Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thursday Tab- Flower Fairies and Brownies, from Jack and Jill Magazine






















I didn't have a subscription to the Jack and Jill magazine as a kid, but my school did, and all of the grade school girls would clamor for the the latest release so we could check it out and trace the paper dolls that were the center spread in every issue (there used to be paper dolls everywhere- magazines, newspapers, on the backs of cereal boxes). I specifically remember the Flower Fairy dolls, and how much I loved the flower outfits.

These dolls were drawn by Rae Owings, and they're obviously related. I saw a notation on the net that The Flower Fairy set was published in Feb 1965, but that sounds wrong because I would have been in the 7th grade by then, and I remember these from grade school (say 4th or 5th grade) (I hadn't outgrown paper dolls by Jr. High, I just went underground with them, and I doubt my Jr High library had a sub to Jack and Jill). On the other hand, maybe one of my younger sisters checked this issue out and brought it home. Sisters, do you remember these?

10 comments:

Karen said...

I got Jack and Jill magazine, courtesy of my grandmother! Later on I graduated to Highlights for Children, which wasn't nearly as visually interesting, but J&J had some cool stuff. Thanks for the memory jog!

murdo said...

Bit embarrassing to say BUT you have an award :)
http://piratepurls.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I don't remember these as much as I do Betsy McCall. And of course my favorite Janet Lennon paper dolls
#4

LizzieHelen said...

Yesterday I was looking at some recent Haute Doll Magazines--which seem to have replaced Barbie Bazaar at our library--to see why a patron had objected to it (!) and discovered several pages in each of....Paper dolls. Fashionable ones. Very cute! and drawn by Siyi Lin [see pictures from the mag for "Susie" dolls at this E-bay site; this seller has other "pages" of paper dolls, too.] Looks like the Haute Doll Magazine has them every issue. Obviously they are still popular--and not just for kids, since these magazines are for serious adult fashion doll collectors.

gypsyknits said...

I didn't have the magazine but I went "underground" with my dolls during jr high school:)
Thank you for sharing these and your patterns. I enjoy them:) t

The Fox Den said...

I found your blog while searching for a felt fairy pattern, and loved the paper dolls you posted. My grandmother subscribes to M.E.'s Home Companion Magazine, and saves the paper doll page from every issue for my daughter. By the way, do you have any ideas / suggestions as to how to make a felt fairy like this (http://store.imaginechildhood.com/limitededition.aspx)? Liked your blog, I'll be checking in on it from time to time.

Anonymous said...

I wil be selling kits in January 2009 for the fairies.

Check back at imaginchildhood.com
January 2009

Deb

WOODBURY CONNECTICUT said...

Thank you so much for posting these. I agree with you on the date. Perhaps they were published earlier and repeated in a later issue of the magazine. I remember finding them in Jack and Jill — it was the most magical moment of the summer. I was visiting my grandmother in "the country" and she bought the magazine for me at the grocery store.
I brought my beloved flower fairy dolls back to Brooklyn with me. My best friend and I spent days copying these lovely dolls, drawing new clothes for them and imagining their world. I don't remember the year—only the magic. But it couldn't have been later than 1962, since I was born in 1952. I too hid my love for my dolls in Junior High School. I've looked for these for years, and it was a summer pleasure to see them once again!

Anita said...

Thank you so much for posting these. I had this issue and my mom threw them out with a lot of other magazines when we got older. Thanks for bringing back a special part of my childhood!

They might have been published before 1965. We moved out of an apartment in the fall of that year and I do remember having the magazine when we lived in the apartment.

Unknown said...

The date on the boy fairy doll was May 1962. I recently found part of that set and could read the date