paper doll: Carmen Miranda Paper Dolls

Tom Tierney, freelance fashion illustrator, created a small book of paper dolls including Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, and Clark Gable, for his mother’s Christmas gift in the early 1970s. His mother adored the collection and showed it to a literary agent. Shortly after, Prentice Hall published Tierney’s first collection, “Thirty From the 30’s: Costumes of the Great Stars.” Publisher Jenny Taliadoros noted that “during the lull in paper-doll production in the 1970s and 1980s, he was the one that brought paper dolls back.” From the mid-1970s until his death, Tierney was often referred to as “the undisputed king” of the international paper doll world. His books were meticulously drawn and annotated with historical information—he covered everything from American presidents and world-renowned activists to movie stars and drag queens. In 1997, “The Dallas Morning News” wrote that being turned into a Tom Tierney paper doll was considered “one of fashion’s highest compliments.” Over the years he created more than 400 paper doll books, most issued by Dover Publications.

Beginning in the 1890s, paper dolls in the likeness of celebrities hit the market. In the early years of film, studios owned the image of their stars and printing paper dolls in their likeness proved an inexpensive means of increasing revenue. The paper doll version of Jenny Lind, an opera singer referred to as the Swedish Nightingale, was the first to gain popularity in the United States. Celebrity paper dolls provided a way for children to participate in the big screen or on the stage, and to participate in the carefully crafted version of the celebrity lifestyle. By the 1970s, fewer publishers issued celebrity paper dolls—many other toys lined store shelves, children spent more time watching television, and celebrities had more control over their image.