As it is Valentine’s Day I have chosen wedding sets for the theme of this post. It’s been a popular subject for cut out paper doll books for many years. The good thing about them for me is that they contain both male and female paper dolls and usually a lot of really nice outfits from the brides trousseau as well.
I have two sets myself a reproduction of the Saalfield’s “Bridal Party” that I had as a child and one that my sister gave me for Christmas which is a reproduction of a Merrill set from the 1940s.
The Saalfield wedding was a bit of a saga. I was given an original set by an older cousin in played with condition. I don’t know what became of them in the end. Most likely they were disposed of either when I was in my teens and my sister and I were getting a lot of “You are too old for that.” from meddling aunties or later when I moved out of home to get married. My collections today stem from regret at losing, throwing out or giving away a lot of things that I was fond of as a child. Anyway when Naomi first discovered that you could buy reproduction paper dolls online she started sending me pictures of wedding paper dolls. She is a bit younger than me and could not remember this set. Eventually she found it, I recognised it and the rest as they say is history. Here are some of the dolls and outfits from the set.
Best Man, Maid of Honour, Flower Girl.
I really love the graphics of the 1940s paper dolls and this set is no exception. As this book was published in 1944 the men wear military uniforms. The girls are all movie star beautiful of course. This was quite a large wedding party with six adults and two children.
Army and Navy Wedding is a very interesting set from 1943 with a lot of dolls including the parents of the bride. They were published by Saalfield. As well as the wedding finery there are a lot of service uniforms. Here are the dolls and some of the outfits.
Here’s The Bride is an 1950s set from Watkins Publishing with a wedding party of five adults and a flower girl. Here are the dolls and some outfits.
Bridal Party: This is a boxed set of paper dolls by Whitman from 1955. There are four adults and a flower girl in this set. The interesting feature of this set is that the wedding dress is pink. Even Barbie has not done that! There are also some fun hats.
I hope you have enjoyed seeing these vintage wedding sets. We still have a lot more to sort out and photograph so no doubt there will be another wedding day post another day.
Fashion from the 40’s and 50’s are very uncomfortable looking but it made any woman look beautiful, even the bigger sizes. While I do wear jeans or sweats most of the time, when I was young I liked looking pretty every so often. Eighties produced sometimes clothes worth buying, but I really cannot stand the modern fashion. I wore my husband’s oversized shirts or sweaters, and he really hated it. I did it because I started not to like him. It was a great way to fend him off, like a garlic on a vampire. Now women are told that it is sexy? For whom?
The only time they wear those beautiful gowns are weddings. I am glad it didn’t change that much. There are still some beautiful gowns.
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I am like you, I mostly wear jeans and track pants. They are comfortable and practical and I don’t feel bad about getting pet hair on them. However it is nice to dress up once in a while. I’m not a good shape for any fashions these days but I admire the fashions of previous decades more than what is “hot” today. My eldest niece loves 50s fashions and looks wonderful in them.
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