Antique WW1 Paper Dolls - Dolly Dingle

Glorious and beautiful day to you!

To paraphrase Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!

And I hope you will too.

Sometimes it's so easy to get bogged down in the stuff of life; that we loose track of what's truly important.  I find it better to think on things I can be grateful for instead of thinking on things I have no control over.  So, I choose to trust in the Lord and give Him praise for everything, for I know He can work all things to my good - hallelujah! Romans 8:28

I have been so blessed over the years to have add some truly lovely antique paper dolls to my collection and I though I'd bless you guys too by posting some fun WW1 paper dolls from it.  

These are the three paper dolls I'll be sharing with you today.

I hope you enjoy them and that they bring some joy to your day! 

Please see my instructions on the sidebar on how best to save the higher resolution image of each to your computer in case you want to print and use the dolls.

Most of my paper doll collection is from late 1800s and early 1900s; and I have a special affection for newspaper and magazine paper dolls from that time frame. These paper dolls appeared in the women's magazine Pictorial Review in 1918.

I remember commercials of the Campbell's Soup Kids from my childhood; so once I discovered these early Dolly Dingle Dolls I had to add some to my collection just for the giggles of it.

I soon realized that I could purchase original pre-1930's magazine pages of them, for a few dollars a piece; however some of the rarer ones I was having to pay $20-30 to get. My Dolly Dingle paper doll collection consists of around 20 pages but I was only willing to super splurge on only a handful of the rarer ones like Dolly's Mother and Father.

I don't know what kind of money this series of 1918 WW1 dolls currently cost, but these are still some of my favorites and I don't regret the expense or time it took to get all three.

Most Dolly Dingle paper dolls are of Dolly and or Friends with their cute round faces and chubby cheeks. Like this June 1918 page from Pictorial Review Magazine.

One of the things I enjoy about this page is that you have Dolly Dingle and a dress for her but you also have her paper dolls and it's a WW1 Wedding.  You have the dashing soldier husband and the bride with her wonderful wedding wardrobe.  It's so Downton Abbey!

I believe I paid $8-$10 for this page

The artist of Dolly Dingle and the Campbell's Soup Kids was Grace Drayton (1878-1936)

She started with the Campbell's Soup Kids in 1904 and they ran strong for decades, even after her death in 1936.  You still see them occasionally from time to time.

Here are two examples. I found them in my 1919 Delineator Magazine's

Check out some of the soup options they had: 

Julienne, Mock Turtle, Mulligatawny, Mutton, Oxtail & Printanier 

I miss my Tomato-Beef Noodle O's - I think they removed it in the 1980's

I think Carnation breakfast squares disappeared around the same time.

Oooooo what yummy memories those both bring back.

I think most people are familiar with images of the Campbell's Soup Kids but fewer are aware that the artist also had a paper doll series under the name of Dolly Dingle.

Grace's Dolly Dingle Paper Doll series became a regular in in the Pictorial Review Magazine from 1913 to 1933

Pictorial Review Magazine like many women's magazines of it's day were large oversized productions, similar in size to a half folded newspaper or of the old Life Magazines. And many from this time period included a page with a paper doll or paper toy of some kind.  I enjoy collecting them. Sometimes I have to purchase the entire magazine to get the doll but since I enjoy the fashions and ads of the day and sometimes the articles, I don't mind so much. - grins

I've reduced the size of the actual pages I've posted to make it easier for anyone who wants to print and play with the paper doll pages - just in case anyone was wondering.

I have instructions on how to save and print the higher resolution size of these images on my sidebar.

 This next Paper Doll is one of my all time favorite finds

Dolly Dingle's Mother and her WW1 Nurse Uniform 

She appeared in the August 1918 issue of Pictorial Review

Dolly Dingle's Mother and the next one of her Father caused me to go into a bidding war with several other people.  I probably paid way to much for each of these, but back when I was bidding for them, you just did not see either one come up for sale very often.

I believe I paid the low $20's for one and the high $20s for the other.

At that time you could usually buy the entire magazine issue for those prices; however I was not able to locate either the July or August 1918 issue with the paper doll page still in the magazine after years of looking so I went for it on these two pages. 

Tip - Before you bid or purchase a vintage magazine online for the paper doll or toy, ask the seller to verify that page is still in the magazine and request a photo of it to show condition.  I've encountered magazines where the page is missing, torn or in very bad condition. Also verify they will mail the magazine flat and not be folding it into an envelope - yup, I've had that happen too. An entire magazine with amazing images went from treasure to trash by them doing that.  The pages were full of folds, wrinkles, creases and ripples - it was so sad to see. The magazine survived 100 years of who knows what before it was folded because the seller did not have a larger envelope on hand.

I appreciate the look of the Mother and Father pages and am glad they don't have the same round chubby features the rest of the Dolly Dingle series has.  I think this elegant and reserved look of the patriotic war effort is more respectful.

 Father appeared in the July 1918 issue of Pictorial Review.

 He was created with two separate uniforms. 

One for Army and one for Navy.  

I also think it's interesting that he is depicted with a cigarette in his hand.  

Smoking did not have the same stigma it does today, nor was the public as informed about the health dangers of the habit.

As we well know - oh how the time have changed.

Thanks for joining me in a step back in time to 1918.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these lovely old gems.

Feel free to print, play and craft with these to your hearts content.  I just ask you don't sell these actual sheets either printed or in digital format to others.  Be kind one to another, don't try and sell to another what you were given for free. You may post them on your own website or blog as they are with the original "tagged" information still visible.  I hope you sharing them with others, I just ask you don't sell these sheets.

Blessed Day to you.

Jesus is Lord - Romans 10:9-10 - 1 Corinthians 12:3 - Philippians 2:9-11