Vigo County Historical Society
Historical Treasure Article
September 11, 1988
By Barbara Carney
Vigo County Historical Society
Paper doll traces origins to 1880s
Did you every play with paper dolls? Generations of youngsters have had fun with these fascinating little figures. Through the years, however, paper dolls have been more than just playthings.
Perched on a shelf in the toy shop on the second floor of the museum is a colorful envelope. On the front, against a yellow background, it is a picture of a young girl of the late 1800s, dressed in a period costume of red, green and brown. Her name is Dottie Dimple and inside the envelope is the paper doll bearing that name.
She is 7 3/4 inches tall, considered fairly large at the time, and printed on pasteboard. As was typical of the time, colors are printed on both sides, giving both a front and back view.
Dottie is a pretty, rather wistful-looking girl with light brown hair, held off of her face by a headband with a flat bow, much like those popular today. Also, much in tune with today’s times are her large drop earrings.
Two pages of costumes to be cut out remain with the museum’s Dottie Dimple. These also are two-sided and fasten with little tabs on the shoulders. Both outfits are accompanied by hats, as no respectable paper doll of the 1880s would venture out without one. The outfits are in deep pinks, purple and gold, complete with ruffles, bustles, fringe, sashes, plumed hats and, of course, gloves.
The Dottie Dimple paper doll was made by the McLaughlin Brothers, noted lithographers of New York in the 1800s. As was Raphael Tuck in England, they were the first company in American to profit greatly from the mass marketing of paper dolls. Their designs established the pattern of these little figures for years to come.
McLaughlin Brothers envelope dolls usually came in three sizes, selling for one penny, a nickel and 15 cents. Dottie Dimple and her series companions, Bertie Bright and Susie Simple, were of the 15-cent variety.
Paper dolls have enjoyed quite a varied history. Paper puppets, knows as “pantins,” were used for the amusement of the women and men n the courts of Louis XV, but it was not until the 1800s that paper dolls really gained popularity.
During the early 1800s, paper dolls were noted for the beauty of their coloring, done by hand in watercolors, often with child labor. Just as with children’s books of that time, they were used to instruct in morals and manners.
By about 1850, through work of the engraver and later the lithographer, paper dolls could be produced quickly and mass marketed. This made them accessible to the middle-class child. By the middle of the 19th century, celebrities began to appear in paper doll form. Fanny Elssler, a Viennese ballerina and Jenny Lind, the opera star, were among the most popular.
By this time, paper dolls were cheap enough to be used for advertising purposes. From 1890 on, dolls plugged sarsaparilla, crackers, thread, shoes and worm medicine. They also began to be used as sales models to display the latest fashions. High fashion was brought to the readers of the Boston Sunday Herald in the spring of 1895 via a paper doll and gown. When the July weather began to bring crowds to the beaches, the newspaper supplied the sailor-style bathing suit.
From the times of Dottie Dimple and her contemporaries of the 1800s to today, paper dolls have been enjoyed by boys and girls as well as collectors. In this age of collectibles and antiques, paper dolls are “in.”
The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.