The G.E.M. PAPER DOLL

Another repost, this one from January 2, 2010. The reason is that I've heard from someone related to the man who ran this company that I was curious about. The following was provided by reader Intense Guy:

It's a really small world. George E. Mousley was my (3x) Great Uncle. George was an importer of paper goods, Christmas stockings and novelties.

His brother, Charles, is my 3x grandfather.

George Edward Mousley (2 JUN 1862 - 17 AUG 1940) married Emma Louise Dakenwadel (26 APR 1866 - 21 OCT 1946). He had a shop at Fifth and Ranstead Street (the building is no longer there - it was removed when they created "Independence Mall," the home of the Liberty Bell. In fact, the building that houses the bell looks out across a lawn that was his store.

George moved out of the city (for the summers) when his daughter married a man named Seward around 1910. G.E.M. then had a store on the boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ (just south of Atlantic City.) It was at this time he started with publishing postcards. When he died, someone bought the business and moved it to Rhode Island - I know they made large posters of "Mickey Mantle" holding a bat for young boys to practice throwing pitches at/past.

George's biggest claim to fame was the creation of the toy filled Christmas stocking - the doll's dress paper you show, may have been stuffed in such a stocking. He imported nearly all his merchandise. 

 Thank you Intense Guy!

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Okay ephemera people out there, specifically paperdoll people. I'm giving you a challenge. Actually what I'm doing is begging for help.

Below you will see the subject of my quandary. This little paperdoll is old and brittle. It came in a box I purchased on ebay years ago. The seller bought it from a fellow who bought it from an estate sale. It had once belonged to a librarian who paid $10 for it. Since it was just one of many paperdolls in the box it cost me about $4. The problem is I have never seen anything about these G.E.M. cut out dolls. Obviously the box/doll goes with only two of the outfits, the other two being for a boy. So this means there must have been a series of these dolls, both boys and girls, but I've found zip/nada/nothin'! Not one of the reference books shows this. I've found nothing online referencing these dolls.

So I'm throwing it out there onto the net in hopes I'll be able to pull back some sort of catch. Any ideas? Anyone?

Click on image to see it larger.

UPDATE: If you look at the comments section you'll find one from Lauren Sodano at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. She has provided the information that this doll was most likely published by the George E. Mousley Company that was located in Philadelphia. I did a little googling and can't find much about the company other than a few games that were produced in the late 1950s. I did however find a couple postcards that were published by a "George E. Mousley"in 1910 so perhaps that is how this company started. I also found a listing at Ancestory.com for a George E. Mousley in Philadelphia, but I'm not a member of the site so I can't dig any further.

So keep your eyes open for "G.E.M. BRAND", "Geo. E. Mousley" or "George E. Mousley" because sooner or later there must be something about this company and its origins.

And special thanks to Lauren Sodano of the Strong National Museum of Play for sending me this information.

UPDATE 2: This is really getting interesting because it looks like what we have here is some, shall we say, "cross pollination" in the paper toy world. Linda from The Paper Collector has put out a call about this doll and received the following from Peggy Ell:

Hi Linda,

The doll's body is Janet from American Colortype, but her head is different, can't place it. The clothing is from Universal - see pgs 311 & 312 in Mary's 20th Century book.

Peg

Indeed Peg is right on the mark. The clothing on pgs. 311 & 312 in Mary Young's 20th Century Paper Dolls guide do match these clothes attributed to the Universal Toy and Novelty Mfg. Co. And the doll body on the back of the box above does match the American Colortype doll Janet which is on pg. 12, but not the head.

So was there outright theft by one company using images from another company? It's pretty common to find dolls used over and over again by one particular company. There were several dolls on the market that were simply Shirley Temple without Shirley. Same clothing, but the dolls were changed. But, as I recall, this was generally done within in one company that owned the original art work. I've never seen parts of a set coming from so many directions.

The Universal Toy and Novelty Mfg. Co. was based in Chicago and one of the things they produced were baseball cards as can be seen here and here and pull-toys as shown here. And of course the paper dolls shown on pgs. 311-312 in Mary Young's guide.

So, how did all of these bits-and-pieces end up together in the hands of George E. Mousley in Philadelphia at G.E.M. Brand? The mystery gets more complex.

Let's see if any other information surfaces.

SAMUEL E. LOWE and Violet Idelle Higgins in 1916

This is a repost from January 12, 2012 because of the following comment I received. I thought paper doll collectors might find this interesting.

I just discovered this site, so a belated answer to those who wonder if this is the same Samuel Lowe from the Golden Books and Lowe paper doll books. Yes, my father wrote many of the books for the authors who had written for Whitman Publishing before it became part of Golden Books and was also creator of the classic doll cut-out books.
  —Richard Lowe

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This vintage children’s book was bought a couple years ago at an estate sale. What remains memorable is that there was a beautiful bookcase in the living room with many children’s books inside; such a rare thing to find at an estate sale. If there are children’s books they’re usually reprints or books from the last 20 years and pretty low end.

Click on any image to see it larger.

This book, The Camp Fire Girls Duty Call (1916), is from The Camp Fire Girls series written between 1912 and the 1930s. Though the author says Helen Hart a little net digging shows that this was just a pseudonym for Samuel E. Lowe (1890-1952). According to Wikipedia he wrote a total of 5 books in the series as Hart. You can find this information here. I'm not finding biographical information about Lowe, but he did write several other books including The Court of King Arthur.

If you look around online you'll find Samuel E. Lowe & Co. listed for a lot of comic books. I also found a reference for Lowe working for Western Printing and Lithographing Company. Whitman, publisher of this book, was a subsidiary of Western.

