How I Imagine Paper Dolls were created...

The idea of cutting out clothes has been around for centuries. We have used many different mediums to clothe our families. So in the spirit of creating and designing outfits that adorn for beauty, comfort, or necessity, the idea of paper dolls was born.

I can imagine the very first designer of clothes looking at her creations laid out on the drawing table and thinking that they would make wonderful toys for the children in the village. Getting excited about the idea, she probably said out loud, "Now I will have to fashion a little paper doll to wear these miniature designs"!

A little girl must have been hovering near the drawing board as the designer cut out that very first outfit. I can see the little girl with stars in her eyes, waiting not so patiently, excitement evident in her chatter as she asks for the hundredth time, "is it cut out yet?" And then, when it is finally her turn to use the scissors, she carefully cuts out another dress for her new toy. She does not want to be left out of this new idea! She has embarked on an adventure of a life time as her imagination is sparked. The little girl sits for hours playing with her first little paper doll.

Then the designer gets back to work with a sigh of satisfaction that she has caused to come into existence a means by which thoughts could be expressed and made known! However, the new idea doesn't stop there. The little girl has a friend that is bedridden, she is crippled and can't get out to play with the rest of the children of the village. She gathers up her paper doll, the outfits that have not yet been cut out, and a second pair of scissors. With permission from the designer, and a second paper doll for the other little girl, she goes next door to her friends' house.

You can just see the little crippled girl getting better as the two little girls play with the dolls and clothes made of paper. She is smiling and giggling as she tries out each outfit, hanging the purses on the paper dolls arm or maybe off her shoulder, making sure to find the matching hat to put on the little doll of papers' head! When it is time for our thoughtful little girl to go home, she promises to bring new outfits with her the next time she can come over. Written by Janey Loree ~ October 14, 2007

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