also introduced a range of aesthetic possibilities by instructing her reader
to borrow Sambo’s head from the popular “negro doll.” She was most likely referring to
the type of doll show in figure 29, Chapter V, of this investigation. Her illustration is
more exaggerated than the dolls previously featured here, but it opens the door for more
or less stereotyped images of black Americans. A puppeteer might have selected the
clown heads circulated in the 1930s by the American Crayon Company (see figure 45).
Or that same puppeteer might have selected a more naturalistic image from other dolls on
the contemporary market (see figure 29). Munger’s design technique allowed for the
direct intervention of a variety of heads, leading to possible challenges or inscriptions of
minstrelsy based stereotypes.
Fig. 45. Dolls of the American Crayon Company. Photograph by John Bell. Copied
from: John Bell. Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History. Detroit: The
Detroit Institute of the Arts, 2000, 110.
Finally, Sambo and his parents both wear capes of material hanging from their
waists that may have challenged minstrel stereotypes. As these were hand puppets, they
were likely designed to disguise the wrists of the puppeteers, rather than contribute to the
costume. If audiences understood the convention, they may have simply ignored it. If
not, the capes would add a regal quality, perhaps understood as “oriental” style, to
otherwise minstrelsy-derived costumes. While many of Munger’s designs deepened the
194