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Tag: 1920s fashion

The Beautiful Covers of Vintage Sheet Music from the 1920s – Part 2

For today’s part 2 post I am once again sharing Ottawa vintage dealer PFTPAntiqueSales (on Etsy), stunning collection of 1920s vintage sheet music they have for sale in their shop (at time of posting). The cover illustrations are truly works of art and perfect for framing in your home (I have a couple myself), having on display on your piano or to do whatever you like with (your choice!). They are also just beautiful to look at it, even if you don’t purchase a piece for yourself.

I have also included their matching 1920s songs for you to listen too, so please enjoy from start to finish.

Let’s begin!


Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. 

NOTE: If you click on any of the items featured below and they are not available, don’t fret! Hit the search button and see what else is on Etsy.


Vintage Sheet Music from the 1920s

1926 sheet music for “Me Too Ho-Ho! Ha-Ha!” SO CUTE!

1920s vintage sheet music / 1920s Music: 1926 Sheet Music for "Me Too Ho-Ho! Ha-Ha!" featuring illustration of a 1920s flapper and a photo of  a woman with 1920s hairstyle.

“Me Too (Ho-Ho! Ha-Ha!)” by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra 1926 (video link).

1926 – “Mary Lou” with Ukulele arrangement. Fun!

1920s vintage sheet Music / 1920s music: 1926 Sheet Music for "Mary Lou" featuring an illustration of a 1920s woman holding flowers and image of a 1920s woman with her dog

MARY LOU performed the Ipana Troubadours 1926. This was a pioneering American broadcasting band under the direction of Sam Lanin, and named for the brand of toothpaste that sponsored its radio appearances (video link).

1921 – “Kitty from Kansas City” comedy fox trot song.

What is the song about? Poor Kitty is teased from not being smart or pretty but the singer loves her anyways (the sheet music imagery does not reflect the song at all). Ahhh the 1920s. Not a song that would be be okay in today’s society.

1920s Vintage Sheet Music / 1920s music: 1921 Sheet Music for "Kitty from Kansas City" Comedy fox trot song

Who was Rudy Vallee? He was an American singer, musician, actor, and radio host. He was one of the first modern pop stars of the teen idol type (source).

Rudy is a very interesting person and lived quite a fascinating life, I think I might do a blog post on him in the future. Stay tuned!

(Video Link)

1923 – “Starlight Bay” (Note: I cannot find music for this one).

I was drawn to this sheet music because it reminded me of Nancy Drew book covers.

Further Reading: A Peak Into My Vintage Collection- Early 1950s Nancy Drew Books

1920s vintage sheet music from 1923 featuring an illustration of a young 1920s woman for the 1920s song "Starlight Bay"

1927 vintage sheet music – “Me and My Shadow”.

1920s Vintage Sheet Music / 1920s Music for 1927 for "Me and My Shadow".

(Video Link)

1924 – “Bring Back Those Rock-a-Bye Baby Days”. Lullaby fox trot song.

1920s vintage sheet music / 1920s Music: 1924 Sheet Music for "Bring Back Those Rock-a-Bye Baby Days" Lullaby Fox trot song..

(video link)

1922 vintage sheet music – “You Tell Her I S-T-U-T-T-E-R”.

1922 Sheet Music / 1920s Music for "You Tell Her I S-T-U-T-T-E-R". 1920s vintage sheet music

Who was Billy Murray? He was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early 20th century. While he received star billing in vaudeville, he was best known for his prolific work in the recording studio, making records for almost every record label of the era (Source).

(video link)

1926 – “Climbing up the Ladder of Love” from Earl Carroll’s “Vanities”.

What was “Vanities”? A Broadway revue that Earl Carroll presented in the 1920s and early 1930s. Carroll and his show were sometimes controversial. Carroll bragged that “the most beautiful girls in the world” passed through the stage door of his theatre. As many as 108 women were onstage in Carroll’s show at one time. Critics often insinuated that Carroll’s performers were provocatively dressed (Source).

1920s vintage sheet music / 1920s music. 1926 Sheet Music, "Climbing up the Ladder of Love" from Earl Carroll's "Vanities"

Don Voorhees & His Earl Carrol Vanities Orchestra Hal Yates – Climbing Up The Ladder Of Love 1926.

