Paper doll:Eva St. Claire and Topsey

Some toy historians believe that paper dolls evolved from "pantins" or jumping jacks, cardboard figures with arms and legs that moved when the string attached was pulled. From the toy with limbs to manipulate, the paper doll transferred the play to manipulating clothing and accessories. Paper dolls of the early 19th century attempted to depict moral virtue and a pious demeanor. McLoughlin Brothers, maker of many paper toys as well as children's books, continued the tradition of offering a message with its paper dolls in its set of Eva St. Claire and Topsey, two sympathetic characters from Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin."