DINAH-MITE!
Often neglected by collectors, Dinah-Mite was Mego’s answer to Barbie as AJ was to GI Joe. Her advertising featured her as an incredibly poseable doll who “sits and stands”; an overt shot at Barbie, who famously cannot “stand on her own”.
Dinah seems to have fared better than AJ, as she was advertised in their catalogs up through 1975. Since most of her stock did not languish in warehouses, her accessories and outfits are much harder to find.
Although Dinah started out as a white doll, she came in a Black version as well. Mego’s bendable doll rode the wave of 70’s blaxploitation heroines like Friday Foster, Cleopatra Jones, Foxy Brown, Christie Love and my fave, Velvet Smooth.
I came across this sister’s site while scoping the web for some Funky Stuff! And I was blown away by her creativity with keeping the images of 1970’s Funk alive. The images quickly reminded me of the Blaxploitation film era. The art is funky, crazy kool and I had an immediate connection with her designs. A couple of emails back and forth Desiree was happy to be apart of The Museum of UnCut Funk Family and we can’t get enough of that funky stuff!
Please read about Desiree and her company AFRODELIK DESIGNS.
WELCOME TO AFRODELIK DESIGNS brand
…collections of hand drawn art created through the spirit of SOUL
It began with a pen and paper, and the desire to show the world my creativity. For over 20 years, I have had a passion for drawing, which comes from the heart. My natural artistic talent of drawing makes me feel at peace.
My name is Desiree Marshall, and in 2006, I decided to fulfill a life-long dream, and launched my apparel company AFRODELIK DESIGNS brand.
The various pieces feature hand-drawn original designs celebrating culture. There are currently three distinct collections available:
- AFROCITY: a memorable throwback to blaxploitation movies of the 1970s
- AFRIKA: inspirational line drawings dedicated to the various African cultures
- IKONS: an ode to trendsetters and community leaders in music, politics and literature, to name a few
AFRODELIK DESIGNS is a young and exciting company that produces collections of original HAND DRAWN art, on T-shirts, Bags, Greeting cards, and much.
We are currently working on new designs and new products for Summer 2010.
Our products are enjoyed by men and women between the ages of 24-48, and children aged 1-12 years old, of ALL shapes and colours. There is something for EVERYONE!
Afrodelik collections have been described as unique, bold, urban and inspirational, and international celebrities such as Erykah Badu, actors Vivica A.Fox and Derek Luke, singer Jully Black, and playwright and actress Trey Anthony, all own Afrodelik tees.
New to the line is a dedication to the inspiration and iconic, Young Michael Jackson. Afrodelik Designs’ brand is available in stores in North America, also available on the Afrodelik website at www.afrodelik.com
African Barber signs from Ivory Coast courtesy of Indigo Arts Galley
The Hairdresser and Barbershop Signs of Africa are original boards from barbershops and hair-salons in the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Tofo dating from the 1970-ies to the present day.
African Barber signs from Ghana courtesy of Indigo Arts Galley
The advertising signs contain all aspects of a specific popular genre, with similarities and differences mirroring the times of their appearance – the stylistic signature, fashion trends and influences from abroad, at the same time revealing a strong respect for the traditional ways of combing hair – the starting point for almost all modern hairstyles. Inherited ideals that meet and merge with contemporary expressions, in this case, new and authentic stylizations and imported styles, create a harmonious symbiosis evident in varying formal designs in the context of elaborating hairstyles for the purpose of creating a visual embellishment of the head.
African Barber signs from Burkina Faso courtesy of Indigo Arts Galley
Advertising boards were made by specialised, self-taught artists, who used colours to paint previously determined motifs on wooden, plywood, or less commonly on metal surfaces, most often with the very expressive use of pure colours. The paintings mostly portrayed figure motifs which symbolised certain respectable professions, or certain products and brand names. Besides the pictorial, the boards also conveyed written messages and signs. This specific combination of symbol and written message which characterises African painted signs have not changed since the emergence of this art, except to the extent of corresponding to the spirit of the times.
African Barber signs from Togo courtesy of Indigo Arts Galley
Today there are a number of artists all over Africa who are specialized in the painting of advertising boards. Their work advertises a wide spectrum of products and professions – from movies, restaurants, hotels, discotheques, buses, car mechanics, cobblers, tailor shops, state, health and religious institutions to the new trendy hairstyles.
