The New York Herald, Paris edition, Paper Dolls, 1895

A Christmas gift last year from my husband: a reproduction of a paper doll page from the New York Herald Paris edition, March 10, 1895. "Actors and Actresses as Children's Dolls." 

The actors are Mlle. De Boncza, M. Magnier and Mlle. Tessandier.

Wanda De Boncza was a French actress of Polish origin who performed with the Comedie-Francaise. 

Pierre Magnier

Aimee Tessandier

Paper Doll Review Catalog

You can order the latest catalog for $2 at www.paperdollreview.com.

Margaret O'Brien is cutting up what my friend Carol says looks like a Sam Gabriel set. Longtime collectors can identify artists and manufacturers at the drop of a hat. Does anyone recognize the specific set?

Little Miss Christmas and Holly-Belle, 1965

I love that Paper Doll Review is selling affordable reproductions of classic paper doll books! This charmer, illustrated by Elizabeth Anne Voss, would be very expensive if you could find an original in mint condition. And good luck handling a fragile original if you had ideas about copying it for play.

Thanks to Jenny T., you can buy a copy that you can actually cut and play with -- or use for a holiday scrapbook, or for a collage or to make gift tags -- and preserve that original in archival wrappers if you were lucky enough to find it.

You can order this book for $12 from Paper Doll Review. Jenny has a special offer when you order from her website: Free shipping on orders over $20 placed by the end of the day Dec. 2. You'll also receive a bonus Dover Little Activity Book, "Little Victorian Girl," a perfect stocking stuffer.

Claire paper doll by Judy's Place

Judy Johnson does a terrific job restoring and reproducing hard to find vintage paper dolls. Her reproductions are not just plain fun to collect, cut and collage with; they are also an invaluable guide for collecting the genuine vintage article and identifying missing pieces if you collect cut vintage sets as I occasionally do. Check out Judy's remarkable inventory: "Paper Goodies from Judy's Place."

Claire is from the mid 1950s, published by De Journette. Back in April, the N.Y.C. paper doll group used Judy's small postcard version of this doll for a round robin.