A Fond Memory
glamor paper doll
steps out in a red sheath dress
her urbane escort
tall thin guy in a black tux
one leg taped up. Fell skiing –
that’s the story – but
they are a good-looking pair
sophisticated
and can they ever dance! Stars
shine on cardboard hearts in love.
1/16/20
tanka chain
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
Oh, I can imagine this couple, and they are very glamorous!
When I was really little, a couple of my older cousins used to stay with my grandmother for the summer (we lived nearby, they were out of town) and I would go over and spend quite a bit of time there. They included me in what they were doing and one of those things was playing paperdolls. I had my little girl paper dolls and they had sophisticated grown up ones. I have never forgotten the glamor of those paper people and their outfits and the swanky lives my cousins had them leading. This poem isfor that, and the mysterious life of glittering grownups!
I love that! My kids used to sometimes make paper dolls out of photos they cut out of magazines.
At home my mother used to get the old pattern books from the fabric store when the new ones came in, and once I was a bit older and could use scissors better that’s where we got all ours. I don’t recall ever having glamour paper dolls like my cousins did, though.
My mom never had pattern books 😀–well, perhaps when she was a kid because her mother sewed. I think I bought my kids some old fashioned looking Little Women paper dolls once.
This poem conjures up some lovely childhood memories for me. I was never into making paper dolls as such but one of my sisters and I used to make stick puppets out of cardboard and we would use them to put on plays, using a decorated cardboard box as a theatre. My Granddad was always our audience and was always very encouraging.
I had all kinds of paper dolls over the years. Most cut from discarded fabric pattern books. Which was good because then I could have a huge population!
My friends and I played paper dolls on our screened in porch. We used to make clothing for them complete with the little tabs. We must have used my mother’s magazines–I don’t remember the details, just what fun we had. (K)