I like the sturdier boxed paper dolls more than the ones in the folders

Whitman's boxed paper dolls are sturdier, made of a heavy cardboard, and come with plastic stands that support the dolls far more than the cardboard strips supplied with paper dolls in folders.  Of course, they cost more, too.

1974's #4336/7411 Newport Barbie and Ken paper dolls were one of umpteen Malibu-based paper dolls, and the only Malibu set I have in a box. I assume there are others.  These dolls came with all-Whitman designed outfits, including one that comes as a surprise!

The funky sunglasses pictured on the box are,
alas, not included.

Newport Barbie and Ken paper dolls actually look like teenagers,
which is ironic because the dolls themselves appear to be in their 20s!

Ken and Barbie look too dressed up to be grocery shopping!

Who knew that Barbie worked at McDonald's in 1974?!!!

Whitman must have a requirement
that all Barbie paper dolls
come with sailing outfits.

Sweet 16 paper dolls reprise

I previously wrote about the 1974 #1981 Barbie's Sweet 16 paper dolls in 2018. You can see the post here:  https://skippercollector.blogspot.com/2018/05/i-wish-i-knew-story-behind-these-outfits.html

Now I have another set that was uncut.  The clothes are a mixture of 1974 Mattel clothing and Whitman designs.  Two Barbie paper dolls are included.  The set must have been sold for a while because one folder I have says 69 cents and the other says 79 cents.

Barbie's Sweet 16 folder has a beautiful cover.

You will recognize some of these clothes,
although the green robe is reddish orange in real life.

Barbie was the original "glamper"

Long before the term "glamping" (glamour camping) was coined, Barbie and PJ went on a camping trip with way too many clothes, some of them very dressy.

One of the 1974 Whitman Barbie paper doll sets was #1951 Goin' Camping."  (Mattel has dropped the "g" dozens of times with Barbie accessories.)

In the clothes photograph, note the dressy yellow kimono pajamas and the long flowered sarong with a lei.

The dolls themselves show a combination of years.  Barbie has her blonde flip from her 1969 Twist N Turn swimsuit, and she wears her 1970 standard Barbie green and pink swimsuit.   PJ wears a Whitman swimsuit, but at least this time she has her blonde ponytails held by beads.

The outfits pictured on the front cover
of Goin' Camping are not included. 

The Barbie Goin' Camping paper doll set is rare.

Who brings kimono pajamas,
a jacket with fur trim
and a sarong to go camping?

There are many 1973 Barbie paper doll sets

Whitman's Magic paper dolls do not come with clothing with tabs.  You rub the clothing against something and they are supposed to stay on the doll via static electricity.  I guess the "rubbing" must stop working after a while, because I cannot get the clothes to stay on the 1973 #4302/7209 Barbie Magic Paper Doll.

This doll's clothes are again a combination of 1973 Mattel Best Buys and Whitman's own designs.  Some of the Mattel outfits are variations of the actual clothing.

Although not identified as such,
the doll pictured is Quick Curl Barbie.

 

The two dresses on the left are actual Mattel outfits.
The others are color variations of them.

Here are three examples of Whitman clothing designs
for the Barbie Magic paper doll.

1973 Barbie outfit names found outside of the clothing booklets

The 1973 paper doll set, #1954 Barbie Boutique, is the most sought-after of the 1970s Whitman Barbie paper dolls.  This is the folder that made up names that you sometimes see mentioned for the unnamed-in-the-booklet 1973 Barbie Best Buys.

Note that the Whitman designer tried to make the front and back covers looks three-dimensional buy gluing fabric trim of daisy chains and lace onto her (I assume it was a her) drawings.  The outfits are a combination of Mattel and Whitman creations.  On the back insert page (not shown) are Quick Curl Kelley's original green gown and a pink version of Quick Curl Francie's peasant dress.

Note the actual fabric trim on Barbie's blouse
and around the insets.

What is it with the ugly swimsuits
on paper dolls?

The green knee socks don't match
any of the outfits in Barbie's Boutique.

