Baby Doll

Dressed in a short, frilly dress that exposed her legs, and wearing a large poke bonnet or mob cap, the Baby Doll was a familiar sight during Carnival in the 1860s and 70s, a time known as the Jamette Carnival. Named after the child’s doll she often carried, the Baby Doll character would roam the streets alone, in pairs, or in groups, always performing the same routine: she would confront respectable gentlemen with the piercing cry, “Mister! Mister! Look your child!”—embarrassing them into handing over money to support the supposed child. This clever act highlighted the harsh reality of life during and after slavery when many slave owners fathered children with their servants but refused to acknowledge these illegitimate offspring.

One of the paradoxes of the Baby Doll's character was that she often dressed like the very infant she claimed to be the mother of, wearing a simple child’s dress. Initially, she wore a full wire mask, which later evolved into a half-mask covering just her eyes, and eventually, she discarded the mask altogether. By the early 20th century, the presence of Baby Doll mas on the streets of Port of Spain had dwindled, but it never completely vanished.