I met Miss Withers at the 2005 Paper Doll Convention in Los Angeles. She was a frequent guest at many L.A. paper doll functions, thanks to her dear friend, Gene Maiden. A fabulous and gracious lady. You can learn about Miss Withers' career as a child star here; and read about her doll collection, which was auctioned in 2004, here.
There are several paper doll sets of Jane Withers; this set of her teen years has photographs of Miss Withers wearing these clothes--everything was drawn from her actual wardrobe.
Jane Withers and Shirley Temple are both about my age. Although Jane never reached the pinnacle of fame that Shirley did, I really liked her. I think it was easier to identify to her. I always say that Shirley is the reason I have always thought girls have to have curly hair. I am just teasing, of course. One other girl in that era, although I don't remember just how old she was, was Deanna Durbin. Your post brought back memories! Carol
ReplyDeleteIt was because of Jane Withers that I started collecting paper dolls. After seeing a show of her doll collection in Los Angeles in the late 70s I made up my mind I was going to find the Roy Rogers doll I had as a kid. Took me over 20 years to find a mint set but I did it.
ReplyDeleteI believe the artist for this one is Avis Mack.
Thanks for the information about the artist. It's lovely artwork. Wish I had seen some of Jane's collection before it was dispersed. Sounds like it was quite special. I heard or read somewhere that the wardrobe people on her movies always made a copy of her film wardrobe for one of her dolls.
ReplyDeleteThe show I went to was in I believe the basement of The Broadway store in the San Fernando Valley. Dark room with everything in cases well lit. I was blown away. And when I came around one corner and saw mint Roy and Dale I stopped in my tracks. I'd completely forgotten about this particular set of dolls. They had been my favorite and I'd completely forgotten them. I looked at my friend and said "Someday I'm going to have a set of those again." Thank heavens eBay came along otherwise I'd have never found them.
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