The sunbonnet was born about 1875 and Royal Bayreuth made these up until about 1907. The Royal Bayreuth Factory burned in 1897 and did not open again until 1902. All records of Sunbonnets being made were destroyed in the fire. But the Blue Royal Bayreuth signature on the bottom of the pieces was used after 1900. So this is conflicting information. We do know that they were made in the early 1900’s. We also know that whenever a new manager came to work at Royal Bayreuth he would open the drawer of signatures and say this one is the one I want used today.

How the First Sunbonnet Baby got started was as a challenge to be drawn.

Bertha Corbett was an artist studying in Minneapolis when the idea of the sunbonnet babies was born. She and a group of artists were together in her studio, discussing matters of art in general when one of the group said. "How little expression there is to a figure in which the face does not show!" Instantly Miss Corbett's remembered seeing a tiny child recently. It was busily occupied with some bit of childish play, and its entire head was hidden by an enormous sun-bonnet. With this picture in mind, she answered quickly; "I do not think a face is necessary in order to make a figure expressive."

By degrees the idea grew and expanded. In 1902 the first Sunbonnet Babies Primer was introduced into our schools by Eulalie Osgood Grover. Miss Grover was a well known children’s author and was best known as the creator of a series of reading primers for young readers centered around the character known to us all as the Sunbonnet Babies. After the book of the sun-bonnet babies was published, came a primer, and the success of the primer has been unmistakable. Thousands and thousands of copies were sold, and the little people in whose hands they were placed, found them a never-ceasing source of delight. They were captivated from the first page, where a sun-bonnet baby spreading wide her apron and bending forward so that only the top of her sun- bonnet shows, courtesies low and says, "How do you do?"

The Sunbonnet Babies' primers were the first children's school book to carry the same characters all the way through the text. They were also the first to be printed in four colors and to use an improved, larger font.

As a little girl we learned the following nursery rhyme:

This is the way we wash our clothes
Wash our clothes, wash our clothes
This is the way we wash our clothes
So early Monday morning

This is the way we iron our clothes
Iron our clothes, iron our clothes
This is the way we iron our clothes
So early Tuesday morning

This is the way we mend our clothes
Mend our clothes, mend our clothes
This is the way we mend our clothes
So early Wednesday morning

This is the way we sweep the floor
Sweep the floor, sweep the floor
This is the way we sweep the floor
So early Thursday morning

This is the way we scrub the floor
Scrub the floor, scrub the floor
This is the way we scrub the floor
So early Friday morning

This is the way we bake our bread
Bake our bread, bake our bread
This is the way we bake our bread
So early Saturday morning

This is the way we go to church
Go to church, go to church
This is the way we go to church
So early Sunday morning

Royal Bayreuth, inverted Thursday and Friday. Thursday is Scrubbing the Floors and Friday is Sweeping the Floors. There is no known old Saturday Baking. Then Sunday was fishing when Royal Bayreuth made it.

In 1974, Kern Collectibles contacted the Royal Bayreuth Factory in Tettau to request that they reissue a limited edition of Sunbonnet Babies. 5,000 sets of the seven plates were manufactured, every set was sold. Each set is marked a limited edition 1974 to protect the value of the premium – priced originals. They also made a series of Bells and a large charger with all seven days on one 13” plate. This is the only place a Saturday Baking has ever been seen.

Most of the Royal Bayreuth marks carry the 1794 date. This is the date the factory started business and not the date that item made. The factory is still in business today but prefers dinnerware.

There are two excellent reference books for sale by Mary J. McCaslin on Royal Bayreuth in general. Book # 1 and Book # 2. The Royal Bayreuth Collectors Club maintains a web site at www.royalbayreuth.com

Becky Conrad is from Monticello, IN. She is President of AADA (Ass. Antiques Dealers of America) She is also a Member of the Royal Bayreuth Collectors Club. She has a booth at Teddy's Emporium Antiques in Delphi, IN. and an on-line store in e-bay.

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