Skip to main content
Back to Show
Lost LA

Shindana Toy Company (Preview)

The Watts riots (also known as the Watts Rebellion or Uprising) left South Los Angeles in social and economic distress. In its wake, Operation Bootstrap, a non-profit community-based organization was formed, with hopes of facilitating change through community empowerment. This episode explores the lasting impact of one Operation Bootstrap initiative, the Shindana Toy Company.

Support Provided By
Season
Tiki Bars and Their Hollywood Origins
26:40
Tiki culture isn’t a Polynesian import — it’s a Hollywood creation.
Tuberculosis: The Forgotten Plague
26:49
Archives reveal the “forgotten plague” that shaped Southern California: tuberculosis.
Eternal City: Los Angeles Cemeteries
26:50
Visit Hollywood Forever, Evergreen and Forest Lawn, where L.A. reinvented the cemetery.
Hiking Trailblazers
26:40
The hiker-activists who led Angelenos into their hills and onto the trails.
Historic Filipinotown
26:39
How Filipino Americans in Southern California are making their heritage more visible.
Fast Food and Car Culture
26:47
Iconic fast-food chains from McDonald’s to Taco Bell were born in SoCal.
From Little Tokyo to Crenshaw
26:37
After internment camps, Japanese Americans made L.A.'s Crenshaw neighborhood their home.
German Exiles
26:04
During WWII, L.A. became a sanctuary for Europe’s accomplished artists and intellectuals.
Prehistoric Landscapes
26:46
Dig deep into Southern California’s past to reveal lessons for our climate-changed future.
Winemaking
26:41
Explore a forgotten age when winemaking was Southern California’s principal industry.
Who Killed the Red Car?
26:46
Why did Los Angeles dismantle one of the greatest rail transit systems in the nation?
Shindana Dolls | Still from "Lost LA" S4 E6: Shindana Toy Company
26:40
Explore the lasting impact of the Shindana Toy Company, created out of the need for community empowerment following the 1965 Watts uprising, whose ethnically correct black dolls forever changed the American doll industry.
Active loading indicator