Paper Dolls

I'm currently doing daily writing exercises aimed at stimulating creativity by writing about the past.

The writing suggestions come from the book, It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity and Meaning at Midlife and Beyond...

One question posed recently was: How you enjoy spending time as a child?

After thinking a bit, I remembered that my passion, as a young girl, was playing with paper dolls. I had dozens of them - some from books, others cut from Eaton's and Sear's clothing catalogs!

I'd lay my paper dolls out on my bed - and imagine stories. They were a whole neighborhood of people... I had Blondie and Dagwood paper dolls, among others. What adventures they had! (Such fun!)

Do children play with paper dolls anymore? I wondered...

I still have paper dolls in the house - not ones I played with, but some I've picked up here and there. There is a book of paper dolls dressed in the American Civil War period that I purchased in a museum bookstore. I was surprised to see that paper dolls could still be found.

Each doll is wearing typical undergarments of the time...

I remember reading that big wide skirts like these were a fire hazard - in an age when there were lit candles in every room at night.

I also tore out these pages of paper dolls from a craft magazine... just for old time's sake.

I wonder if my granddaughter will ever be interested in playing with them. My own daughter preferred Barbie dolls.

Paper dolls... Barbie dolls... Cash registers... Tiny cars and trucks... (The toys my sons enjoyed before they discovered Nintendo).

It probably doesn't matter what children enjoy playing with, as long as they're using their imaginations.