Country Camper paper dolls easy to find

1973's "Barbie Country Camper " paper dolls is easy to find.  I have three of the sets!

The stock number is #1990 and the cover features a lovely picture of Malibu Barbie (in Malibu PJ's swimsuit) in front of her Country Camper, with Ken and PJ in the front seat.  PJ has her ponytail beads but has Kelley's long red hair.  Their outfits are a conglomeration of clothing sold between 1969 and 1973 for Barbie, Ken and Francie.  The most unusual item is a set of three connected sleeping bags in which you can insert the dolls when you are done playing with them.

Barbie Country Camper has an exceptionally pretty cover 

I'm sure that Ken is happy to sleep between Barbie and PJ!

Whitman made great use of the Malibu doll line,
making numerous sets of Malibu paper dolls.

Is it legal to drive in your swimsuit,
like Barbie is doing?

Did you know that the Country Camper
is actually a Dodge conversion van?

.

Ken's Guruvy Formal is much "puffier" as a paper doll outfit.
It is similar to the costumes worn by the cast of the play and movie 1776.

Quick Curl paper dolls have color coordination problems

1973 must have been a big year for paper dolls, as I own a number of Barbie and family sets from that year.  "Quick Curl Barbie and her Paper Doll Friends," Whitman #1984, is the one from that year I am discussing today.

Although the dolls and outfits are attractive, their folder and their swimsuits are hideous, with clashing olive, magenta and maize colors that are almost nauseating to look at.  The folder itself is strangely made.  Rather than the inside horizontal pockets of the typical paper doll set, they are vertical on each side.  Handles fold out from each side, making a portfolio you can carry.

The oddest detail of all is that the paper dolls of Francie and Kelley should be switched, since Quick Curl Francie is a brunette and Kelley a redhead.

A unique feature of this set is that the dolls also came with wigs to wear.

The faces are pretty but the folder itself is ugly.

I guess that's Francie in the back.
Her hairstyle is correct but the red color is wrong,
and her dress is a variation of her yellow gown.

I don't ever remember seeing anyone in swimsuits like these in the 1970s!

Pull the handles out to make a portfolio to carry.

The dolls came with not only outfits but also wigs.
Barbie, in a blue and green variation
of her pink Quick Curl dress
looks like she borrowed hers from someone in Parliament!

1973 Living Skipper paper doll with unusually shaped folder

The design of the 1973 Whitman paper doll folder #1969 "Hi, I'm Skipper" is unique in that it is cut out to follow Skipper's outline.  There are probably other Whitman paper dolls with this type of folder, but I've never seen any.  The clothing is a combination of 1972 fashions and Whitman's own designs.

A a bubblegum machine is cleverly superimposed
over the photo of Skipper, making it look like she is touching it.

I didn't know that girls could buy purple underwear in the early 1970s!

No, I don't like those weird thigh high knit socks either.
Also, note that the blouse for Nifty Knickers is green
when it is supposed to be yellow.

The Malibu Skipper paper doll actually resembles real life!

Skipper got her own quasi-beach-themed paper doll set in 1973, #1952 Malibu Skipper.  This was the first paper doll set I purchased as an adult collector.

Except for a few outfits, most of the clothing would not be something you'd wear to the beach.  And I'm not sure why someone living in Malibu would need a winter coat!

Several of the outfits have clashing patterns, but they are not as obnoxious as the ones for the original Malibu Barbie paper dolls.

I do love the sailing outfit
including the life preserver on the front cover!

Now this looks like something
a girl in Malibu in 1973 would wear!

The skirt and blouse on the upper left
is a variation of Flower Fancy/School Starts
and the coat is a variation of Winter Day.

1972 saw the first of many Malibu paper dolls

Whitman sold its first Malibu Barbie and family paper dolls in 1972, a year after the Malibus were introduced in 1971.  This was the first of numerous Malibu paper dolls that Whitman created.

