Nancy, Children's Play Mate, Feb.1934

I acquired a couple of 1934 Children's Playmate magazines last year, and there was something different...

The magazine cover reads "Play Mate Magazine For Boys and Girls."

By 1938, the cover title was changed to Children's Play Mate. Was there a girlie magazine that already laid claim to the Play Mate title? (Playboy Magazine didn't debut until Dec. 1953.) It could have been a simple redesign, and using "Children's" up top certainly cleaned up the cover of excess verbiage.

I misplaced the February issue, so I didn't post on Valentine's Day. But if you plan to hold a party next year, here are invitations and place cards designed by the great Fern Bisel Peat. 

What are the chances of finding them in a flea market or online? At least now you can copy and print them out yourself!

 

Children's Playmate, January 1934 with Cinderella paper doll by Fern Bisel Peat

 

Happy Fourth of July

 

Children's PlayMate, May 1942

 

There was a lot to worry about in May 1942 as the country got on a war footing. 

The paper in Children's PlayMate was more pulpy, as paper was saved for the war effort. But this beautiful Fern Bisel Peat cover showed a gentler world, still going 'round.

A colorful paper doll  by Peat graces the centerfold in the same issue.  

Children's Playmate January 1943

Kimnaloo, A Little Eskimo Girl

 

Children's PlayMate, April 1952

 

Children's PlayMate, February 1952

 

Children's Playmate, March 1952

Cover by Fern Bisel Peat

March always "comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb."

Dirk and Katrine by Angela Price

 

Gene and Jean, by Fern Bisel Peat, 1941

 

From the October 1941 Children's Playmate 

Children's Playmate October 1941

 

Fu Mei Ling by Fern Bisel Peat

 

This is the paper doll included in the September 1942 issue of Children's Playmate.

Children's Playmate Sept. 1942

 

Children's Play Mate January 1959

I love reading vintage magazines. Sometimes, they show a country and a culture in transition.

Minstrel shows in schools were still popular in 1959! A whole script for a children's minstrel show was included in this issue. 

But in this issue it's clear that Children's Play Mate was struggling to keep up with the times: TV shows are referenced throughout, with pictures of child stars from the Mickey Mouse Club (Bobby Burgess and Cubby O'Brien) and the Donna Reed Show (Paul Petersen and Shelley Fabares) included in "cameo" shots in the back of the magazine. 

Of course, TV also recycled old movies and comedy shorts from the early days of Hollywood, and the editors let young readers know that the "Little Rascals" was once "Our Gang" in the movies. This issue included 8 pages of the "funnies," the comic strips that ran in the Sunday newspapers, including Popeye and the Katzenjammer Kids.

This issue had two very different cut-outs! Sylvia and Zbik.

Alaska became a state on January 3, 1959, so the cover is perfect! An excellent chance for Play Mate to capture new readers and introduce them to longtime subscribers, as the cover text makes clear. The cover is signed by Fern Bisel Peat, but neither paper doll has been signed. I'm assuming Sylvia and Zbik are from the pen and brush of Peat, too.

Children's Play Mate, January 1941

Jackie and Joan are the Play Mate Twins

Love the accessories: trumpet, toy elephant on wheels, jack-in-the-box, wood duck, toy dog, blocks, bows, beads, rattle and what looks like a little alien! The little grooming accessories, combs and brushes, are darling.

Sally and her Friends by Fern Bisel Peat

Children's PlayMate, Nov. 1943

Children's Playmate, July 1940

I hope everyone has a good view of a great fireworks display tonight!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Molly Malone, Children's Playmate, March 1955.

Joe paper doll by Elaine Ends

Here's one of the paper dolls in the Nov. 1945 issue of Children's PlayMate. His twin sister was torn out, unfortunately!

Children's PlayMate, Nov. 1945

There was a lot going on in November 1945. 

World War II had come to an end, and veterans were returning home. 

People were concerned about  jobs, and there was a housing shortage, too. What would the future bring? No one knew. 

And yet, it all worked out in the end.

Children's Playmate, March 1949