Paper doll of an unclothed figure of a young Black girl with moveable limbs. The girl is depicted with short, cropped, tightly curled hair, auburn eyes, and slightly smiling. A blue-beaded string necklace adorns her neck. She also wears white, above-the-ankle length socks and black "Mary Jane" shoes. The articulated limbs are attached by brass brads to a white cardboard torso, likely not the original. About the late 1880s, Littauer & Boysen (established circa 1882), a premier German chromolithographer of novelties, began to print articulated dolls for the paper box company. Dennison sold the German firm's dolls to further market its special line of tissue/crepe paper as doll's clothing. The Massachusetts company, established 1844, also manufactured shipping tags, gummed labels, and holiday tags. The firm opened a salesroom in Philadelphia in 1862. In 1898, the firm consolidated operations in Framingham, Ma. from plants in Roxbury, Ma. Brooklyn, N.Y., and Brunswick, Me. where it was originally established in 1844., Title supplied by cataloger., Manufactured and distributed by Dennison Manufacturing Company, Ma., Publication information from Mary Young, 20th Century Paper Dolls Identification and Values (Collector Books, 2006)., Date inferred from published sources, the years of operation of the publisher, and the early era of the style of footwear depicted., Purchased with funds from Walter J. Miller Trust for the Visual Culture Program., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[ca. 1885-ca. 1895]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *ephemera - paper dolls [P.2015.68.1]
