LOVE IS CARING
THE FIRST BLACK CHARACTER DOLL TO BE MASS PRODUCED
It took a heart full of love, a double dose of kisses, and a great big batch of hugs to create Huggy Bean.
Who is Huggy Bean?
Huggy Bean is an African American child who loves African culture.
She's a lovable, huggable 17 inch doll with yarn hair, who is America's first mass-pro-duced Black character doll. Huggy Bean was introduced in 1985 by Yvonne Rubie, president of Golden Ribbon Playthings, Inc.
"It is important that Huggy Bean understand her relationship to African culture. Our African cultures are extremely vast and rich. We have a lot from which to pull, to learn, to reinforce ourselves, and to go further. That's why I feel culture is so important to the African-American child and to African children of the diaspora.”
— Yvonne Rubie
Limited edition re-release coming soon.
Limited edition re-release coming soon.
March 29 2023
by Tony O. Lawson, Shoppe BlackIn the late 1990s, a small business in Brooklyn, New York made history by creating a toy that would not only become a beloved childhood companion but also a cultural phenomenon.
The Huggy Bean Doll, created by entrepreneur and artist Yvonne Rubie, quickly gained popularity for its soft, cuddly design and diverse representation of skin tones and hair textures.
The Huggy Bean Doll has since become a symbol of inclusivity and representation in the toy industry.
We recently have the pleasure of speaking with Yvonne Rubie, the creative mind behind the Huggy Bean Doll and a trailblazing entrepreneur in her own right.
Read the full article here