Donald was an American composer and conductor who received an Emmy Award nomination for “Individual Achievements in Music” for his work on the television series, The Bell Telephone Hour (video link).

1924 – “The Pal That I Loved Stole the Gal That I Loved”. A Sympathetic Ballad.

1920s Sheet Music / 1920s music: 1924 Sheet Music for "The Pal That I Loved Stole the Gal That I Loved" A Sympathetic Ballad.

(video link)

1924 vintage sheet music – “What’ll I Do” from the New Music Box Revue.

“What’ll I Do” is one of the few songs by Berlin that is clearly autobiographical. His fiancée, a society beauty named Ellin MacKay, had been sent to Europe by her disapproving father, a very wealthy Long Island magnate, in the hopes that MacKay would forget Berlin. (She did not and eventually they married.) The song was written during McKay’s “tour” of Europe. In the lyrics, the singer longs disconsolately for his love, imagining how he can go on without her (Source).

1920s vintage sheet music / 1920s music for the Irving Berlin song  "What'll I Do" from the New Music Box Revue -1924

Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra – 1923 (video link). This video has no lyric’s but I wanted you to hear that 1920s sound before pointing you to the 1950s version in the next video that has words. Enjoy!

Now here is a STUNNING version from Julie London with words – 1956 (video link).

Well that was a fun post to put together as I have never really heard of most of these songs. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Please share in the comments section below what your favourite was.

Further Reading:

Thanks for stopping by!

Liz

The Stylish Fashions of Vintage Paper Dolls

When I was a little girl I LOVED playing with paper dolls. The clothes that you could put the tiny ladies & men in, were stunning and forever endless it seemed. These dolls were also one of the reasons I started designing clothing and then eventually attend University for Fashion Marketing at Ryerson in Toronto. So they are quite special to me.

For today’s post I want to share a collection of paper dolls from the 1920s-1960s (some vintage & some reproduction) as well as a brief history lesson.

Let the fun begin!

1940s Rita Hayworth Paper doll. 1940s fashion

Vintage Paper Dolls 1920’s – 1960’s

Did you know! Some facts about the Paper Doll….

This lovely lady of 1912 models her elegant trousseau for a spring wedding. 1 doll and 7 authentic outfits including a beautiful wedding gown. 3-page collector's set by Brenda Sneathen Mattox.

Source: Paper Doll Review

First manufactured paper doll: Little Fanny, produced by S&J Fuller, London, in 1810 (Source).

The first American paper doll commercially produced as a children’s toy was Boston-based J. Belcher’s “The History and Adventures of Little Henry” in 1812. The dolls accompanied a children’s book and were designed to act out various scenes as the narratives unfolded (Source).

Early paper dolls came in books, boxes, folders, magazines, newspapers, and advertisements. By the 1920s and 1930s, most paper dolls came in a book with the doll figures on the cardboard covers and the clothing on the paper pages within (Source).

Paper dolls were most popular during World War II probably because materials needed for other kinds of toys were directed to the war effort (Source).

First celebrity paper doll: A doll portraying the renowned ballerina Marie Taglioni, published in the 1830s (Source).

Paper dolls declined in popularity in the 1960s and 70s, and some blame Mattel’s Barbie. With her fashionable wardrobe, Barbie fulfilled much of the same fantasy play role as paper dolls. Paper dolls’ heyday endured over one hundred years (Source).

Paper dolls as artifacts illustrate the social expectations for women at particular moments in time. As products of both popular culture and mass marketing, paper dolls are intentionally designed to reflect that society’s idealized version of womanhood. The dolls’ little paper wardrobes communicate a wealth of information about the ideal woman of the past (Source).

For an excellent historical breakdown of the history of paper dolls, please check out ‘The Original Paper Doll Artists Guild” blog post HERE.

Make sure you also check out from the ‘National Women’s History Museum’, “History of Papper Dolls and Popular Culture“. Another great look into it’s history.

Beautiful Examples of Vintage Paper Dolls


Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from Etsy and eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. 

Note: If you click on an item and it is no longer available, don’t fret! The websites I have provided are updated daily with 1000’s of new & vintage items. Just do a quick search and see what you find.


The 1920’s

“Sister Nell Goes to a Party”. Gorgeous art deco flapper (1920s) paper doll with her party wardrobe.

1920s Vintage Paper Dolls - "Sister Nell Goes to a Party". Gorgeous art deco flapper (1920s) paper doll with her 1920s party wardrobe.

