This blog is to celebrate the paper dolls I had as a child growing up in the late 1940s - early 1950s.....and others I would have also loved!


Thursday, April 13, 2017

Part 5 of dollies that share the same set of clothes!
















          Yvonne                             Yvonne                    Peggy                    Patty Lou              Yvonne

In 1936 Whitman Publishing Co. published a set of paper dolls portraying the Dionne Quintuplets whose birth in Canada had astonished the world when they were born in 1934. These little dollies and their adorable 1930's style clothes were drawn by the artist Avis Mac. 

In 1937 Dell Publishing used the same clothes drawn by Avis Mac, had the dolls redrawn, and published a paper doll book of Five Dionne Quintuplets. 

In 1939 Whitman Publishing had the dollies redrawn and used the clothing art work of Avis Mac to publish new paper doll books under the titles of Margie, Dotty, Patsy, Peggy, and Bunny. 

1941 brought a new set of dollies from Whitman Publishing named Betty Sue, Sally Ann, Mary Lee, Patty Lou and Mary Jane with the same set of clothes drawn by Avis Mac for the original Dionne quintuplet dolls of 1936.  I haven't discovered a 5th set, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist!

Here are the clothes shared by Yvonne, Peggy, Patty Lou and Yvonne:


A neat green slicker and galoshes to splash thru puddles
 and a sailor dress to wear to the park 
dress up these dollies nicely.





A party dress and a warm outfit to wear to nursery school makes Yvonne...and Peggy and Patty Lou and Yvonne happy little girls!




Four little sweethearts ready for almost anything!



These 4 little girls can be warmly bundled up for cold weather. 



A play suit with jump rope mean fun outdoors, 
and a sporty dress, coat and hat for an outing 
with mom and dad mean fun for Yvonne.




A suitcase, labeled with their names, to cut out, fold and construct 
was on the back cover of the dollies named 
Betty Sue, Sally Ann, Mary Lee, Patty Lou and Mary Jane.


And here are the individual sets of dollies
 that shared the lovely clothes drawn by Avis Mac:





                                                   Cecile              Marie              Annette           Yvonne              Emilie 
(published by Whitman Publishing in 1936)



            Margie                Dotty                            Margie                 Dotty              Patsy               Peggy                Bunny            
(Published by Whitman Publishing in 1939)



                                                      Betty Sue            Sally Ann           Mary Lee           Patty Lou     Mary Jane
(Published by Whitman Publishing in 1941)





















                             Cecile               Marie                Annette              Yvonne           Emilie
(Published by Dell Publishing in 1937)

What do these dollies have in common...part 4!


                 Emilie                   Bunny                    Mary Jane            Emilie

This is the fourth group of dollies published by both Whitman and Dell Publishing companies using the same set of clothes for paper dolls Whitman published in 1936, 1939 and again in 1941 and Dell in 1937. 

The drawn set of clothes used in sets for the dollies above were first published in 1936 for Emilie Dionne, pictured on the far left, by Whitman Publishing Co. and cataloged as #1055. 

In 1939 Whitman published a set of five books using Emilie's clothes for their doll named Bunny. This set of books with dolls named Peggy, Dotty, Patsy and Margie were listed as # 1002. 

Again using the clothing drawn for Emilie, Whitman published the set that included Mary Jane in 1941. Other dolls in the 1941 set were  Sally Ann, Patty Lou, Betty Sue and Mary Lee and assigned #1010. 

On the far right is another Emily that was included in Five Dionne Quintuplets published by Dell Publishing in 1937.  This doll book, featuring five redrawn dolls, used the  same clothing graphics originally published by Whitman in 1936. 

The artist for the original set of Dionne books was Avis Mac. I have not discovered the names of the artists for the other books published as most paper doll books are not signed. Mary Young, author of several Tomart Price Guides on different publishers, produced a good reference on many of the paper doll artists of the 1930-50s in her book Paper Dolls and Their Artists published in 1975 by United Printers, Inc.





Emilie, Bunny, Mary Jane and Emilie can be nicely dressed 
to work in the garden or on a shopping trip with mom. 



