Wednesday, July 10, 2013

90 Year Old Paper Dolls

First I want to say hello to all of my new followers from bloglovin! I will hopefully have a lot of great things to talk about in the near future. " Yeah, I hope not sporadically."

Let me talk about these paper dolls. When I was younger I loved paper dolls. On Sunday mornings my dad would take me to the store to buy something little and I would always pick out Disney princess paper dolls.  About a month ago I was at Hobby Lobby there was a Cinderella and Ariel wedding set on clearance. Yeah, I pick it up right away! I was so freaking happy. The clothes are made out of clings (for windows). Even paper dolls change.

These dolls were my great grandmas and great aunts. My great grandma was born in 1910 and I was told she played with these when she was about thirteen. They are from the 1920s and are made from 90 year old paper! That is just jaw dropping. The paper is still in great condition too.

 It's awesome because they weren't just paper dolls they were advertisements. On the back they say how much they were and what number they were so the dresses could be order.  The most expensive ones were $2.45. I had to look up the store they were from because Mendel Brothers is no longer around. The store was in downtown Chicago. Oh, to see what Chicago looked like in 1923.

I know my great grandma will be rolling in her grave with me saying this. Three years after she was playing with these she got pregnant. ::Gasp::  She was sixteen and went to elope with my great grandfather. He was twenty-one  and she was sixteen!  She even lied about her age on the marriage certificate. That's just a little bit of family gossip, which no one ever talked about.

The best part of these dolls are that my grandma made her own outfits also. She drew them and colored them. I can just picture a little Mildred on the floor in 1923 working hard. That passion of art got passed to my grandma, kinda skipped my mom, and then went to me. This is where it exploded. Now I'm going to be going into my final year of art school. That's where it all started. I kind of think she maybe she could have gone into fashion design.  Make sure you look at the hands on the drawn outfit, they are just so darling.

I think my favorite outfit is No. 1612 the cute green one. Whats yours?

xoxo
Rebecca







2 comments:

  1. These are too cool! I actually just got my mom's paper dolls from the 60s and was so thrilled. Such a simple toy, but they are such treasure from the times.

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    1. I would love to see them! You should post them on your blog.

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