Source: Etsy

1920s Paper Dolls featuring ‘The Angel Family’-The Women Folks. Very stylish 1920s Fashions!

1920s Paper Dolls featuring 'The Angel Family'-The Women Folks. Very stylish 1920s Fashions!

Source: Etsy

The 1930’s

Tillie the Toiler in her 1930s fashions.

1930s Fashion-Tillie the Toiler paper dolls.

Source: The paper collection

Who was Tillie the Toiler? She is a newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Russ Westover who initially worked on his concept of a flapper character in a strip he titled Rose of the Office. With a title change, it sold to King Features Syndicate which carried the strip from January 3, 1921 to March 15, 1959.

Stylish working girl Tillie was employed as a stenographer, secretary and part-time model. An attractive brunette, she had no problem finding men to escort her around town. Comics historian Don Markstein described the story situations:

Tillie (last name Jones) toiled for a fashionable women’s wear company run by clothing mogul J. Simpkins. Or usually did, anyway—she’d occasionally quit or be fired, as the plotline, which ran at breakneck pace and didn’t always make perfect sense, required. During World War II, in fact, she even joined the U.S. Army. But she always came back to Simpkins. Mostly, she worked in his office, but she also did a little modeling. Whatever she did and wherever she went, however, she was impeccably dressed in the very latest styles. (Except when she was in the army, of course.) This helped her in the pursuit of charming and often wealthy young men, who came and went at an alarming rate, providing grist for the story mill. She did, however, have one steady male associate, Clarence “Mac” MacDougall, a short, bulb-nosed co-worker who loved her persistently even though she returned little of the feeling (Source).

PLEASE NOTE: It appears from my high level research that the paper dolls were not seen until the 1930s as I cannot find any examples of 20’s fashions on Tillie in this format (please let me know if I am wrong in the comment section).

Tillie the Toiler 1930s comic strip

Source: www.blackgate.com

“Tillie the Toiler Fashion Parade”. 1930s Evening Desses for a fun night out on the town.

1930s paper doll for Tillie the Toiler. Fun 1930s fashions

Source: Paper Doll Convention

The next 2 dolls is from the Sunday Funny newspaper paper doll section of TOOTS & CASPER by Jimmy Murphy.

Toots and Casper was a long-run family comic strip by Jimmy Murphy, distributed to newspapers for 37 years by King Features Syndicate, from December 17, 1918 to December 30, 1956. The strip spawned many merchandising tie-ins, including books, dolls, paper dolls, pins, bisque nodders and comic books (Source).

1930s Paper Doll: Sunday Funny newspaper paper doll section of TOOTS & CASPER by Jimmy Murphy.

Source: eBay

1930s Men’s fashion for Casper’s paper doll.

1930's Paper Doll: Great Old Toots & Casper Sunday Funnies Paper Doll, 1930’s mens fashion

Source: eBay

Adorable vintage 1930s ladies awaiting their clothes. Let’s see what stylish 30’s fashions we have….

1930s vintage paper dolls featuring dolls in 1930s swimsuits and their 1930s fashions.

Source: Etsy

The 1940’s

Even in paper form, 1940s Lana Turner is still so stylish.

Vintage 1940s Lana Turner Movie Star Paper Dolls with Outfits

Source: Etsy

Who is a fan of the movie a “League of their Own?” ME ME ME!!! I have seen that movie a million times and it really was one of the reasons I got into blogging and focusing on 1940s content…a lot! Anyways, here is a downladable paper doll from “Retro Paper Dolls” that will make your dreams of becoming a Rockford Peach a reality (well in paper format)!

When your done with this blog post, make sure you check out an archived post I did all about the “All-American Girls Baseball League” (it’s super fun with great photos!).

1940's Retro Style Baseball Player Paper Doll Printable - League of their own Rockford Peach.

Source: Etsy

Have you ever wanted to play dressup with Bette Davis 1940s wardrobe? Here is your chance, with this 1940s vintage paper doll book. See inside HERE.

1940s Bette Davis Wardrobe paper doll

Source: eBay

Tillie the Toiler is still around in the 1940s and still sporting those stylish threads.

1940s vintage paper doll of Tillie the Toiler in 1940s fashions.

