A Paper Doll That I Can Call My Own Part 3 - Betsy McCall

In two previous blogs I've written about my fond memories of playing with paper dolls when I was a little boy and I've posted some examples of some of the dolls that are still in my possession.  Readers of this blog will probably know by now that I still have many of my childhood toys and playthings.  Today I came across more of my paper dolls.  This time I stumbled upon my collection of my old Betsy McCall paper dolls. In preparing to write this blog, I did a little research on the internet and found out that Betsy McCall first appeared in McCall's magazine in 1951. I happily discovered a site that has documented her history and even has scans of many of the complete pages (http://www.thebleudoor.com/betsymccallhome.htm). I was very excited to see that many of the dolls in my collection were listed on the site.  Now I can put a date to them. My three oldest dolls (two from 1958 and one from 1959) are in the worst shape due to an unfortunate mending job done years ago using Scotch tape that has yellowed and darkened. You can see in the above image the way that the dolls look today.  On the right, I've posted my attempts at restoring the same dolls (click on the images to enlarge them).  The doll on the far left is from the Valentine's Day issue of 1958. Each doll was always accompanied by a couple of outfits and a short story with a cute illustration.   The image of the page on the right shows the doll the way that it appeared with its clothes and accompanying story in McCall's magazine.

Most of you probably know that there was also a Betsy McCall doll that had her own line of doll clothing.  My sister had the doll and several of her outfits (my sister also had the plush toy version of Betsy's dachshund, Nosy).  I loved playing dolls with my sister and I was a bit jealous when she received her Betsy McCall doll. Even though I had a few dolls of my own, my mom resisted getting me my own Betsy. It looked like I was going to have to settle for playing with the paper dolls version until one day my sister's Betsy McCall doll had a medical emergency - her jointed leg popped out of its socket. Somehow the doll's hip joint had separated a wee bit which meant that the leg would not stay in the socket. I think my mother tried tightening the joint with a cloth bandaid, but it didn't help. It looked like poor Betsy was going to live out her life with just one leg. Finally, I suppose after witnessing how sad this must have made my sister, my mother told my sister that she would take the doll to the doll hospital. The next day, Betsy was back and as good as new, her leg snug in its place. But, and here's how I came to have my own Betsy McCall doll, one day when my sister and I were both home sick from school and my mom had gone out on an errand, my sister and I decided to snoop through my mom's dresser. We were shocked and surprised when we found a Betsy McCall doll hidden under my mom's slips. It only took us a moment to realize that this was my sister's original doll, the one with the broken leg, the one my mom had told us she had taken to the doll hospital. The "good as new" Betsy that my mom said had been repaired at the doll hospital was actually a brand new doll. I don't remember exactly what happened next, but since I wanted my sister's original, broken doll for myself, I know what happened next must have involved admitting to my mom that we had been snooping and found the doll. I did end up getting to keep the broken doll and somehow I managed to put some tape around the leg to hold it in. Yes, she now had one leg that appeared to be slightly longer than the other, but I didn't care, I had my very own Betsy McCall.

Well, back to the paper dolls.  The second doll from the left in the above group, is also from 1958. In the image on the right, you can see how she looked in the original magazine page from October of that year. The accompanying story is about her family going out to dinner. Betsy McCall's purpose in the magazine seems to have been to help sell clothes for little girls. Each story and paper doll was accompanied by a footnote telling the reader what stores carried the clothing shown in the illustrations.

As Betsy entered the 1960s, she adopted a more modern look. In this period, she has an almost Jackie Kennedy look to her (I think it must be the hairstyle).  Even her mother, who you can see in the group on the right, looks a little bit like Jackie. The other characters in this group are Betsy's male cousin, Sandy McCall and another cousin, Linda.  The hand drawn Betsy image with the askew face, was my attempt to copy the Betsy McCall paper doll that appeared in this 1962 issue where she goes to dancing school.

