Paper Dolls

Object Details

See more items in: The Carolyn and Donald Grepke Paper Doll Collection; The Carolyn and Donald Grepke Paper Doll Collection / Series 6: Paper Toys

Collection Citation: The Carolyn and Donald Grepke Paper Doll Collection, 1800s-1998, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Collection Rights: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Scope and Contents: Include paper doll creations not based on personalities, characters, themes, events, or popular culture. Instead, the dolls were intentionally made as toys in paper form. The materials span over a century and represent some of the earliest manufacturers of paper dolls including McLoughlin Brothers, Dennison Manufacturing Company, and Raphael Tuck. Some of these companies continued to create paper dolls well into the twentieth century. Greeting card companies also offered paper dolls on cards. Paper dolls were primarily made of paper but could also be wood, plastic, or magnetic. Many of the dolls had special attributes like handmade, cloth, or press on clothes; yarn, curly, blonde, wavy or real hair; or the ability to stand and move arms, legs, or eyes. Materials are arranged in alphabetical order.