Al Anderson drew many of the Mattel Barbie books for Whitman in the 1960s. This 1962 book shows many of the early fashions available for Barbie and her beau Ken. Also pictured is 1966 Baby Secret another Mattel doll.

Coming into the 1970s TV shows were still popular subjects. Artcraft's 1971 Partridge Family shows the famous singing family and their psychedelic bus. Whitman's 1973 Brady Bunch is a great book with mod fashions. Sadly they omitted 3 family members: Peter, Bobby and Alice.

Whitman's 1970 Dawn features Topper's 6 1/2 inch doll and friends along with actual fashions and a stage to model them. Barbie and her gang tanned and went to Malibu in the 1970s. This Whitman 1976 book also has a stand up of the Beach Bus that was sold for the dolls.

  Queen Holden's daughter, Kathy Lawrence, followed in her mother's footsteps as an artist. Her Whitman's 1970 Beth Ann is reminiscent of Queen's style.

Whitman's 1973 Bridal Fashions is very unusual. It contains a record that plays music and a bridal fashion show commentary along with a stage for added play value. In Artcrafts 1974 White House we see a great likeness to Pat and Tricia Nixon though their names are not mentioned. 

Vogue's Ginny doll is shown in this 1984 set. It contains examples of her outfit's from the 1950's as well as newer ones.

Peck Gandres 1993 Wendy Ann has an 8 inch Alexander doll and clothes. Here is a peek inside the Ginny box.

Elvis and Pricilla Presley are shown in this 1982 St. Martin's Press book drawn by Al Kilgore. It also contains many black and white pics of one of the most famous entertainers in history.

In the 1990s some of the Disney movies can be found as paper dolls. The Little Mermaid is from 1991.

Katy Keene was created by Bill Woggen in 1954.This 1994 Hobby House book is a based on a compilation of designs that fans were asked to draw for Katy. This is Golden's 1992 Precious Moments. It is based on the collectibles series of the same name.

In the 1980s and '90s paper dolls printed for children dwindled. Children are not as interested in them as they once were. Licensing fees paid to TV shows, etc. became expensive and gone are the days of paper dolls at your local discount store for less than a dollar. One of the few TV shows to be printed as a paper doll during this era is Blossom from 1994.

You can still find Barbie at chain stores today. This is Golden's from 1993. Even though paper dolls are not as abundant at stores like they once were collectors can still find books. www.Amazon.com carries over 300 contemporary paper dolls by artists such as Tom Tierney. They also have reprints of books drawn by Queen Holden and of Shirley Temple along with a wonderful selection of others. Older paper dolls are available on the secondary market and can be found at shows, on sales lists and on the Internet.

As you can clearly see Paper Dolls really do give us an informative glimpse of American history throughout the 20th Century.

Bibliography: The following books by Mary Young:
Magazine Paper Dolls
Paper Dolls

Paper Dolls Second Series
Tomart's Lowe and Whitman Paper Dolls

By Rebecca Greason:
Tomart's Guide to Golden Book Collectibles

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