As thoughts turn to holiday gifts, let us remember interactive toys from the pre-Xbox age. Paper dolls, for example. These artful, tactile playthings have done more than document styles through the decades. They also reflect attitudes and social change, sometimes as graphically as editorial cartoons. Proof, along with a fascinating holiday outing, can be found at the Anacostia Community Museum’s new exhibition, “200 Years of Black Paper Dolls.”
What a wholly absorbing blend of visual culture, social history, fashion and nostalgia for the scissors-driven pastime! Collected by Arabella Grayson, author, historian, model and five-year D.C. resident, the selections range from shockingly derogatory stereotypes to positive portrayals mirroring 1950s and ‘60s civil rights progress.
