Paper dolls have had quite a long history--all the way back to King Louis XV in the 18th century. They were seen as whimsical toys in French society. The inexpensive nature of paper dolls made it possible for children of meager means to have playthings of their own. In England, they were created on presses and were accompanied by a moral story that was printed on the doll itself. Throughout Europe, the early paper dolls depicted well-known actors and actresses and were meant to be used with a toy stage--some children even acted out Shakespearean plays! Those, of course, would be the more educated children who had access to those stories. American pioneers had a harder time acquiring paper dolls, because paper was still seen as a luxury. Children who were lucky enough to get paper dolls typically kept them in between the pages of a book for safe-keeping. Once paper was less of an extravagance (thanks to the mechanical grinding machine that produced pulp paper), dolls began to be produced on cardboard. Paper dolls were usually colored by hand before the advent of chroma-lithography printing. During the Civil War, widows could earn money for their families by decorating paper dolls. Dressing a doll was quite different as well. There weren't always paper tabs that were used for securing the clothing to the doll--children used to carefully apply sealing wax to the doll, making sure that they didn't tear it.
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