When I started this blog almost 4 years ago (how time flies!!!) my intention was to feature all the paper doll books and illustrators that had brought so much enjoyment to my childhood. Lately I have not been a very good member of the blogging community! - but there are a couple of classic paper dolls I have still been meaning to include here for quite some time, especially as I have not seen them on-line anywhere else.
I have mentioned before that I discovered a box of paper dolls my mother had carefully collected and packed away when I was sorting through her belongings after she died. My paper dolls were very well played with so many are just fragments of sets with tatty looking dresses and no dolls,
Amongst them was a cut version of this dress - something I recognised as a treasured and precious memory. But try as I might I could not recollect which set it came from. I knew I wanted to seek out a replacement for my 'new' collection but I had no idea whether I was looking for ballet, fairies or children!
It took me quite some time to track down but eventually I recognised a cover I remembered and was thrilled to discover it was the book I was looking for. It was produced by Artcraft and unfortunately does not have a date but I would have been given my original copy some time in the 1960's.
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| Front Cover |
My scanner is A4 size so I could not fit in the complete cover, It has a handle (visible in the first scan) so can be carried around like a little portfolio. The windows are the cut-out type so popular at the time with the actual doll peeking through from the page behind.
Of course I discovered when I paged through the book that I still possessed one of the dolls (Carol shown above) and some of the other dresses in my box of fragments but I had not realised they were part of the same set!
All of the outfits are shown below. I especially like those where there is a little skirt to go over a shorts set.
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| Back Cover |
This book remains one of my favourite childhood memories and still gives me a little thrill of pleasure every time I look at it.
I bought it from Kassy Ferguson who was selling her late mother's impressive paper doll collection at the time. She was kind enough to help me obtain my copy of Saalfield's Double Wedding as well, another book I had been trying to find for many months.