For sale is a 1940 PAPER DOLL of ACTRESS GLORIA JEAN with a variety of outfits. The sale includes three different dolls of Gloria Jean when she was about 14 years old. Each of the three dolls features a different pose. Each doll stands about 10 inches tall. There is an assortment of different dresses and outfits for costume swaps. This is a cut set of the Saalfield #1661 book which was published in 1940. A great collectible vintage toy of a Hollywood starlet.
Gloria Jean was an American actress and singer. She started appearing in movies in 1929 at the age of 13. However, Universal’s publicity department claimed the singer was 11 years old. Her actual age was not well known by the public for many decades. She continued her career as an actress as an adult. Between 1939 and and 1959, she starred or co-starred in 26 feature films and made numerous radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances. She is probably best remembered today for her 1941 appearance with W.C. Fields in the film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.
A paper doll is a two-dimensional figure drawn or printed on paper for which accompanying clothing has also been made. The first manufactured paper doll was Little Fanny, produced by S&J Fuller, London, in 1810. The first American manufactured paper doll: was The History and Adventures of Little Henry, published by J. Belcher of Boston in 1812. In the 1820s, boxed paper doll sets were popularly produced in Europe and exported to America for lucky children. The first celebrity paper doll: A doll portraying the renowned ballerina Marie Taglioni, published in the 1830s. In 1840, a boxed set was done of another ballerina, Fanny Elssler, as well as of Queen Victoria. The 1930s through the 1950s was the “Golden Age of Paper Dolls,” as their popularity during those years has never been equaled. During the Great Depression, paper toys could be afforded by all. Despite the product shortages of World War II, paper dolls were still manufactured. Celebrities and movie stars were very popular with all the major publishers. It was much simpler to portray stars in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, when rights were generally not secured. Studios often “owned” movie stars and their images, and the stars themselves never saw any income from their sale as paper dolls.
