Paper doll:Betsy McCall Paper Doll

In May 1951, McCalls magazine, a popular periodical aimed at housewives, introduced Betsy McCall, a paper doll with many outfits and accessories. Betsy, a sweet girl of seven or eight years of age, became a feature of the monthly magazine, much as magazines of the turn of the century had offered Dolly Dingle, Lettie Lane, Betty Bonnet and other paper dolls. McCalls also distributed sets of the paper doll for mail-order sales. In 1955 the company offered a set that included Betsy, her parents, brother, and pet dog named Nosy. The set cost 10 cents. By 1978 a mail-order set cost one dollar. The paper doll--in sets and in the monthly issues of the magazine remained popular for decades. Although McCall's ran the last of the Betsy series in its pages in 1995, Betsy Mc Call dolls are still available to collectors who remember the sweet little girl from their childhood.