Camp Dix, c. 1917

"Watching the score board at Camp Dix, Wrightstown, N.J."

Will write soon

McLaughlin's XXXX Coffee, c. 1880s

An early advertising doll with different messages on the back of each piece. My favorite: "If you use McLaughlin's XXX Coffee and it does not drink right, you know it is the fault of the cooking and not the fault of the coffee." Was there another advertiser who blamed the consumer so boldly if the product didn't taste right? Some 19th century Don Draper came up with this gem.

Duplex corset, 1886

Bride by Whitman, c. 1950s

Molly Munsing, c. 1920s

Munsingwear advertising paper doll.

Diamond Dyes, c. 1880s

Does anyone dye clothing anymore? I think RIT dye is still available in the supermarket. I imagine dyeing clothing was once a great way to save money and revive an old style into something new and fresh. Tie-dyeing was hot in the 1960s, of course, but I think dyeing of any clothing is more of a niche/crafty thing these days.

Happy Mother's Day

Cinderella, c. 1880s

McLaughlin's Coffee, "Fairy Tale" series. Dress and painting missing. See another in this series here.

Freedom to Read! by Maurice Sendak, 1991

Artwork drawn by Sendak especially for the 1991 convention of the American Booksellers Association, and reproduced on this postcard. Book titles cited in this dreamscape: everything from Honey Bunch to Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Work and Play, c. 1880s

Clark's O.N.T. Double Dolls, "Work and Play." Unlike a lot of other advertising dolls of this type, this has only a changeable head, not the head, shoulders and arms. This is a lot like the very early paper dolls of the early 1800s, Fanny Gray, etc, where the head was slipped into different costumes and scenes to tell a story.

Another by S.H. & M. Skirt Bindings, c. 1900

Here's another paper doll in a series that featured three dolls, printed by Sackett & Wilhelms Lithography Co. You can see the other one here.

Traffic, 1923

A view from the Williamsburg Bridge looking west (down Delancey St., I believe). From the NYC Municipal Archive.

Cat with bib, c. 1880s

Stirring up her morning milk, and maybe a little trouble, too.

May Day 2012