Margaret O'Brien

With David Wolfe and his illustration of her as a child star.

Sales Room

Today was the Sales Room, which kept us busy buying and selling. Here is an unmistakable Queen Holden baby.

Little sweetheart ironing set

From Kweilin's display of odd paper doll items:

Jane Withers

With the doll of her childhood self.

Sylvia Plath paper dolls

Kwei-Lin had a display of oddball and rare paper dolls. Here, a catalog from an art gallery in Canada that featured paper dolls from artists famous in other fields. The poet Sylvia Plath drew her own:

Marlene Dietrich

Ralph Hodgdon regales us with tales of the star; his partner Paul had been her longtime assistant.

Ralph at work

Convention Time

California Dreamin' by Pat Whalen, 2008, one of the NYC round-robin dress-a-doll designs.

This pretty doll was one of several produced as part of a Project Runway promotion, and came with stencils for easy dress designing. You can still find the dolls on eBay and elsewhere.

Harriet Tubman by Tom Tierney (1987)

Where the march began...

Scrapbook eyeglasses, c. 1890s

One of the wonderful things about the scrapbook pages I found in Firenze is the artful layout. Here's how the eyeglasses look on the 12x16" page:

And a big thank you to Zippy Photo Stitcher, an easy way to stitch big pages together on my Mac Book.

Scrapbook flowers, c. 1890s

Suitor and Jockey, c. 1890s

I went looking for paper dolls in Firenze in May, and came upon an old print store. No paper dolls, but my husband and I managed to convey that we liked old paper in general. And out from the back of the store, the owner brought us pages from a scrapbook, 12 x 16 inches each, filled with chromos. Artfully laid out, too. I bought two of the pages, and will frame them. Here and over the next few days, some of the scraps from the scrapbook, which I believe is French.

These two fellows top the page:

Pattern book paper doll, c.1950s

Handmade clothing (pencil and watercolor, unknown artist) for a doll found in a pattern book, c. 1950s.

More Julia Boyd Patterns, c. 1930s

I posted two outfits for this doll three years ago, and you can see them here. The outfits are by Carol Carey; the fur jacket bottom right is a magazine photo that is nearly a perfect fit.

But the Jayne Keller dress I posted in 2010 is still the best -- a delicate pencil and watercolor. I found the hat that goes with it:

Sweet!

Lion Coffee Trolley, c. 1900

Another delightful paper toy tucked inside of Lion Coffee. For more streetcars and trolleys, check out the archive of The Daily Postcard, which has a treasure trove of "Streetcar Sundays."

Tillie Cut-Out Club, c. 1940s

Tillie Cut-Out Club, c. 1947

A very strange outfit, I guess to lounge around the house, or clean up...

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

David Wolfe did this fabulous paper doll set on the occasion of Jenny's birthday a few years ago.

Jenny is the publisher of two magazines, reproductions of vintage books and new books by contemporary artists. Thank you for all you do, Jenny!

You can order issues of Paper Doll Studio magazine here  and Paperdoll Review magazine here.

Lots of new paper doll books on the way -- check out the images below.

You can place an advance order at the Paper Studio Press site.

Rapture, Blister, Burn 2013

A takeoff on the famous Rosie the Riveter "We can do it" World War II poster.

From The New Yorker, August 12 & 19 issue. This is the L.A. edition of a play that ran in New York last year... how did I miss this? Also wonder if the same ad campaign was used in New York, or if this is strictly L.A. ...

Here's the L.A. web site for the play at the Geffen.

Dixie Dugan and the New Look of 1947

One of my favorites: A comic strip commenting on a fashion trend, and a paper doll that picks up the theme. Many of the paper dolls attached to comic strips don't necessarily comment on the plot in the comic.  This one does, as Dixie Dugan discovers that she's not "on trend" as we would say today.

The New Look of 1947 was introduced by Christian Dior. It was his first collection, and represented  a dramatic return to femininity and opulence after the spartan style and rationing of the war years. You can read more about Dior here.

And just for good measure, the strip that ran below the paper doll also had fashion "issues," with a cat that sheds, and one woman's solution... 

Lion Coffee - The Bedroom, c. 1880s

Part of a larger 16-part set that makes up The Doll House, free in packages of Lion Coffee.

"Take no substitute; insist on having Lion Coffee."