Dorita con sus vestidos ca. 1934

One of my finds at the paper doll convention in Indianapolis

The Child/Collection 5--Number 72 Dorita and her dresses.

A Day in the Life of a Mannequin by Ralph Barton, ca. 1930s

From the collection of Renaldo Barnette.

 

Another Little Nemo's Bear, 1907

 

The first Little Nemo I had was a gift from Carol Carey in 2007. I didn't realize it was part of a series, until I was browsing the items Sharon Yarter had for sale at the convention last month, and found this one. These cutouts were part of the New York Herald Sunday Supplement.

At School, 1896

The Boston Sunday Globe had an excellent series of collectible cutouts in its Art Supplement. This one is in pretty poor shape, but irresistible nonetheless. April 26, 1896.

 

Think Pink! The 2025 Morgantown Luncheon

We hope you'll join us May 3rd, 2025 

for the Morgantown Luncheon. 

And no matter how you choose to pay, be sure to download 

the registration form and send it to Valerie Keller 

via snail mail, email or text.

Click on the Think Pink! picture on the side

 of this page for the registration form.

Paper Doll Heaven!

I’m still on the road —and on cloud nine—after attending the fabulous convention organized by Sharry and Micheal O’Hara and Beth and Kevin Wilkins. 

When I get home (soon) I’ll have more pictures to share—and I’ll update this page with a PayPal button for those who want to attend the Morgantown luncheon in May.

“Think Pink!”

Sister Nell Goes to a Party, 1925

 Nell looks swell in this Nandor Honti paper doll that appeared 

in McCall's magazine in Nov. 1925.

The convention is upon us!

Hope to see many of you there.

Nestlé Farine Lactée Poupées, 1920

 

Hoovies, Uncle Sam's Little Food Favors, 1918

"Cut-Outs for your table--They are to remind you that food will win the war"

Hoovies are not to be confused with Hoovervilles, but they marked the career of the same man: Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States. His career is a reminder of the mercurial nature of political fortunes.

When this cutout ran in the Seattle Sunday Times on May 5, 1918, Hoover was head of the U.S. Food Administration, appointed by President Woodrow Wilson. These "Hoovies" kept an eye on public consumption of wheat, sugar and meat, which were restricted as part of the World War I effort. 

The Hoovies "know that while Americans one and all mean to save food, they sometimes get thoughtless and consume wheat and other things our soldiers need at a rate that endangers the fate of the nation."

Hoover's leadership in the Food Administration post extended beyond the war. He organized food shipments to millions starving in postwar Europe, including people in famine-stricken Russia. 

Hoover's legacy changed after he became president. His name is forever linked with his government's failure to respond adequately to the Great Depression. "Hoovervilles" was the sardonic name given to encampments across the country that were erected by jobless and homeless people. President Hoover felt that "caring for them must be primarily a local and voluntary responsibility."

Here are pictures of a Hooverville in Central Park, New York City. 

 

Weatherbird Shoe cutouts, 1920

I love it when a new paper doll takes me down a research rabbit hole. 

Did you know the Weatherbird is the longest continuously running newspaper cartoon? It is the mascot of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

On February 11, 1901, the paper introduced a front-page feature called the "Weatherbird", a cartoon bird accompanying the daily weather forecast. "Weatherbird" is the oldest continuously published cartoon in the United States. Created by Harry B. Martin, who drew it through 1903, it has since been drawn by Oscar Chopin (1903–1910); S. Carlisle Martin (1910–1932); Amadee Wohlschlaeger (1932–1981); Albert Schweitzer, the first one to draw the Weatherbird in color (1981–1986); and Dan Martin (1986–present).^[21]

That means the illustrator of this advertising cut-out is S. Carlisle Martin. It's copyrighted 1920 Peters Branch International Shoe Co.

Here's more from Wikipedia:

Weatherbird brand shoes for children, using pictures of the Weatherbird in advertising, were offered starting in 1901 by the St. Louis-based Peters Shoe Company, later part of International Shoe which continued to base the brand's image on the Weatherbird until 1932^[13] (the brand itself continued at least through the 1950s).^[14]

Two of the original windows from the Peters Shoe Company factory, featuring pictures of the Weatherbird, adorn the Weatherbird Cafe in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch office.

A life-size Weatherbird costume is used by the Post-Dispatch for promotions such as meet-and-greets at local bars.

Take a look at these great Weatherbird shoes from the 1920s, for sale on Etsy!

 

 

Fluffy Goes to Paris by Sylvia Kleindinst

a dear friend

1937-2024

 

Puerto Rican cutouts, 1959

 

Today is the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City. 

It's a bittersweet celebration, considering the enormous problems the island faces. 

Both of my maternal and paternal grandparents and my mother were born in Puerto Rico; my dad was born in NYC. I still have cousins on the island.

Puerto Rico is one of the last colonies owned by the U.S. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, but do not have a vote in presidential elections. They have been drafted to fight in all the major U.S. wars since 1898.

