Do You Remember Paper Dolls?
By villageanne
@villageanne (8553)
United States
March 8, 2007 4:42am CST
I remember when I was a child, we would take the Aldens catalog and cut out the models, glue them onto cardboard and make paper dolls. We also made little stands so the dolls would stand up. We then cut out the clothes and added little taps on then. We used these clothes on our paper dolls. We had such fun playing with these dolls. I never see kids playing with paper dolls anymore. I wonder why? They were so easy to make and we had hours of fun with them. It was a great pastime for winter when we could not go outside due to the weather. It is a wonderful way to learn about matching outfits for best results too.
It was common for girls to receive store bought paper dolls for Christmas gifts when we drew names at school. They were inexpensive to purchase and were always a welcome gift.
I found a couple sites that have printable paper dolls on them. They have some wonderful projects to do with the paper dolls also.
http://marilee.us/paperdolls2.html
http://www.makingfriends.com/f_Friends.htm
Does your children make paper dolls? Do they still play with them?
9 people like this
36 responses
@AmbiePam (85604)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Oh, I loved paper dolls growing up! My parents mostly got me the ones you could punch out and had little "stands" to prop them up. My favorite was the Princess Diana paper doll. She had so many clothes that you could put the tabs over her paper body...I wish I still had those.
2 people like this
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Do they still sell the in stores anymore?
1 person likes this
@carolscash (9492)
• United States
9 Mar 07
Yes, I have found some paper dolls at stores like Dollar General, Dollar Tree, etc. I am sure if you look hard enough you can find them. I also know that you can order them online also. My daughter has a Bratz set and a Care Bears set that we have purchased recently. I believe paper dolls is a concept that if kids played with more, they would enjoy more. Somewhere I have a set that I believe was the Waltons.
@tammyr (5946)
• Etowah, Tennessee
8 Mar 07
I use to do the same thing. Our babysitter would bring a Ward's catolog and we would play for hours. I think that is why we liked her so much.
I printed some off for my scouts and they were not very interested. They colored the outfits, but did little else. I guess they are so use to computers and video games now that the more simple thing do not appeal to them as it did to us.
2 people like this
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
8 Mar 07
I loved paper dolls, at one time I had a whole family living in the bottom drawer of my dresser. My mom didn't understand why all my cloths were crammed in 2 drawers but was impressed when she saw my handy work in creating this family, cardboard furniture and even little blankets from scrape material. They all had names and I had no kit or anything, cut them out myself from blank paper then colored hair, faces, and cloths on them.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (85604)
• United States
8 Mar 07
My great grandma made herself dolls out of old dishwashing soap bottles. She'd get some left over cloth from the clothes her mom would sew for her, and she would make her own clothes for the "doll." She's paint a round ball to look like a person, and then glue it to the top of the dishwashing bottle. She was around 8, and she made due with what she had. I have those dolls now and I consider them priceless.
@mimatexas (1818)
• United States
23 Mar 07
It brought me memories, when I was a child I also liked to purchase paper dolls and outfits to play with them. My dad would give me a weekly allowance and I would save the money until I can buy whatever I liked.
I have nieces now that are little and I don't see them play with paper dolls at all.
1 person likes this
@carolmil123 (115)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Some truly lovely paper dolls with outfits are still available online. I dont know any children who like them, but lots of us adults adore them and collect the books featuring them.
2 people like this
@courtlynne77 (4839)
• United States
14 Mar 07
I loved paper dolls. I found a website that has virtual paper dolls of celebrities or you can make a me doll to dress up. My daughter loves it, here is the link if anyone wants to check it out: http://friends.stardoll.com/r/a997786a23c5102aa621
1 person likes this
@margieanneart (26423)
• United States
11 Mar 07
Oh what awesome memories you have just brought back to me. I loved paper dolls. I played with them constantly. I would spend hours alone in my room. As an artist, even then, I would make my own patters and color them for a bigger wardrobe for my dolls. I think I had every single paper doll ever made. I still would enjoy them, hehehheeh, and I am not saying how old I am. :)
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45939)
• United States
8 Mar 07
I loved my paper dolls. I remember that they would come in a special box and you punched out the cardboard doll and cut out the clothing. It was so much fun. I am not sure that my granddaughter and neices have any paper dolls now that I think of it. But, now they will!
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
8 Mar 07
OMG, I hadn't thought about paper dolls in years! Yes, I too played with paperdolls. I made some of my own and I also had some of the storebought variety. My friends and I so enjoyed 'designing' new clothes for our paperdolls. We would draw and color them on construction paper and then put them on our dolls. I wonder why you don't see paperdolls in the stores anymore? What a great way to encourage a child's creativity...and develop fine motor skills. I miss paperdolls now. I can certainly do it the old fashion way or with your great website with my granddaughter one day~
1 person likes this
@resasour (378)
• United States
10 Mar 07
I remember paper dolls. I used to get a new set every birthday and christmas from my grandparents. I remember the very first set I had, I got upset cause her clothes kept falling off, so my older brother taped them on for me. Then I wailed when I tore them trying to change her outfit. My parents ragged on me about that for years...lol
My daughter never liked them. she preferred barbie as barbie could take a bath and she could fix her hair.
Thanks for the memories! lol You know, I did not know they even still had paper dolls! My mom used to have me cut outfits out of the sears catalog to fit my paper dolls. I too would spend hours upon hours working on that. Especially when I was sick, or the weather was bad. I don't think I stopped playing with paper dolls until I was 13. I always liked them because I could go through the sunday sales papers and always dress them in the latest fashion! :)
@dfinster (3528)
• United States
15 Mar 07
WOW!! I haven't thought about paper dolls in ages. I used to love playing with them and had a ton of outfits. I played with them so much I'd wear out the little tabs you used to hold the outfits on. My daughter would really like that. Thanks for brining up something I totally forgot about!
@apowell (25)
• United States
10 Mar 07
I loved paper dolls as a kid. I went to the mall the other day with my niece and we stopped at a bookstore. There was a book my niece picked out that had paper dolls with like 50 different outfits and very sturdy. She said she really liked it so of course I had to buy it for her we spent the afternoon playing with them.
@tallulah210 (24)
• United States
9 Mar 07
my daughter used to love paper dolls but I turned them all into magents though. I made her a chalk board and a magnetic wall in her room. And all of her paper dolls were magents. She had a lot of fun with it.
@lafavorito (2959)
• Philippines
9 Mar 07
Hey I used to play with paper dolls too, and I had so much fun with them specially in designing the clothes my dolls will wear. I can even remember my elementary teacher got mad because I brought my paper doll in school and started a "paper doll trend". They're fun to play with and inexpensive too. As of now my 6 year old sister sometimes play with paper dolls that she buys from the market.
@cayennepepper (266)
• United States
9 Mar 07
I remember paper dolls very well. Although I had not thought about them for years until just now. I used to spend a lot of time playing with them. They were great to take on an airplane or trips. I don't have any girls to play with dolls.
@songbirdnaimh (1422)
• United States
9 Mar 07
Paper dolls were my favorite thing to do/play when I was a child. I adored them. I remember my best friend (down the street) had a collection that was her mother's. They were antique paper dolls of children and babies. There was even a set of twins! They will be permanently engraved on my mind. I always wanted to play with them.