Source: AJH shop

Before I close out the 1940s, take a moment to read this heartwarming story about a father who drew a paper doll & her 1940 wardrobe for his beloved daughter. The collection still exists today! Take a read HERE.

1940s Paper Doll with 1940s fashions.

Source: Union Bulletin

The 1950’s

Torchy

Torchy Togs was a paper doll cut-out panel that educated Black Women on how and when to wear exquisite fashions by Jackie Ormes.

The Torchy Brown character was the first positive Black female character to ever appear in her own syndicated comic strip.

Who was Jackie Ormes?

Excerpt from ‘The Museum of Uncut Funk’: 

Jackie became the first nationally syndicated Black woman cartoonist in 1937. The “Torchy Brown” series first appeared in the Black-owned Pittsburgh Courier in 1937, and eventually appeared in fourteen syndicated newspapers. Ormes’s strips depicted Blacks in a very different fashion which was not the norm of her day. Typically Blacks were shown as servants or exaggerated caricatures of the “Buckwheat” or “Steppin Fetchit” variety. In contrast, Ormes’s female characters were independent and strong.  Jackie Ormes said “I have never liked dreamy little women who can’t hold their own” (Source).

Torchy Brown in her 1952 fashions. I love all the outfits featured below!

1950s Vintage Paper Doll: Torchy Togs, 1952 Black Women Paper Doll

Source: Museum of Uncut Funk

1950s reproduction of ‘Merry Teens Paper Dolls’ featuring the cute outfits one would wear to a barn dance.

1950s Teen Fashions as seen in paper dolls-Merry Teens.

Source: eBay

And because I am loving all the paper dolls on Retro Paper Dolls Etsy Store, here is one more. This Back To School Paper doll is a fun take on the vintage styles of the 1950s!

This Back To School Paper doll is a fun take on the vintage styles of the 1950s! Featuring a Black Girl as the paper doll

Source: Etsy

Katy Keene, America’s Illustrated Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions. Her style is fantastic and I would put every single piece in my closet if they were real.

Note: The fish purse in the bottom right…YOOZA! Totally my kitschy style.

1950s Fashions as seen on katy Keene Paper Doll

Every issue of Katy Keene Comics in the 1950s devoted one page to paper dolls — sometimes featuring Katy, sometimes Gloria, sometimes Katy’s little sister. Here is some of her 1956 looks (Source).

Katy Keene Paper doll from 1956 fashion illustration featuring 1950s fashions.

Source: Flickr

1950s Wedding Party. Bride, Groom, Bridesmaid and Flower Girl and their 1950s outfits. I’m getting a Marvelous Mrs Maisel vibe with these dolls.

Click HERE to see more of the outfits (P.S. the set is no longer available but you can still see the listing).

1950s Vintage Paper Dolls: 5 Vintage Wooden Wedding Party Bride Groom Paper Dolls and Clothes

Source: Etsy

The 1960’s

Now here is the 1960s Bridal Party paper doll set. Fun 1960s fashions!

1960s Vintage Paper Dolls: Vintage 1960's Bridal Party Paper Doll
Vintage 1960's Bridal Party Paper Doll
Vintage 1960's Bridal Party Paper Doll

Source: eBay

I don’t know who Tina is but she has some cute 1960s outfits & hairstyles for her collection of paper doll fashions.

1960's TINA PAPER DOLLS. 1960s fashion and 1960s hairstyles

Pick your 1960s hairtyles for Tina (what look do you like?).

1960s hairstyles as seen on a 1960s vintage tina paper doll set

1960s Fashions for Springtime, Vacation and Christmas Looks.

1960s paper doll fashions-1960s fashions for springtime, vacation and Christmas looks.

Source: Bonanza.com

I cannot possibly end this post without sharing BARBIE paper dolls. The ultimate doll in paper form.

Here is a 1964 Barbie & her little sister Skipper.

1964 BARBIE & SKIPPER PAPER DOLLS. 1960s fashions.
1964 BARBIE & SKIPPER PAPER DOLLS. 1960s fashions.
1960s fashions for the barbie paper dolls. winter fashions for skating and fashions for evenings out
1964 BARBIE & SKIPPER PAPER DOLLS. 1960s fashions.

Source: Bonanza.com

I will now leave you with the Paper Doll Song by the Mills Brothers. Enjoy!

PLUS..Please share in the comment section below if you were a collector ( I would love to know!).

Source: Etsy

Liz