Book Review: Harry and Meghan – The Wedding Paper Dolls – The Perfect Gift for Young and Old

Harry & Meghan – The Wedding Paper Dolls

By: Eileen Rudisill Miller

Are you tired of electronic beeps and bells coming from the hands of your children and grandchildren? I have a wonderful solution that will entertain them and you, as well as bring back fond memories. Paper dolls. Not just any paper dolls, but real prince and princess paper dolls just waiting for you and your child to enjoy.

Harry and Meghan are the stars of this fun and informative book. The first page features the Meghan doll as well as interesting facts about who she is. The following pages have two to three outfits each, some include her fabulous hats, each one ready to cut out and try on the Meghan doll. The descriptions will jog memories for moms and grandmas as well as older children. It is fun to read which designer made each dress as well as the event Meghan wore it to. The younger set might just be exited to get down to serious playtime, skipping the designer details.

Harry, the young prince that most of us of a certain age remember being born back in 1984, appears towards the back of the book. He will look dashing in his tuxedo or his Savile Row ceremonial frock coat uniform of the British Army’s Blues and Royals. Who doesn’t love a man in uniform?

Harry & Meghan The Wedding Paper Dolls are also perfect for anyone that collects British Royal items. The book includes the beautiful ensembles as well as sniplets of information and is sure to become a collector’s item.

With the holidays coming up soon, think about the quiet time your child will enjoy with Harry & Meghan. You can settle down with a cup of tea, help them use scissors if they are smaller and just enjoy a few quiet moments together. Soon enough they will grow up and it will be real wedding dresses and tuxedos for them instead of paper dolls.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy from Dover Publications in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Copyright © 2018 Laura Hartman

Writing 101 Day 19 – Paperdolls

Today’s post is a challenge to write 400 words, straight through without stopping, thinking, going back or changing what is already written. Getting 400 words down on paper isn’t a problem for me. The part about no re-writes, going back, changing order, etc is the exact opposite of my usual style. I like to get all the thoughts out of my head regarding a subject, and then organize them later. But, I’ll give you what would probably be a rambling post much like my conversations.

Today’s topic for me is paper dolls. I guess it depends upon your age what you think of when you hear “paper dolls”. For some reason one of my aunts was talking about them on email yesterday. Every day we start an email string with my dad, great-aunt, cousin, aunt and me. Usually just a hello, checking in kind of thing to make sure everyone is upright and taking nourishment.

So anyway, my soon to be 81 year old aunt (who is still working full time I might add) mentioned paper dolls in one of her emails. Don’t know how it came up. I replied that I used to LOVE paper dolls. They were a great source of fun for a small amount of money. My other aunt chimed in and said she had a huge box of them that she used to play with on my grandma’s (her mom’s) bed for hours.

For you youngsters in the group, back in the late 50’s early 60’s when I played with them; they came like a coloring book. The doll or dolls were cardboard and usually cut out of the cover. Then the clothes were the pages. At first you had to carefully cut them all out. Mom had to help because what 5 year old is coordinated enough to cut out tiny pieces of paper accurately? Each piece had little tabs that you folded over the shoulder of your cardboard doll to keep the clothes from falling off. 

Sometimes there was a half circle piece of cardboard that had a slit cut in the top to go with the doll. You slipped it on their feet so they could stand up. The hats had little dotted lines to cut along so you could slip them on the paper doll’s head.

Picture if you will a 5 year old playing with a thin piece of cardboard folding even thinner pieces of paper over and over again taking clothes on and off this wonderful new toy. By week 2 repairs were in order. Mom used available (read free) repair tactics. When the doll’s head lolled forward because the tiny neck got bent, she taped a Popsicle stick to the back like a wooded spine. I was happy to eat the Popsicle to provide said stick. If a dress ripped, she taped it. When a tab ripped off, paperclips were provided to keep it from falling down.

Paper dolls provided hours of very inexpensive entertainment, and surprisingly they are still sold. I checked on Amazon and eBay. You can buy vintage or brand spanking new. They even have magnetic ones. Word of caution, I am not really sure just how Popsicle sticks and tape could ever fix those if they broke. They also have downloadable paper dolls that you can cut out like the old fashioned ones for free! I would suggest gluing the doll to some cardboard to save yourself irritation. Just sayin’.

While I was on the internet, I decided to see who made the first paper dolls. Apparently the first ones date back to 1810, the first in the US 1820. Betsy McCall paper dolls used to be included in McCall’s magazine. That was a bit before my time.

(paper doll images from Google)

Lastly, a warning: when you type “paper dolls” into the search on your computer, apparently a group of pole dancers calling themselves The Paper Dolls are more popular than the children’s toy. So watch what you click on.