This playset was produced by the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church in the US. It was published at a time when Puerto Ricans left the island in droves as the federal government decided to switch the economy from farm-based to factory-based. You couldn't make a living off the land anymore. And factory wages were poor. So, many came to the mainland.

The inside folder of this playset shows a factory amidst the palm trees and an open field.

Here is one of the booklets included in this playset.

Updates:

About 3 million people live on the island today. 

The Taino people lived on the island when Columbus arrived. 

According to the U.S. Library of Congress:

When Christopher Columbus arrived on the Bahamian Island of Guanahani (San Salvador) in 1492, he encountered the Taíno people, whom he described in letters as "naked as the day they were born." The Taíno had complex hierarchical religious, political, and social systems. Skilled farmers and navigators, they wrote music and poetry and created powerfully expressive objects. At the time of Columbus’s exploration, the Taíno were the most numerous indigenous people of the Caribbean and inhabited what are now Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. By 1550, the Taíno were close to extinction, many having succumbed to diseases brought by the Spaniards. Taíno influences survived, however, and today appear in the beliefs, religions, language, and music of Caribbean cultures.

Memorial Day

 

Dimple Dolls, ca. 1920s

Published by Charles E. Graham and Company. The artist could be Margaret G. Hayes--the dolls resemble the characters in her postcard sets.
 

Paper Doll Review, 1934

 

Jane Arden, April 3, 1936

 

Happy Easter

 

Big Online Paper Doll Auction!

(This costume is from the Ann Sothern paper doll set -- is it in the auction? I don't know, but it just might be. In any event, it's just right for Easter Sunday!)

BIG ONLINE PAPER DOLL AUCTION APRIL 2nd - BIDDING IS OPEN NOW

This just in from Charles Stafford, who attended our paper doll party in PA last year to sell his mother's large collection with loads of uncut vintage pds in really excellent condition.

----------------

Treat yourself to something for your Easter Basket! Hundreds of vintage paper dolls, starting bid at $1.  This collection was last seen at the Regional Show  in Philadelphia last year.  Movie Stars from the 1940s through the 1970s.  Gone With the Wind to Queen Holden, something for everyone!  Oz books, Fairy Tales, and classic children’s books from the 1800s through the 1940s.  Lots start at 772 with individual lot photos:

https://www.auctionzip.com/auction-catalog/wehrlys-tuesday-auction-april-2-2024_WVML5G0ASH?pageNum=13

The Auction is open for pre-bidding now, and starts at 9 AM on Tuesday April 2nd.  Don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Chiquet paper doll, Child Life Magazine, March 1930

 

The dresses are "Designed by Chiquet," but I see what looks like the name "Briggs" running vertically in small print on the right side of the page.

This cover perfectly captures the extremes of March weather: wind and snow, and the first signs of spring in emerging crocuses. (The elf's mailbag contains a letter: "Memo--First Call for Crocoses.")

Miss Minne Apolis vintage advertising paper doll for Spring

 

Muñecas Movibles, Editorial Roma, Barcelona ca. 1955

 

In researching this paper doll, I came across Joguetmaniatics, an association devoted to antique toys and dolls of all kinds. The website explains that Joguetmaniatics is:

an association founded in Barcelona in October 1993, as one of the activities of the Casa Golferichs civic center, located on Barcelona's Gran Vía.

The journey began with fifteen members, presenting the regulations that were duly approved by the Generalitat of Catalonia.

Joguetmaniatics begins its activities by presenting at fairs throughout Spain, since its partners come from all corners of Spain.

The objective of the association is to promote the collecting of antique toys, encourage their study and research, as well as provide support to its members and all people interested in the subject.

Being a non-profit association, the members are not dedicated to the public appraisal of toys, but to the dissemination and dissemination of antique toys.

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!

 

St. Valentine's Day

"This Valentine 

comes from one

who wishes you

a glad 

and happy heart."

 

Friend Farmer's Funny Folk by John Held Jr., 1921

From THE DESIGNER and The Woman's Magazine, July 1921.

John Held Jr. is more famous for capturing the spirit of the 1920s in his Flapper illustrations (one of which is the signature image for the next paper doll convention in Indianapolis--see the ad on this page).

To my eyes, Held's animals have the same joyful antic energy and vivid character as his Flappers.

 

Big Sister, 1932 UPDATED

 This is a doll I've never seen before. Printed on cardboard--could it have been a store giveaway, or a dry cleaners' stiffener for pressed shirts? Marked Doll Series 5J copyright 1932. 

Here's how it looks without lightening--lots of foxing:

The second card I have in the series was cut off at the top, so I didn't read it too closely, but it has more clues: 

"This is the Mother of our 'Londy' family."

So it is the Londy family series. This card is Doll Series 5I, also copyright 1932.

Artwork by Mary Adele Ziegler.

Judy Johnson cleaned up the Londy family very nicely!

Linda, Wee Wisdom, June 1948

 

Paper Dolls for Sale on Facebook UPDATED

 

I have an assortment of paper dolls for sale, cut and uncut, on Paper Dolls: Buy-Sell-Trade-Seek