There is a college scholarship, Samuel E. Lowe Scholarship, established by Western. Same Lowe? I'm guessing so. I just can't find any definitive biography of this man. Perhaps someone will find this post and fill in some details.

As to information about the series, it’s spotty at best. I did find the following information at the University of Minnesota Libraries “Girls Series Books: A Checklist of Titles Published 1840-1991” list:

Note: Publication information on this series is still a puzzle. Many of the 
volumes have no copyright or publication date listed. Girls Series Companion 
1990 notes that chapters from volumes 2, 4, and 5 also appear in three of the 
MARY LEE books. (Mary Lee is also a character in the Camp Fire Girls 
series.) The NUC attributes volumes 5 and 7 to Samuel Edward Lowe under 
the pseudonym Helen Hart, and it is possible that others in the series are his 
work. The NUC attributes another book published by Whitman, Marigold's 
Pony (not part of the series), to Lowe under the pseudonym Howard B. 
Famous, but copies of Marigold's Pony have been seen with Rietz listed as 
author on the cover and Hart as author on the title page.

If you read enough of the notes at this site you’ll see why trying to pin down this series is so confusing. That said, let’s enjoy it for what it is. A book of a time period long gone.

The illustrator was Violet Idelle (Moore) Higgins (1886-1967) who attended the Art Institute of Chicago in the early 1900s. She illustrated children’s books, magazines, and even a weekly comic, Drowsy Dick. Click here to read a biography of Violet and her husband, Edward Roberts Higgins, also an artist.

You can click here to see more information about her methods and media.

Here and here are a few more of Higgins illustrations.

And let’s hear it for series books for girls. I remember when the San Francisco library was refusing to carry Nancy Drew books because they felt they weren’t literary enough. Balderdash! They were missing out on what girls series books have done for girls over the years. They were never meant to be literary. They were meant to give girls a different perspective as to what was possible. Yes, the stories were formula writing, but there was a comfort in seeing a girl triumph each time she set out to do something. Girls were able to see themselves in the world beyond the narrow path set for them by others. Not all series were created the same and I can’t say if the Camp Fire series challenged girls to think outside the box (an expression that should be boxed and put on the shelf), but if it helped girls feel good about themselves then it succeeded.

On FARNUM STREET in Omaha, Nebraska in 1908

This was going to be a quickie post; come in, drop the images, then leave. But if anyone knows me after following this site you'll know that an old piece of paper can lead me to a place I hadn't planned on.

Today I give you two businesses that existed across the street from each other in 1908 Omaha, Nebraska. I'll let the images I found in old newspapers at the Library of Congress tell the little stories.




Click on images to see them larger.

On the left side of the street you'll see Dresher Tailors.

April 20,1902, Omaha Bee



June 2, 1905, Omaha Bee



November 12,1905, Omaha Bee



April 8,1906, Omaha Bee



May 26,1907, Omaha Bee

October 13,1907, Omaha Bee

September 4,1910, Omaha Bee

October 2,1910, Omaha Bee

November 24, 1910, Omaha Bee

On the right side of the street you'll see Balduff's Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant.

November 20,1897, The Courier

November 24,1898, Omaha Bee

April 20,1902, Omaha Bee

November 5,1905, Omaha Bee

July 26,1906, Omaha Bee

June 26,1907, Omaha Bee

Want ad from The Ice Cream Trade Journal in 1908

The Ice Cream Trade Journal

November 14,1908, Omaha Bee

February 2,1909, Omaha Bee

March 20,1909, Omaha Bee

March 24,1909, Omaha Bee

April 10,1909, Omaha Bee

August 4,1909, Omaha Bee

August 3,1909, Omaha Bee

So the ice cream parlor did not survive and was running an ad the day after the takeover of their premises. I don't know what became of the tailor.

The MISSING DEPOT in Cheyenne, Wyoming

On May 26th I did a post about a post card of the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Today I feature what used to be across the street; a lovely old train depot.




Click on images to see them larger.

Looking online with Google I find that what's across the street now bears no resemblance to this fine train depot. There is now a large park with a different depot.

I read nothing but rave reviews about this park and depot, but I can't but wish that I'd been able to look out of a room of the Plains Hotel across 16th Street to the old depot on this card with trains pulling in. Better than a freeway onramp.

The post card was published by Harry Heye Tammen. You can read a bit more about him by clicking on his name in the labels below.

And click here to see another post card of the old depot. According to the sign in this shot, this was also a bus depot.

MAYBE I'M DEAD by Joe Klass

In honor of Memorial Day.

Dell 1st edition 1958. Publication copyright 1955.




Click on images to see them larger.

In January 1945 the Russian offensive had reached within seven miles of the somber prison camp at Sagan.  The prisoners' dreams were agonizingly close to being realized.  Then, with only four hours notice, they were ordered to march west, away from freedom into more months of captivity.


Out into the night, therefore, the long, winding column began the march.  Some men proved to be heroes; in some the moral fiber snapped.  Under the unbearable ordeal some sank down by the road and died.  Some few rose to the heights of sacrifice.  To all of them as they huddled in the icy winds, memories returned at intervals, heartbreaking memories of days when they were free and proud and owned the sky.

How more than ten-thousand freezing men survived and nearly three-thousand fell by the wayside to be shot or frozen to death is an agonizing tale by one who was actually there and personally experienced the horror and lived to write this unforgettable portrait of what actually happened to these unsung heroes of World War II. 



Maybe I'm Dead is an epic account of what young men in history's greatest human conflict suffered so all of us may enjoy the prize they won for us--unfettered, unabashed freedom. (SOURCE: Joe Klass)  

A current edition of this book is available at Amazon. Sadly I cannot make out the name of the illustrator of this vintage cover. If I do I'll post what information I find.