My Little Dears to Dress...1917

Trying to date these adorable early 20th century paper dolls was no easy task. The Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, Vol.53 from Excelsior Publishing House, 1920, attributes them to The Norse Company as part of their "Something to Do" set published "to ward off mischief of the little hands". It goes on to describe the paper dolls as "four fascinating paper doll books included...Pretty Dolls to Dress, My Little Dears to Dress, Dorothy and Ruth Dolls to Dress, and Betty and Jack Dolls to Dress by Mary Nye Marshall. Each stiff front and back cover provides an adorable doll  while pages between are given over to wardrobes that are up to date in every particular."

[the above pictures and values are from 
20th Century Paper Dolls Identification and Values, (2006)]

Mary Young, in her publication of 20th Century Paper Dolls Identification and Values (2006), indicates that the Dorthy, Ruth, Betty and Jack paper dolls originally appeared in the paper doll book 'Beautiful Dolls for Children to Dress' published by Platt and Peck in 1915. 

In 1917 The Platt and Nourse Company emerged from the Platt and Peck Company and published a paper doll book titled 'Dollies to Dress Like Father and Mother' which included my two dolls found in 'My Little Dears to Dress'. 

In 1920 Mr. Platt left the company and joined with Arnold Munk to form the Platt and Munk Publishing company which eventually bought The Norse Company.  In the late 1960s  Platt and Munk Company Inc. became a division of Questor Education Products; some of their original paper dolls have been reprinted as part of the Child Guidance Division of Questor. 

Ok, enough delving into the history of this particular set of paper dolls. Time to have a look at the lovely fashions of the early 19th century! 

This is Jane.

This is Tommy.

My set includes only 3 items of clothing for Tommy...

perhaps there were more originally. 

Jane has three lovely dresses and one evening coat.

And each item of clothing is marked on the tabs 
when it was meant to be worn.  

I've enlarged the next two items to show you the difference in printing from later paper dolls. Although the quality of the paper is good, the actual color printing is the same as  used in newspaper comics. 

"My Little Dears to Dress" on parade!

Several other articles of clothing were included 
with this set that do not fit the doll provided, 
but seem to be from the same era of fashion design.

And all the tabs are marked PAT. APPD FOR. (patent applied for)

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

                                              

        

            

       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 in1936)

             

    

         

           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. 

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!

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.