These first two (upper right) are paper dolls of singer Rosemary Clooney. They are printed on rather thin paper and were cut out by hand. You can see that time has not treated them well. The poor Miss Clooney on the right has lost a hand.
The next two dolls are of Hayley Mills. The Hayley on the left in the pink underclothes was from a set that came out to tie-in with "The Moon-Spinners," the 1964 Disney mystery based on the Mary Stewart novel. The film is often classified as Disney's answer to Hitchcock. It may not be Hitchcock but it is an entertaining film and made even more enjoyable by some of Hayley's costars - the wonderful Joan Greenwood, Eli Wallach and a former siren of the silent screen, Pola Negri. The Hayley on the right in the blue undergarments is from "Summer Magic," a 1963 piece of Disney fluff based on a Kate Douglas Wiggin book.
The three beauties on the left and the two men and little girl on the right are from a large set called "Bridal Party" that came out in 1955. From all of the yellowed tape that as children we employed to reinforce their necks, you can see that they were well loved and played with a lot.
This next group is from a set called "Tiny Tots." They were some of my favorites, probably because they included a little boy and because their poses were so dynamic. These tots are not standing still with their arms behind their backs or hanging at their sides like so many paper dolls. They are running, skipping and waving. Note that the little boy has received a hand-drawn, right-arm transplant. We often made our own dolls and their clothes. If something was worn out, or we just wanted an additional doll or item of clothing, we traced ourselves a new one and colored it with crayons.
The sitting baby on the left of this group is also from the "Tiny Tots" set. She is in relatively good condition, leading me to believe that she was not played with as much as some of the other tots. The three upper figures, including the elf in the red union suit were from a Christmas set put out by Colorforms. They are printed on heavy cardboard, unfortunately, none of their clothes seemed to have survived. I don't know the origins of the other two infants (who as you can see on their diapers are named Sunny and Honey).
I was always fascinated by the dolls that were printed with a front side and a back side. What was the purpose of this? Was it so that in your pretend game, you could show them walking away? Or was it just so that you could view their fashions from all sides (yes, even their clothes were printed on the front and back). Here are a few examples of 2-sided dolls.
I was always fascinated by the dolls that were printed with a front side and a back side. What was the purpose of this? Was it so that in your pretend game, you could show them walking away? Or was it just so that you could view their fashions from all sides (yes, even their clothes were printed on the front and back). Here are a few examples of 2-sided dolls.
I have more paper dolls put away somewhere. When I find them, I'll post more. In the meantime, I hope that you have enjoyed these.
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