Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Lost Art of Paper Doll Making
| By Agatha Curtis When I was about 10 years old, one of my favorite things to do was draw and cut out paper dolls. My friends and my little sister loved to draw dolls with plain little bathing suits and funny little vee-pointed feet. Arms would be bent at the elbow and tucked in front of or behind the body. We would color the dolls in with our crayons. In those days, we received regular issues of big and small catalogs, Sears, Penneys and Montgomery Ward, mainly. These were the sources for our outfits and accessories. You could always find a model wearing items that (with a little snip here and there) would fit your made-to-order paper doll. Her wardrobe was limited only by your imagination. We very seldom backed our creations with cardboard, choosing instead to make more dolls when those wore out from handling. I can still recognize a paper doll drawn by my little sister, Sandy, because she had a distinctive way of detailing her dolls. They always had a movie star quality and were very feminine. Mine, unfortunately, were not quite as glamorous, but geared instead to the more tomboyish pursuits, their wardrobes containing jeans and boots suitable for horseback riding. You don’t see a lot of paper dolls for sale in the stores, nowadays. They’ve been replaced by animated computer programs and our daughters and granddaughters choose the perfect outfit and shoes online for their virtual dolls. There’s a lot to be said for being able to open a catalog or a magazine and choose the outfit you think looks best for your doll, then cut it out (always making sure to clip the little tabs that will hold the clothing on your paper doll figure, of course). Being of the generation that was raised on Captain Kangeroo, we also proudly decorated and embellished shoe boxes to hold our precious dolls and wardrobes. (Captain Kangeroo was a children’s television program, forerunner to Sesame Street.) The Captain could take an ordinary shoe box, some construction paper, scissors and glue and create more wonderful things than you could possibly imagine. If you decide to make a paper doll for or with your young lady, I would recommend backing it with cardboard (used file folders are great for this) and giving her a helping hand with cutting out the “tabs” on her outfits until she gets the hang of it. If you don’t have catalogs around the house, try the magazine rack. Leftover bits of gift wrap paper make wonderful outfits. We designed, colored and cut out clothes from plain paper, too, which gave us the option to make evening gowns as fancy as any princess might wish. Don’t confine yourself to paper dolls, though. Little boys like to collect things, too. How about cutting out horses and their various accessories from magazines or catalogs? Dogs, racecars, or jungle animals are just a few suggestions. Whatever your child’s passion may be, chances are you can find a source of pictures from which to choose. Your kids will have hours of fun using their imaginations to create their own collections and, once you get them started, you will have hours of quiet time. Labels: art, homemade craft, paper doll |