Contributor: The Museum of African Art; Belgrade, Serbia
Original Production Cel use to film the opening of Soul Train. This cel is part of the collection of The Museum of UnCut Funk
Original Production Drawing used to create the original production cel to Soul Train. This drawing is part of the collection of The Museum of UnCut Funk
It was the little show that could. Beginning its ride as a local dance show on Chicago’s WCIU-TV, “Soul Train” chugged its way to Los Angeles and into pop culture history. The syndicated franchise’s impact is chronicled in the 40th-anniversary tribute “Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America.”
Narrated by actor Terrence Howard with an original score by the Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, the 90-minute documentary abounds with performance clips and commentary by former dancers and crew members as well as music executives (Clive Davis, Antonio “L.A.” Reid) and major performers who appeared on “Soul Train,” including Chaka Khan,Snoop Dogg, Aretha Franklin and Sly Stone. At the helm is “Soul Train” creator/producer/host Don Cornelius.
The special, produced by VH1 Rock Docs and Soul Train Holdings, doubles as entertainment and history lesson. The innovative show’s August 17, 1970, debut was bracketed on one side by the civil rights movement and on the other by the emergence of black empowerment.
“This is so much more than a story about a man with a vision for a music dance show,” says Kenard Gibbs, a co-principal in Soul Train Holdings with Peter Griffith and Anthony Maddox. “Had it not been for the social and political forces stirring the pot, the show probably wouldn’t have been as successful. It empowered African-Americans, showing our culture and creativity in a light not seen on TV. This was reality TV at its best.”
After its 1971 move to Los Angeles, “Soul Train” spun off award shows as well as a No. 1 R&B/pop hit in 1974, MFSB’s “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia”). The Gamble & Huff-produced single originally was billed as “The Theme From ‘Soul Train.’”
Cornelius jokes in the documentary that the hit’s title change was his “one mistake.” During a recent phone interview, though, he said his fondest memory is the show’s early validation by major R&B talent.
“Gladys Knight & the Pips helped us start out, but we didn’t know where it would go from there. We were just determined to make this happen, feeling it was the right kind of show for this country at the time,” he recalls. “Then one day James Brown walked onto the sound stage. A few months later came the Jackson 5, and then Stevie Wonder. So we’re thinking, ‘OK, this might work.’”
The show later hosted performances by such pop stars as Elton John and David Bowie.
Contributor: Gail Mitchell
DASHIKI from Yoruba
This word originated in Nigeria
In Nigeria, it was worn for comfort in the hot climate. In America, it was worn to send a message.
That was the situation when the dashiki, and the Yoruba name for it, were imported into the English language in America in the late 1960s.
The dashiki rebelled against men’s fashions of the day: brightly colored instead of drab, loose instead of tight, worn outside the pants instead of tucked in. It could be worn defiantly on occasions that normally would call for a coat and tie.
The dashiki was introduced as a way to protest society’ s disrespect for Blacks. It was a symbol of affirmation, standing for “Black is Beautiful,” a return to African roots, and insistence on full rights in American society. Marion Berry, later to become mayor of Washington, D.C., was then one of the rebels leading the “Free DC Movement” to gain voting rights for the mostly Black residents of Washington. Sam Smith, editor of The Progressive Review, recalled that in those days the press would describe him as “dashiki-clad Negro militant Marion Barry.” The 1960s were the hippie era, too, and whites in the counterculture sometimes adopted the dashiki for its rebellious symbolism as well as its anti-mainstream fashion statement.
The militancy of the 1960s has faded, but the dashiki has not. It still serves as a symbol of Africanness within American culture, as in the celebration of Kwanzaa. It is also sometimes an ingredient of high fashion or just a colorful, comfortable shirt for all occasions.
Yoruba, from the Atlantic-Congo and Benue-Congo branches of the Niger-Congo language family, is the official language of southwestern Nigeria, spoken by nearly twenty million people there. One other word English has acquired from Yoruba is iroko (1890), a tree whose wood is resistant to insects and is often used as a substitute for teak. http://www.answers.com/topic/dashiki
The dashiki is a colorful men’s garment widely worn in West Africa that covers the top half of the body. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored suits. Traditional female attire is called a caftan, or kaftan. A common form is a loose-fitting pullover garment, with an ornate V-shaped collar, and tailored and embroidered neck and sleeve lines.
