Ladies Home Journal, 1916

One of the twin cousins in the Betty Bonnet series, July 1916. Always nice to find a cut set like this: well-played with, as evidenced by bent tabs, and one handmade outfit quietly tucked in with the rest.

Laff Time, 1966

Laff Time was a men's humor magazine, with stuff quite innocent by today's standards. This two-page spread is one big leering wink at the reader, with a few visual double-entendres.

Mirror, mirror...

A strange looking doll. An ugly Tillie?

Boots, 1946

Bridge tally

I'm guessing c. 1930s. I liked the way the cards are referenced in the art work itself (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs), something I haven't seen that often (but I haven't been collecting tallies that long, so it might not be that unusual).

Little Miss Muffet

McLaughlin.

Mystery Doll

UPDATE: Not Mamie Models, as I originally thought. (Thanks for the info, Peggy!)

Will let you know when I find out more...

Flyin' Jenny

C. 1941

Everett J. Chuckle

Gabby Painsly

I think Jimmy Murphy had a lot of fun coming up with these characters and their names for his Toots and Casper comic strip.

Stella Clinker

Mama

Ellen

Ellen from Toots and Casper.

UPDATE: Weaver suggested I smooth out the images of these old newspaper comics (to avoid that "measles" look if you're printing out). I applied median filter to get this smoother picture:

Casper and Buttercup

I haven't been able to find many dates on these old newspaper cut-outs, but this one had 1938 as a copyright date for a comic on the back.

Benjamin Plunker

One of the many characters featured in the old comic strip Toots and Casper by Jimmy Murphy. I'll post more of these cut-outs over the next week.

Dolores Costello

An image found on the web. There are a number of sites devoted to old-time movie stars. I came across this image after Googling the star's name. Costello is in one of my favorite movies, "The Magnificent Ambersons." But that was late in her career; she was a star in the silent era, too.

UPDATE: check out www.silentladies.com/Ladies.html for more fantastic images of silent film stars.

Valentine's Day

Love Birds

Valentine scrap

Ziegfeld Follies of 1924

Music from the Follies, 85 years ago. Art by Albert Vargas, whose Vargas Girls were popular pinups in the 1940s-1950s.

Tuck Decorative Head

Tuck & Sons published a series of postcards known as "Tuck Decorative Heads."

Bashful Valentine

A mechanical, made in Germany.

Higgins German Laundry Soap

Not the most romantic pitch on the back! But still a lovely image, from the days when Coney Island was the place to be.

A Valentine Paper Doll

This was probably punched out of a Valentine card.

Valentine Village Cutouts

An A-Meri-Card, circa 1940s.

Tamaki Paper Doll

Here's the last cut Companion Doll in my collection (unless I discover another hidden gem stored away in a box somewhere!)

Margery May's Japanese Friend Tamaki by Emma Musselman. March 1921. This one is backed with glued-on linen, an old-fashioned way of fortifying a paper cut-out for hours of play without tearing. Someone marked 20 on the back of the doll and on the dress tabs, probably a collector who wanted to keep track of what went with what.

Margery May's Little Sisters

Don't have the complete sheet, but a little girl long ago wrote in pencil on the back of each doll: Madeleine, top, and Gladys. Woman's Home Companion, November 1920.

R.F. Outcault Valentines

I'm fascinated by Outcault, an artist who mixed satire and sentiment to great effect. There are ink smudges on the bottom card that give the appearance of a beard on the Buster Brown character!

Marie Louise paper doll

Marie Louise, Margery May's French Chum, by Emma Musselman. Woman's Home Companion, August 1920.

A Loving Thought

Many of the old Valentine postcards, like this one, bear no date.

Suzette Paper Doll

One uncut sheet that I had in an archival binder -- you know you've been collecting a long time when you forget you have something in your files! April 1920, Woman's Home Companion.

I'm impressed with the record-keeping that many collectors maintain to keep track of what they own. Needless to say, I don't have a system. I always figure since my collection is quite random, and not large at all, I don't have to do that. But that may change!

How many of you have bought something that you already have? I've done that, too!

Confidences, a Valentine

Margery May paper doll

The Companion Paper Doll: Introducing Margery May, by Emma Musselman, Woman's Home Companion, February 1920. Beautiful artwork. I bought an envelope of cut Companion dolls from Carol Carey about a year ago, missing hats and a few outfits, but dear all the same. I'll post more cut Companion paper dolls along with old Valentine cards this month.

"Chinese" Valentine

February means a month of valentines (or at least 14 days). Kwei-lin Lum found this image on the internet and sent it along a while ago, part of our fascination with old ethnic images and stereotypes in all kinds of paper toys, dolls, cards and other ephemera.