Cut-out book, 'Miss Hollywood'

Playing movie stars

Hollywood’s Golden Age of the 1930s and ‘40s not only bought a touch of glamour into the lives of adults escaping to the cinema, but also helped fuel the imagination and dreams of children. This paper doll book from 1942, was a treasured possession of Judith Scott (b. 1932), an only child whose paper dolls were her best companions. Like the movies, paper dolls were an affordable entertainment during the Depression era and Second World War. 

‘Crazy’ about her paper dolls, Judith kept sets from each of her books in a carefully labelled shoe box, which she then stored in an old Ottoman for safe keeping in her play house. As well as cutting out pre-printed dresses (male dolls she noted were hard to come by), Judith created her own designs in order to extend their wardrobes. Perhaps deemed to be too special to play with, this paper doll book remains intact, the dolls and clothes un-cut.

From silver screen to paper

Reuben H. Lilja & Co. Inc, of Chicago specialised in the production of story and activity books for children. They commissioned the much loved children’s illustrator Florence Salter to bring 'Miss Hollywood' and her handsome male companion to life.  Florence furnished the duo with a lavish and fully accessorised wardrobe, including wigs, for a multitude of starring roles. Naturally the young starlet has more costume changes than her male companion. With the flick of a paper tab or three, 'Miss Hollywood' can be transformed from a chorus girl to a princess, from a country girl to a city sophisticate, from a brunette to blonde.

The costumes and implied scenarios illustrated reflect poular notions of a movie-star lifestyle - parties, smart restaurants, glamour holidays skiing or sailing; and popular film plots, a number of which appear to reference contemporary films. The Spanish themed costumes were most likely to have been inspired by the 1941 film Blood and Sand, starring Tyrone Power as a Spanish bullfighter torn between two women; and the eighteenth century costumes by Adrian's lavish designs for Marie Antoinette (1938). The lindy hopping couple a reference to Dean Collins and Jewel McGowan's ('Fred and Ginger of Lindy Hop') star turn in Buck Privates (1941).

While Reuben H. Lilia produced generic Hollywood-themed paper dolls, such as Miss Hollywood, Movieland Paperdolls and Miss Silver Screen, other publishing companies worked directly with Hollywood studios to produce celebrity paper dolls. For example, Merrill published a book of Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell paper dolls based on the costuming for Blood and Sand in 1941. The connection between celebrities and paper dolls dates back to the nineteenth century and the British company Rafael Tuck & Company, Ltd, which printed paper dolls of contemporary stage stars. American companies followed suit, basing paper dolls on Broadway and subsequently Hollywood stars.