Many of my original paper dolls, especially those that date back to early childhood, are reduced to a few tattered remnants, patched and worn after hours of play. The two dresses included below are all I had left of this book, together with a hazy recollection of a set I remembered as being extremely special.
Its hard to put into words how I felt when I saw this book again for the first time after so many years. There is a definite sense of wonder at discovering something again that was lost in the mists of time.
This particular paper doll book is easily obtained today in reproduction form if an original copy is not available. The reproductions I've seen are of very good quality and depending on your reason for collecting 'vintage' paper dolls can be well worth buying.
Cross Stitch Project
This cross stitch is so much bigger than I was expecting it to be when I bought the kit! There is an awful amount of blue. Luckily it is one of my favourite colours. I've found it quite interesting how the shading of the various hues of blue is graded. Between the dark and light areas there is a 'mixed cross' section where both colours are used. I'm putting the darker shade at the bottom of the cross and the lighter one on top. I'm assuming it is supposed to be done like that but as all the instructions are in Chinese its hard to tell!
Our 'Pet' Robin
When this little robin was a tiny baby he came skidding inside like a comic book character one day chased by a nasty magpie. The robin survived the ordeal and now considers himself one of the family. If I work outside in the garden he joins me straight away. When I brought my camera out to photograph him the robin was more curious than frightened about what I was doing.
Kewpie Paper Doll
When I was looking for the two dresses from the Jack & Jill book I discovered this additional outfit for doll #5 in the Kewpie set I posted in April. I knew there were some outfits missing. Hopefully one day I'll find the others.
6 comments:
Your little resident robin is so sweet! (Much tinier than the robins we have here.) I always enjoy seeing your paperdolls. The Little Red Riding Hood outfit is particularly cute.
I always loved paper dolls as a child and think I may have had one set but cant quite recall I do know a friend had some wonderful ones I loved to ply with.I wish I had kept one I sold a few years back (during one of my culling insanity moments) as Id had it for about 10yrs or so.Do you ever find doubles of the ones you have got?If so do you sell them?
Hi Nelly - I'm quite specific about the paper dolls I look for and buy. They have to be ones I previously had as a child and I only replace those I have either lost completely or are tattered beyond repair. I get most of them through eBay and so far every single one has come from the USA. I don't have any doubles as I buy them all singly, not in batches.
At the beginning of the year I decided to start this blog as I thought there might be others like me out there who might like to see these dolls again but did not necessarily want to go to the hassle of buying them. I also had the My Fair Lady doll I had never (and have still never) seen anywhere. I posted her early on as I was sure she would be popular - I was right in that - to date she has had way more hits than anything else.
Well I think I shall be going on th ehunt for them now too so if you see doubles of the ones you have let me know xx
It can be a painstaking business! Sometimes I searched for a particular book for months only to be outbid at the end of an auction because I am in a different time zone and am not fanatical enough to be online at 3am! It has worked in my favour though. I placed a bid of over $30 (US dollars) for the Storyland dolls I included in my 2nd and 3rd posts. I was outbid on that occasion but ended up getting it for under $10 in another auction. It just takes patience!
I've found the eBay sellers to be very helpful. Sometimes I contact them directly. I had success getting the Double Sided Wedding dolls this way though the http://stores.ebay.com/paperdolls4Sale shop. She has lovely dolls for sale.
Happy Hunting!
Hi - just saw you have followed my blog so came to say hello.
I LOVE paper dolls. I had a suitcase filled with them when I was a child - played with them all the time. I really had a lot.
I wish I had kept them - I now look out for them everywhere but have only seen them once in a charity shop and I DIDN'T BUY them. What was I thinking! I regret that so much now.
Never thought of looking on eBay though - funny how the obvious can slip past our noses sometimes.
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