The clothing of this period looks like something that you would see Don Draper's daughter wearing in "Mad Men," which shows what a good job the costumer designer for that show has done in capturing the era of the early 1960s.

In the group on the left, you'll notice a tiny Betsy McCall paper doll.  This was from an issue in 1965 where Betsy's mother makes some new clothes for Betsy's new doll, which in Betsy's fictional world, I believe is supposed to be a doll patterned after her.  So, this is a paper doll version of another paper doll's doll. Got that? It's metafiction in the world of paper dolls. And of course, in the story, Betsy just happens to mention which McCall's pattern number her mother used to make the clothes (just in case you want to try making them yourself).

Below, you can see the technique I used to strengthen my magazine cut-out dolls.  This backside view shows how I use to glue them on to scraps of cardboard to give them added durability. And boy oh boy, I remember how difficult it was to cut out the doll shapes from the cardboard using only a pair of children's scissors.

The Betsy on the left of the above group is not out of McCall's magazine.  It is one that I sent away for from McCall's.  In each issue, at the bottom of the Betsy page, was information on where, for ten cents, you could send for a paper doll that was printed on card stock that came with a set of clothes.  So of all of the dolls shown, this is the only one that I didn't have to paste on to a piece of card board.  Because of this, she's the one that's in the best condition.

Below, you can see more of Betsy's clothes, including an outfit that was never cut out of the magazine (I think I must have been confounded on how I would cut out the Lily that she's holding).

Betsy McCall paper dolls appeared in the magazine on and off through the 1980s and 90s, though the art that I've seen of these dolls has none of the charm of these dolls from the late fifties and early sixties.

A Paper Doll That I Can Call My Own Part 1

Okay, I admit it - as a kid, I not only played with dolls, I played with paper dolls.  Between my sister and myself, we had lots of them and we spent hours playing with them.  Being the pack rat that I am and a hoarder of vintage ephemera, I still have most of them.  A few years ago, when we were preparing our family home for sale, my sister decided to part with many of her old paper dolls. Since I couldn't stand to see them thrown out or sold at an estate sale, I decided to adopt them. So, my collection now includes many of those that once belonged to her as well.  I spent this morning scanning many of them.  You can see from the yellowed scotch tape that has defaced many of them, that they are nearly worn out from years of childhood play.

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.

  Even though they were printed on rather flimsy paper, these were some of my favorites.  They were large, about 11" and had a wide variety of outfits.  Of course, I look at them now with my jaded adult eyes, and I feel that with their big eyelashes and heavy make-up, that they look like they could have stepped out of a junior beauty pageant.

Here are a few miscellaneous dolls.  The one on the left with the missing right arm was a Colorforms doll.  As I recall, her clothes were made with the same stick-on vinyl that other Colorforms toys were made from.  I don't recall much about the origins of the other two dolls, but I have to say that the smaller one on top looks something like an inflatable adult love toy.  Maybe it's her pose and her partly opened mouth, not to mention her outfit which looks like that of a barmaid, that causes me to think that.  The larger tall blonde paper doll, with her petticoat showing from beneath her skirt, and her adult style neckline, also looks a bit provocative.  But once again, that's my jaded adult voice speaking. I would like to think that things were more innocent back then, at least I know that I was.  Looking at these dolls now, jaded comments aside, does take me back to my innocent childhood and some very fond memories.

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.

From my Ephemera Files

As an illustrator and graphic designer, I'm always keeping my eye open for interesting images, illustrations and designs.  I especially have a love for vintage illustrations and graphics, so when I saw these unused beauty and hair product labels a number of years ago at a flea market, I had to have them.  I don't remember exactly what I paid for them, but I do remember they were inexpensive.  I think I got an entire envelope of them for five or six dollars.

They all seem to be aimed at the African-American consumer.  Judging from the somewhat Art Deco graphics, I guesstimate that these are from the late 1920's or early 1930's.  For some background information on the Famous Products Co., the company that produced these items and for a cultural analysis of their imagery, check out this website on Lucky Brown Cosmetics.