Jointed Paper Dolls

Little Eliza Jointed Movable Paper Doll via inkingcap

I recently heard a suggestion for decoration in a little girl's room - framing some jointed paper dolls in various poses. The idea was interesting to me , though I would be sad to see these movable pieces frozen forever.....maybe finding a way to display them tucked into a ribbon board would be the best of both worlds.

Mermaid Art Paper Doll via thefiligree

Mr.Rabbit courtesy of minifanfan

A is for Acorn jointed paper doll via ribonita

miniature moveable paper dolls via hollandsworth

Little Red Riding Hood Articulated Paper Doll signed by artist, Jo James via 44thStreetFabric I love the entire "Peter and the Wolf" puppet theatre on paper available on PDF from sarahjanestudios- some jointed paperdolls performance art!

PDF- Peter and the Wolf Puppet Theater via sarahjanestudios

Aline Smithson's "In Case of Rain"

I keep going back to Aline Smithson's photo series, "In Case of Rain" (discovered on kris atomic) with its beauty and brightness on this rainy and gloomy day. Hope you fall in love with it too....

"We live in a world of technical distractions. I see my children gathered around their computers as though it's a summer campfire, faces aglow, as they peer into a world of friends and fantasy, participating in a new form of entertainment that further remove them from the childhood that I experienced.

Today's generation has lost touch with the activities that previous generations have enjoyed—reading a good book in a comfortable chair, playing board games on a rainy day, flipping through Life magazines, or sprawling out on the living room rug while listening to records and reading the backs of album covers.

And it's because of this that I have been looking at book shelves and untouched childhood pursuits with a new eye. With great sadness, I realize that these objects will someday be obsolete, at least in their current incarnations. And like a curator of antiques, I see them now as beautiful objects to be admired and preserved, if only on film.

I can only hope for rain, a heavy rain and maybe a power outage."

— Aline Smithson on her photo series, "In Case of Rain"

Paper treasures

Since the day my daughter was born, I've been keeping inventory of the childhood games and toys that I intend to force upon her the minute she's old enough to appreciate them. If she happens not to appreciate these things, I will resent her for it, then I will go off on my own and play with them anyway.

On the top of my list are paper dolls. And I have a big fat file on my computer to prove it.

At the risk of sounding old and crotchety, they just don't make paper dolls like they used to, so I have an ever-growing electronic collection of vintage paper dolls that I will one day print on sturdy cardstock. I have visions of my daughter unwrapping a box full of these painstakingly trimmed paper dolls and outfits on a future birthday, of us playing for hours on a rainy Saturday. (And if I actually spend the time it will take for me to do all that cutting, she darn well better spend rainy days playing with them.)

Most of my files come from the Flickr group Vintage Paper Dolls. Here are a few of my favorites:

Queen Holden Dolls and clothes from BARBARAJEAN, who has posted sheets and sheets of these amazing vintage paper dolls and dresses to the group:

The Gingham Girls--remember them?--and their clothes. From sydhamgoose:


A 1950s paper doll from Star1950 (the title image in this post is also hers):

Another source for my file is Betsy McCall: The First 10 Years, a site that provides scans of every Betsy McCall paper doll from 195-1961. In high resolution. A dream come true.

Here's 1951 Betsy:

And, though hers aren't vintage, the super-talented Hillary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls also generously offers free printables of her original paper dolls, along with instructions on how to print them on magnetic paper, so you don't have to cut tabs for the clothing. Now that's clever.


My daughter turns 3 in October. I'm trying to hold myself back from the paper doll plan until she's at least 4. I can just imagine her, in her clumsy three-year-old zeal, ripping limbs from my precious paper families. And I'm just not sure I can handle that.