The first set, #1994, was called Malibu Barbie/The SunSet.  The covers and inside were very pretty, although for some reason Francie appears to have pale green hair.  Perhaps she swam too much in chlorinated pools?

However, the clothes are outlandish, even garish, in colors that do NOT coordinate well.  It hurts to look at them.  Only two of the outfits are Mattel products, and they both belong to Ken.

This set is very easy to find, as I have two sets with folders and a third set with just of a few dolls.  In fact, it must have been sold for several years because the first one I have was 69 cents and the second was 79 cents.

The same Malibu Francie paper doll returned in 1973 with her own set of clothes.  These clothes, although loud, are not ugly the way the first Malibu set was.

The cover of the 1972 Malibu SunSet paper dolls
makes Skipper look very young.  Note the two different prices.

The back of the Malibu SunSet folder is beautiful
and I am tempted to frame it!

The towels pictured in the inside of the Malibu SunSet folder
match what was actually sold with the dolls.

No idea why the Malibu Francie paper doll has green hair.
It's not that the color registration is off-
I have three of these and they all are that color.

Ken's clothes are "real," but Barbie's and Francie's are not
and hurt the eyes to look at!

Malibu Francie. wearing a revealing outfit,
returned in 1973 with her own paper doll set.

Combined with the previous set
 Malibu Francie has a lot of clothes!

A few of the 1973 outfits are revisions of actual Mattel clothing.
The chartreuse jacket and skirt are Smashin' Satin.

1970 Barbie and Ken paper doll set almost made me cry

I was delighted, and near tears, to discover that my paper doll haul included #1986 Barbie and Ken from 1970, as I had this set as a girl.  I stupidly sold it at a garage sale when I was in college.

It's near mint, except that the center page and some of the outfits are missing.  You can see two of the missing outfits on the back cover, the green striped and red bow dresses.  None of the clothes are Mattel designs.

There is also a cardboard poster to hang, and Barbie looks more like PJ on the poster.  I don't know who the paper doll Barbie looks like, but Ken looks like Rex Harrison to me.  I don't know who Barbie's clothes remind me of, but Ken's are very reminiscent of what David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman wore at the time.  In fact, I think Keith Partridge was seen several times wearing that blue outfit on The Partridge Family!

I owned set #1986 as a girl, and can't believe
I spent only 29 cents plus tax on it.

Although this set's clothing is all original Whitman designs,
the red dress is similar to the 1969 outfit Little Bow Pink.

Is this Barbie, or is it PJ?

An odd mix of fonts was used
for the text for this paper doll set.

Ken on the left as David Cassidy and as Rex Harrison on the right.

1968 paper doll set introduces Christie and Stacey

Although not mentioned as such, the 1968 Whitman set #1978 Barbie Christie and Stacey features the three talking dolls and numerous Mattel outfits.  I don't know if the sentences written on the inside folder are some of the things the dolls actually say.

The dolls come with a new type of stand that separates the legs a little, making the feet 3-dimensional to look like they are walking.  The dolls actually look like 16-year-old girls for once, but the way the clothes are drawn they look like they are for a woman in her late 20s or early 30s.

For once, all the clothes are Barbie's and not Francie's as well.  The most intriguing outfit is the rendition of Snug Fuzz, which looks more like a Chanel suit and less like something you'd wear to a funky party on a very cold day.

I believe this is the first paper doll set to feature Christie.  I've seen other sets with her, but I do not own them.

The 1968 Barbie Christie Stacey paper doll set
comes with newly designed stands.

This back of the 1968 Whitman set shows two Barbie outfits
that weren't in the clothing booklets,
Smasharoo (left) and Tunic N Tights (right).

Talking heads!  On the inside of the folder,
Barbie, Stacey and Christie are speaking into microphones.

Only Stacey wears her actual swimsuit.
Barbie and Christie have Whitman-designed ones.

Snug Fuzz looks like a Chanel suit, and the jacket can be worn over Knit Hit.
Snap Dash is prettier as a paper dress than an actual one.
The jumpsuit is Pajama Pow from 1967.