INF 386E: Understanding and Planning Exhibits is pleased to announce the opening of All Dolled Up: Playing with Identity in 1940s Paper Dolls. The exhibition is open to the general public as well as UT Austin students, staff, and faculty, and can be found on the first floor of the iSchool (UTA), classroom 1.506, 1616 Guadalupe St, Austin TX, 78701.
Are you ready to get All Dolled Up? Curated by the iSchool’s Planning and Understanding Exhibits class, All Dolled Up: Playing with Identity in 1940s Paper Dolls is an exhibit about celebrity, identity, play, and, yes, paper dolls. Come learn about how 1940s views of women were reflected in the paper dolls of the era, and play with your own identity, as you make your own paper doll!
This exhibit features eleven paper doll books from a collection donated to the University’s School of Human Ecology. The display brings together a selection of paper dolls that demonstrate the cultural messages conveyed to young girls in the 1940s. From stewardesses to WWII patriots to starlets, the paper dolls depict an idealized feminine appearance that influenced the way young girls constructed their own private and public identities. The exhibit includes paper dolls of classic Hollywood movie stars such as Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Claudette Colbert, and child actress Jane Withers.
There will be a reception for the exhibit held at 2:30-3:30 on Thursday, November 10 with include free food and activities.
More information on the exhibition can be found on the course’s Instagram page as well as an online version of the exhibit materials.
If you have any questions, please contact at alldolledupexhibit@gmail.com.
