Guest blogger is C.J. Garriott (Gail Lee Martin’s little sister).
1930s & 1940s Memories from Gail’s Little Sis
Carol Jean McGhee, December 1947
Cj Garriott – “Playing paper dolls was a winter day activity on the Kansas prairie in the 1930s and 1940s. I cut pictures from a clothing catalog, finding first the “dolls” I liked, usually making a family (mother, father, myself and sisters) then adding a couple of playmates. Aunt, uncles, and cousins often got represented also. Usually, I could find a dog and a cat or two in a magazine to cut out and add to my imaginary world.
I would then look for outfits that would fit over my dolls. Sometimes the doll I liked had clothing that needed to be trimmed down, in order for other outfits to fit over satisfactorily. Mother showed me how to make tabs on the shoulders of clothing so they would stay on the doll.
I kept them in pages of books (which we always had a lot of), keeping them unwrinkled. Daddy would round up heavy paper envelopes that had come in the mail on which we would paste my dolls.”
“After I was married, I saved the Betsy McCall paper doll pages for nieces.”
Betsy McCall goes to the country paper doll magazine page 1954View DetailsBetsy McCall’s flower garden paper doll magazine page 1954View DetailsBetsy McCall rolls Easter eggs paper doll magazine page 1954View DetailsBetsy McCall, Print advertisement. 60’s Color IllustrationView DetailsBetsy McCall cut outs, 50s Color Illustration, print artView DetailsBetsy McCall Patterns, 50’s Print Ad. Full page Color Illustration (Betsy McCall finds a surprise) Original Vintage 1953View Details
Originally published on Hubpages in Nostalgia for Paper Dolls.
Discovering Mom 
I used to visit my grandmother in the 1950s. She had magazines with a children’s section. The paper dolls were there with clothes all ready to cut out. I absolutely loved to cut them out and dress them. Aaah the memories.
LikeLike
My favorite play thing in the early 1950’s was paper dolls. I too went through the catalog but I sure looked forward to going to the Dime Store and seeing what was new in the paper doll books. When I discovered Betsy McCall paper dolls,,,I felt sad that my Mother didn’t get McCalls.
LikeLike
I loved paper dolls! By the early 70s you could get them in books with lots of clothes and one of the most fun things was when I received a new book of paper dolls for a gift.
LikeLike
Pingback: Karen’s Memories of Paper Dolls | Discovering Mom
I loved playing paper dolls. I looked forward going to my grandmother Charles. She always had it set aside for my younger sister Danny Carol & me. We could play for hours. My grandmother showed Us how to take the scissors and cut out our own paper doll clothes. She kept Our paper doll & paper clothes in either a shoe box or my granddaddy’s cigar box. Great memories warming by the fire and eating fruit cake and learning to play the old but beautiful piano. Ooh and so much more. Playing with the kitty cats on the back porch. Playing with my mother’s Old Wagon and pedaling her old tricycle. Picking strawberries in my grandfather’s Garden and eating scufflins from the scufflin Vine. Helping my grandmother put her pot plants in a big hole in the ground and putting a tin roof over the top. Maybe someone can explain to me what she was actually doing?! I know it was to keep the coal off the flowers and plants, but is that hole in the ground called? My grandmother made the best homemade pies and the best apple cake I’ve ever tasted and ate many huge pieces with a tall glass of cold milk. Alright enough of that back to the paper dolls. My grandmother always used the Sears and Roebuck catalog. Memories..
LikeLike
Sorry, I made some mistakes above and left out a few words. I should have proof read before sending. It didn’t show a correction button. 😞
LikeLike
Really interesting memories. I’m not sure about putting a tin roof over the pot plants. Wonder what that was for.
LikeLike