Bunny Boy and His Playmates paper doll book
was published in 1938 by Whitman, #987.
Bunny Boy and his clothes are the front cover of this paper doll book.
The dolls and the clothes are all punch-outs from a lightweight cardboard.
Three pages were in the Ebay listing I won, plus assorted clothing
from other dolls that were not included in my win.
This is Bunny Boy
Bunny Boy had 3 sets of clothing,
3 hats and a hoop with a stick for rolling.
and Funny Bunny
Funny Bunny also had 3 sets of clothing and 3 hats.
and Marigold Bunny
Marigold had 4 dresses and 3 hats...
but one hat goes well with 2 of the dresses.
Here are my 3 bunnies showing off their duds!
Whoops, maybe not!
Evidently Funny Bunny didn't get the message to dress his best.
Whoa! Marigold has changed her dress!
This looks like a fun day for all!
Marigold likes to be the center of attention!
Or maybe Funny and Bunny Boy needed to be separated.
These are the extra items that were included
that did not match any of my three bunnies.
Three items of the clothing and the straw hat belong to Jerry Bunny.
My Jerry Bunny is somewhere without his wardrobe!
I think the fish must have been caught by Jerry Bunny.
Also missing from my book is Susie Bunny.
She was on the back cover,
and here is a picture of Susie and her clothes.
This strip of small bunnies came with my set. I am not sure
if they were a part of the paper doll book.
Two of them are action figures....
the bunny pulling the cart and the bunny holding the top.
The dress and hat shown with Jerry's clothes belong to
Clover Bunny and most likely come from this book.
....which was also published by Whitman as # 987.
Here are some other bunnies that were probably
part of Daisy Bunny and Her Playmates paper dolls.
Sunny Bunny
Tuffy Bunny
Buster Bunny
In researching these delightful paper doll bunnies, I discovered
that the Chicago Sunday Tribune newspaper ran a contest
to give away $5000 in prizes to 490 contest entries.
The Tribune published 12 sets of the bunnie paper dolls.
I found 7 of the advertisments for the contest.
Set # 1
Set #2 (Set 1 and 2 combined)
Set # 3 (Sets 1, 2 and 3 combined)
Set # 4
Set # 5
Set # 6
Set # 7
The Tribune wanted children to collect the sets of paper dolls and dress the bunny from each set in what they thought looked the best on the bunny. Parents could help. They didn't have to buy the paper....they could copy or trace the cut-outs from the Tribune at their offices or at public libraries. All 12 dressed bunnies were to be sent in at one time. Cash prizes ranged from $5 to a top prize of $1000. I am sure, with this contest coming at the end of the depression years, there were many children/parents entering this contest hoping they would be one of the lucky winners.
I would love to hear from anyone that entered this contest,
or from their children or grandchildren who remember
their mother or grandmother talking about the fun and hope of winning.