The dashiki found a market in America during the Black cultural and political struggles in the 1960s. A prototype was developed in 1967 by Jason Benning, Milton Clarke, Howard Davis, and William Smith. These young professionals formed a company called New Breed to produce dashikis. It was located in a 2-room clothing store at 147th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in the Harlem section of Manhattan.
The dashiki was featured in the movies Putney Swope (1969), Five on the Black Hand Side (1973), and the weekly television series Soul Train (1971). Articles on New Breed appeared in Ebony Magazine and the New York Times (4/20/69). Jim Brown, Wilt Chamberlain, Sammy Davis Jr., and Bill Russell were among the well-known Black athletes and entertainers who wore the dashiki on talk shows.
The term dashiki begins appearing in print at least as early as mid-1968: an article by Faith Berry in the New York Times Magazine includes it, on July 7, 1968. Reporting on the 1967 Newark riots in the Amsterdam News on July 22, 1967, George Barner refers to a new African garment called a “danshiki.” “Dashiki” first appeared in the Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1st College Edition 1970/72.
Former District of Columbia mayor and current council member Marion Barry is famous for wearing the dashiki at various times, particularly in the time period leading up to elections. More recently he has donned a modified dashiki that combines the traditional form with a Western-style button-down shirt.
Individualism and self-expression was important for people during the 1970s, no matter how much or how little money a person made. The largest difference between the types of individualism and self-expression in this era was most likely due to both class and taste.
The year was 1976, and style was in full effect for the Black man, as it had been for quite some time. In California, Flagg Bros provided the footwear by which style was defined. There were others such as Jarman’s, Florsheim’s, and Hardys, but Flagg Bros was widely acknowledged amongst the local cool cats, pretty boys and wanna-be Players as thee spot for shoes. ”Kicks,” as we called them in L.A., were a necessary statement to set off the look of new vines (stylish clothing) and old glad-rags.
Flagg Bros was located in Huntington Park, at the corner of Gage and Pacific Blvd. Flagg Bros was known for introducing the hippest styles, in the baddest colors at a price you could afford. The selection was second to none. They sold stylish contemporary leather shoes with standard heels, in Green, Tan, Orange, Burnt Orange, Rust Orange, Burgundy, Beige, White, Blue, Sky Blue, Red, Maroon, Brown, Yellow, even Pink, and of course, classic Black. Flagg Bros had it all.
A funky psychedelic rainbow of selective variety was always at your disposal. But the baddest, boldest, cold-blooded look of the day were platform shoes, made with and without “bubble toes,” offered in a variety of heel and sole styles, ranging from solid bases to laminated wood layers (and later synthetic neoprene), in a variety of solid colors, two tone and multi-hue blends, stitched patterns, with or without stipples, the choice was yours and nobody sold badder “stacks” than Flagg Bros. From tasteful yet sensible 3/4″ platforms to 3″ monster plats (aka Gorgons) as we called them, Flagg Bros supplied the funk. Slip-ons, lace-ups, zipper clad, ankle high oxfords to bubble-toe boots, Flagg Bros fulfilled your wishes.
Flagg Bros was the home of style, footwear and hosiery. A pair of Flagg Bros shoes allowed everyday cats to compete with, and possess the look of, a Ganza Boy. That was the name for the real Pimps, true Players and serious Hustlers who had the money to be suited and booted by Eleganza,” (Chicago, 60609), the undisputed mail-order King and Mack haberdashery Mecca.
By 1982, platform shoes were played out, and the look of Ray Parker Jr’s (”The Other Woman”) album cover cued a transition. The 6-6 Impala, funky Pimp styling of a 70s Player and my 8-track tape was old news. Now, it was all about being “fresh,” that smooth and suave laid back thing, with Jheri curls in a “Nouveau” style for that Belizean look, and music played on cassette in Dolby sound. Oh, one other thing… The drink of choice now was Cognac. — Remy, warmed politely, served in a snifter.
So long Flagg Bros, Zodys and Ripple.
The Flagg Brothers Ads are part of The Museum Of UnCut Funk Collection.
Source: Rick James Roberts
