Yellow Prima Donna Paper Doll by L&B - Mary Anderson???

OK here she is, the third and final Prima Donna paper doll of the L&B trio.

To my knowledge there are only 3 original "Prima Donnas" produced by L&B, the remaining articulated dolls in the series seem to have been ballerinas and not bloomer girls.

These three ladies represent stage divas of their day.

 The first one I posted was the "Red" doll - Lillie "Lily" Langtry

The second was the "Blue" doll - Della Fox and 

The third "Yellow" doll may be - Mary Anderson

Original L&B "Prima Donna" Paper Doll - Yellow Bloomer Girl.

This is another vintage lady that I've been able to acquire a few times over the years.  

It seems that the "Prima Donnas" aka Bloomer Girls were the most produced of L&B jointed dolls since they are the image you will most often find for sale today on the collectors market.

She is a sweetie to look at but as with my other vintage  

L&B (Littaure & Boysen) paper dolls I gave her a makeover too.

 Once again I though she could use a more attractive hairstyle and her dingy whites needed to be tidied up a bit so her bloomers did not appear "yellowed" from age.

I was very pleased with the changes and now had a good base so that 

I could create other versions of her in a variety of colors.  

*****

I'm still in the "discovery" stage of whom this doll may represent and for a while I thought 

it might be Maude Branscombe but I decided she was a better candidate on a different doll.

I currently have Mary Anderson as the top candidate for this yellow Prima Donna.

The timing puts it close since these dolls could have been produced as early as 1888 

and Mary Anderson had a successful stage career in England and America up till 1889.

She chose to "retire" in 1889 at the age of 30, much to the public's disappointment.

  Mary Anderson 1859-1940

I have to say this photo of her is what really captured my interest in the actress.

I have found several images of Mary that suggest she could be the beauty L&B based 

this paper doll on; but when I discovered this photo of her, I really could not put any 

of the other actresses of the day into the running.  

Many other photos of Mary Anderson can be seen at the V&A Museum - HERE

I hope to one day know for sure who the yellow Prima Donna doll represents.

I would not be surprised if I guessed correctly and if I'm incorrect I can't wait see 

photos of who she really is.  It's just part of the fun in solving mysteries like these.

*****

Even without knowing for sure what lady of the stage this paper doll is, she's a winner and I had a lot of fun in giving her several new choices in wardrobe color.  After all a lady can only wear so much yellow till she has to have a change or go crazy.

Here is "Mary" with her new hairdo and several 

new color choices for you to play with.

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll - Aqua

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Graphite

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Apple Green

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Lemon Chiffon

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Lilac

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Mint

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Peacock

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Pearl

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Periwinkle

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Petal Pink

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Powder Blue

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Rose

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Soft Violet

EKDuncan Altered Version of a Vintage L&B Prima Donna Paper Doll -Winter White

This wraps up the vintage L&B jointed dolls I currently have in my collection and gives you several options on mixing and matching doll parts as you choose in creating your own dolls to craft with.

Several of the dolls in my collection of are different sized as can be seen from this photo.

I've done my best to digitally size all the "altered" versions so they are now similar in size but you may need to make minor adjustments in printing or trimming should you choose to mix the pieces up.

The vintage L&B jointed dolls were made in such a way that you could mix and match parts from other dolls of the same size.  This way you could get a bit of variety out of your dolls depending on how many you had in your collection.  The three Prima Donna dolls had bloomered legs and opera gloves on their arms and the L&B Ballerinas had bare legs with ballet slippers and beautiful arms with gold bracelets on them.  There was even a special set of black stocking and slippered ballet legs with black opera gloved arms that could be purchased to enhance the look of your dolls.

On my next few posts were are going to celebrate Halloween with some "Gothic" 

interpretations on some of the L&B Victorian dolls I've been posting and several fun 

accessories to give you even more options in the look your new dolls can achieve.

So don't forget to check back in for the Trick or Treat "Specials still to come".

See you soon.