Emilie loves to be outdoors in the snow or inside painting pictures.





A walk in the rain, a picture to paint, getting ready for bed or sailing her toy boat on the pond, Emilie is always sweetly dressed. 




A pretty yellow dress to wear at tea time 
and a warm green sweater and skirt if it's cool, 
but I bet her favorite thing to wear
 is her bright red slicker and galoshes!



After her day at the park, Emilie and her dolly are all ready for bed.



Each of the doll books in the set that included Bunny, Margie, 
Dotty, Patsy and Peggy had this sweet little tea party scene 
on the back cover with a slit to slide the dolly behind the table. 

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

What do these dollies have in common...part 3

              Cecile                     Margie                      Betty Sue              Cecile       

Same song, third verse!   Whitman Publishing and Dell Publishing used the same set of clothes for the publication of sets of paper dolls for the above dollies.

From the left, "Cecile" published in 1936 by the Whitman Publishing Co. Inc., #1055, as part of their set of Dionne quintuplet paper dolls.  The clothes used in sets for the four dolls shown were originally drawn for her. 

"Margie" was published in a set of five books by Whitman in 1939 using the same clothes drawn for Cecile. Margie, and the other doll books named Peggy, Dotty, Bunny and Patsy, were cataloged under #1002.

"Betty Sue" was published by Whitman in 1941, again using the clothing drawn for Cecile.  Other dolls in the 1941 set were Mary Jane, Sally Ann, Patty Lou and Mary Lee and assigned # 1010. 

At the end of the row is another Cecile, published in 1937 by Dell Publishing  as Five Dionne Quintuplets.   This doll book, that featured five redrawn dolls, used the  same clothing graphics originally published by Whitman in 1936. 

In collecting vintage paper dolls, I have found the act of redrawing the dolls, but using the same clothing previously published, a common occurrence.  



Cecile, Margie, Betty Sue and Cecile have a stocking cap and muffler
  to keep them warm while playing in the snow.  Two-bladed skates...growing up in the south, I am not familiar with them. 




Slippers to wear with her jammies 
and a red beret to wear on a trip to the store 
make Cecile a well dressed little girl!



All dressed up for cooler weather!




Above you can see how cute Margie and Betty Sue 
look in these little outfits!




Only one party dress and hat to go along 
with all Cecile's cool weather clothes.



I'm betting Cecile was told to never stand up in her little auto!

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

What do these dollies have in common....part 2!

                 Annette                         Patsy                    Mary Lee               Annette

Just like in my previous post from over 5 years ago.....these adorable dollies share the same set of clothes!

Published in 1936 as Annette (one of the five Dionne quintuplets born in Canada in 1934), by the Whitman Publishing Company, Inc. #1055 , the set of clothes all these dollies share were originally drawn for this first paper doll, Annette.

With brown curls and a mischievous little smile, Patsy is one in a set of 5 dolls published in 1939 by Whitman as #1002, using the same clothes from the original Annette book previously published. The other dolls in this set were named Margie, Peggy, Dotty, and Bunny and they each shared a set of clothes from one of the other quintuplets.

In 1941, again using the clothes drawn for the original Annette paper doll book, 
the next dolly, Mary Lee was published by Whitman as #1010.  The other dolls in this set were named Mary Jane, Sally Ann, Betty Sue, and Patty Lou.

The last little doll is again Annette Dionne. This Annette is slightly smaller but still shares the same set of clothes. This set, with the dolls redrawn, was published in 1937
 by Dell Publishing as Five Dionne Quintuplets, evidently with all five sets of clothes.




Annette's flying outfit. Also Patsy and Mary Lee's!



They are always ready for a party...or for playing outdoors!


Partying, playing, sailing or flying, 
they are always dressed for the occasion!



Sail boat rides or playing in the snow, they have pretty duds to wear!


A school dress, a pretty maroon coat with hat and a cape and hat to wear with her party dress from the first page. Annette, Patsy, Mary Lee and Annette again are well dressed little girls. 


Putt...putt...putt! Annette loves her little car. 
All the original quintuplet doll books 
had this little car on the back cover.