1: This is a fabulous mind-boggling book
This book, which retails for under $20, amazingly consists of over 330 pages of pure content in full color.
20th century paper doll publishing was dominated by just a few large companies, but there were scores of smaller companies that contributed to an industry that is now sadly in retreat. Mary Young's book looks at these smaller companies, whose heyday was mostly in the earlier part of the century. It catalogs the output of the smaller companies and provides profuse all-color illustrations of the paper doll sets. Also, it often deliciously allows the user to peek inside the sets to see the paper dolls as both art and historical document.
Countless sets are shown in this reference book, they are named, assigned monetary values, and descriptive notes are often attached. The value to the collector is significant. The identification of orphaned dolls and even loose items of paper doll clothing, the kind that pop up out-of-place in large paper doll lots, is made possible.
The only drawback to the book is that some of the pictures are blurry or are too dark. That is quibbling because a great number of the items of the items depicted in the book are rare. It was a real privilege to get access to these wonderful old and fragile toys.
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