Invisible Men

Here is an image with much to tell about matters of race and memory in contemporary America.  I am confident that just a few years ago, its subject matter - a black American soldier menacing a fallen white enemy with a bayonet - would have been deemed too provocative and risky for a venerable manufacturer of high end toy soldiers to bring to an American market.  Yet last year, the 115-year-old W. Britains company did just that.

True confessions time, here.  I am a collector of matte finished toy soldiers in this scale and from this company, though I concentrate on the American Civil War period and not, as it is known in the international collector trade, the American War of Independence.  This is a reflection of the expense of this hobby and lack of display space rather than lack of interest in other periods.  Sometimes I think the ideal job for me would be dioramist in residence at some well endowed and indulgent museum.  I've had this interest since I was in kindergarten.

I was prompted to think about this two-figure set from Britains AWI range while engaged in this thread at  Civil War Memory.  Kevin Levin's special area of interest is Petersburg's Battle of the Crater.  He and some of his readers drew attention to the utter absence of the many black soldiers who fought there from depictions of this battle marketed by Conte Collectibles, another high end toy soldier company and one I have patronized in the past.  Conte also has an extensive plastic play set business and its Civil War range represents the Crater.  Although Conte has produced four excellent African American figures from the colored 54th Massachusetts infantry regiment, none of these are reproduced in plastic and are not included part of the 192 figures in its Crater play set, or Conte's other two plastic play sets compatible with this item.

Another true confession.  I own hundreds of these matte finished ACW toy soldiers after a decade of collecting, and yet I have yet to purchase either Conte's 54th MA figures or the few (inferior) sculpts of this unit produced a number of years ago by W. Britains when it was under different ownership.  It is not that I do not like them - Ken Osen, who now is head sculptor for W. Britians, did the Conte figures and they are excellent - but there was always another group of toy soldiers that I wanted more, and I rationalize waiting on these because there were fewer situations when I could deploy them in a diorama, as colored troops came into active service at the midpoint in the war.  Since this collection is a substantial drain on my discretionary income, I've had to make hard choices about what investments to make.

These justifications don't really cut it.  I don't have the space to set up the dioramas of my dreams and the figures are many ranks deep in an upstairs bookcase in my home.  At the very heart of the matter, this collection is an expensive adult hobby playing out a boyhood fantasy, and none of my toy Civil War soldiers (or playmates) back then were black, either.  Except for a brief period when I was a teen-aged Civil War Reenacter in a Confederate cavalry troop based in upstate New York, my orientation has always been toward the Union perspective. But I am still left with a quandary and second guessing my excuses.

I cannot speak for others who collect these kinds of figures.  I do know that the ACW period tends to do well in markets East of the Mississippi and has less of a draw elsewhere.  I can only assume that the vast majority of collectors are male and with sufficient disposable income to lay out the considerable sums required every year to feed this rather addictive habit.   The only colored regiment from the American Civil War that the general public is aware of is the 54th Massachusetts, made famous by the movie "Glory", and that is why it alone is represented in the small number of figures available that depict black soldiers.  And though I am an exception, as a rule there is far more interest both the reenacting and the toy soldier collecting communities in confederate subject matter.

The American War of Independence, on the other hand, has a stronger international market for toy soldier collectors, particularly in the British Commonwealth.  I do not know the sales generated for W. Britians by the three figures of the 1st Rhode Island Light Infantry, a unit brigaded with the New Jersey troops commanded by my ancestor Elias Dayton at Yorktown, but they clearly were seen as appropriate subject matter.   The light company of this regiment, which these figures actually depict, was part of Lafayette's command and fought in the assault of Redoubt #10 along with my ancestor Aaron Ogden.   The regiment had several segregated companies of black, mulatto and Indian soldiers, thought African American soldiers were integrated in some regiments and militia companies during the war. Others fought for their freedom in British and Hessian units.

