From Little Fanny to Fluffy Ruffles

June 17, 2018 8:51 AM

In the cookie-cutter conservative era of the 1950s, even good, wholesome girls were undressing Elvis, and not just in their minds. During the mid-20th century, the popularity of paper dolls peaked and production boomed like never before. By then, the medium was well-established as a cheap way for young people to make believe: You could be Martha Washington, carefully selecting a regal wardrobe, or a rebellious teen-queen cruising around with famous rock idols. But these simple-seeming toys have a complicated past.

Modern paper dolls are actually descendants of the 18th-century jumping-jack, or “pantin,” as it was known in France. These jointed paper figures were used by adults as puppets to satirize the noble classes, and didn’t come with removable outfits. By the mid-1700s, paper dolls with changeable wardrobes began appearing in fashion centers like London, Paris, and Berlin, generally as advertisements to showcase the latest styles. The big breakthrough came in 1796, with the invention of lithography. This new printing method utilized flat limestone plates marked with oil or wax, and allowed publishers to create larger runs of exquisitely detailed, hand-colored paper figures.

posted by MovableBookLady (13 comments total)

The first words I thought of were "Tom Tierney", Dover's paper doll King. Here's his obituary.
posted by acrasis at 9:03 AM on June 17, 2018 [11 favorites]

Many moons ago I created digital manipulationed Supernatural paper dolls. The process was such a pain in the ass because I was just using a mouse and had RSI through that arm that I never made clothes.
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 9:06 AM on June 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

TADA!
posted by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 9:08 AM on June 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Though the world of toys has continued to change drastically, as visible in the many high-tech gadgets aimed at children, the simple pleasures of paper dolls haven’t been entirely forgotten.

Though the article doesn't see to mention it, this is true in more than one way -- literal paper dolls, yes, but also the "high-tech" manifestation of them in those virtual dress-up games, some of which pay quite undisguised homage to their pre-digital inspiration (by, for instance, visually marking the dress-up items with little tabs harking back to the paper tabs on paper-doll outfits).
posted by inconstant at 9:35 AM on June 17, 2018 [8 favorites]

When I was a kid, I loved the Dover paper dolls, especially the ones focused on particular historical periods. I kept them in a large envelope, the kind you use for office mail, and they were always getting tangled up or damaged.

Later I spent way too much time with The Candybar Doll Maker, which ... now that I think of it, I wish there was a combination the more interesting historical paper dolls with that kind of interface.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 10:12 AM on June 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

In the early 2000s back when palace dollz were also a thing, there was the Kisekae Set System (KiSS). It was a way to make computer paperdoll sets out of some bitmap files and written out code, with animations and everything.
posted by sukeban at 12:10 PM on June 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

I spent HOURS with my Tom Tierney paperdolls as a kid. I also really loved the American Girl paperdolls - they had paper dolls for each of the dolls and books, and then they also had a section in their magazine where you could send in a story about you and one of your ancestors and then every month they would choose one girl to make paper dolls with an outfit for that girl and an outfit for her ancestor, all at the same scale as the historical dolls. It was great for playing Ellis Island with!
posted by ChuraChura at 1:27 PM on June 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

> Kisekae Set System (KiSS)

Hah, I was racking my brains trying to remember what that was called when I saw the post, I should have just scrolled down.
posted by lucidium at 3:07 PM on June 17, 2018

I sometimes regret that I no longer have my paper dolls... a lot of Tom tierney books, including a Joan Crawford doll I loved, and my pride and joy: Princess Diana with her wedding gown and full honeymoon wardrobe. I left Charles alone and never cut out his clothes, but I spent hours dressing up Di in her red sequinned ball gowns.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 3:50 PM on June 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

My mother was very into paper dolls. She even collected some. We also made our own sets using fashion magazines, thin cardboard and library paste or Le Page’s glue to make figures which stood up. She taught us how to do it. Paper dolls you colored for yourself were a thing you could get too. I remember Barbie paper-dolls. I guess we liked them better than playing cards or board games. They kind of were primitive RPGs for girls.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 6:38 PM on June 17, 2018

From Little Fanny to Fluffy Ruffles

I thought his nickname was "The King"?
posted by thelonius at 7:38 PM on June 17, 2018

My sister and I had a huge box of paperdolls we drew (and paper animals, paper items, etc.) and we used them to tell sprawling stories. We also dunked them in the aquarium water and stuck them to the outside back of the aquarium so they could have deep sea adventures.
posted by usedsongs at 4:03 AM on June 18, 2018 [2 favorites]

Elvis? Pshaw! What if I told you there was a Lorne Greene paper doll? Vivian Vance? Anne Murray? How about Lee Curreri of Fame fame? Well the Swedes have you covered.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:27 PM on June 18, 2018 [1 favorite]