Collectors of British military figures, particularly those depicting the Victorian era, are accustomed to  depictions of Tommy Atkins facing racially diverse adversaries.  W. Britains has a new Zulu War line in both traditional glossy and matte finish that looks to be extremely popular with collectors.  The Zulu line in particular takes great pains to accurately depict the various regiments in Cetshwayo's' impis without round-eyed caricature.  I would love to collect these figures, but I do not.  I stick with the American Civil War.  It is not worth risking a divorce by expanding my habit to other periods and the size of my collection thereby.

So we come back to the question of why the Civil War regiments on my shelves are still monochrome when there are several appropriate figures available to represent those African Americans who fought in blue?  And would spending the $90 bucks or so it would take to rectify that omission really buy me indulgence?  I am sure it is not so simple, though I am left uneasy about its implications.  What we learn from our innocent play as children creates assumptions and blind spots that even as reflective adults we may not readily recognize. When I played "Civil War" as a boy, I did so in my own image.  Perhaps it is that simple. All I know for sure is that this stuff is hard.

Comments

[Tim Abbott]

In fairness to the manufacturer, Conte Collectibles has an Alamo line that deliberately highlights the participation of its Tejano defenders. There are two figures of Mexican ancestry included alongside Crockett and Bowie and Travis and the like. The sculptor was Robert Ortiz.

http://www.conteco.com/TheStore/Alamo/Metalsets.htm

[Tim Abbott]

Thanks, David. I'd be glad to share some of my collection and appreciate the interest.

When I was a boy, it was always more fun to dress up as Indians than as cowboys. I had a fairly large collection of Britains plastic "Deetail" range of Indians, knights and Civil War soldiers. I had an extensive hoard of 15mm plastic figures (HO scale)as well, by Airfix. The first ones my parents bought me were a British marching band, civilians, zoo animals and pioneers with a covered wagon, but these soon grew to cover everything from robin hood to WWII British commandos. There was a Tarzan set, I believe, with spear and shield carrying tribesmen.

[David Corbett]

Dear Berks. ,
I agree it is odd that a Crater battle set would not include U.S.C.T. especially if they already cast them in metal . Perhaps if was more profitable just to include generic Federal troops.
Did not mean to suggest that you based your views on the soldiers you collect or choose not to collect . Other than a racial preference or a preference for more exotic troops ( "Zouaves " for example ) , it seems any collector would appreciate the historically correct Rhode Island or U.S.C.T.'s in their collections . Actually black African toy soldiers have been available for almost one hundred years and I have purchased in the early Eighties , African-American wargame figures both Rhode Island and U.S.C.T.
If possible may we see more of your collection in future ?
cordially ,
David Corbett

[Tim Abbott]

Mr. Corbett, my point was not that our choice in toy soldier subject matter makes us better or worse people. There were two points, here.

The first, about which I am comfortable generalizing, was that one of the very few toy manufacturers who represent African American soldiers from the Civil War invested a great deal of time and money depicting the battle of the Crater in plastic without any black participants, even though there were figures available that had been previously issued by that same manufacturer in metal. I believe that the omission is worthy of discussion given the prominence of colored troops in this battle.

You did not challenge this point, and from your comment I understand what you found nettlesome was what I had to say about the roots of my own adult collecting choices. I am not satisfied with my personal explanation for why I do not have any colored troops in my collection when there are excellent ones available. I'm not interested in a facile litmus test to determine how racist I or anyone else may or may not be as predicted by this choice, as you as a long-time reader of this blog should be able to judge by the way in which I approach historical subject matter, but I am interested in the choice itself. I presume that you know your own heart in these matters. I was exposing some of mine.

Respectfully, Tim Abbott

[David Corbett]

Dear Berkshires ,
So what's your point ? Having African-American toys makes you more sensitive to the social needs of the African-American community ? I used to have a Britains King's African Rifles set of eight soldiers when I was a kid and thought they were great . Had Arabs on horses and camels and Egyptian and Indian infantry too . Guess I was socially conscious when being socially conscious wasn't cool or perhaps they were just toy represenatives of the British Empire . I can only hope that my precocious multi-culturalism will not cause me to support Barry Husein Obama now that the Nation of Islam has endorsed him !
cordially ,
David Corbett