Tom Tierney, Paper Doll Artist, Dies at 85

I'll venture to guess that every one of us has owned or at least seen some of Tom Tierney's paper doll books in our lives. Just looking back at them now, I want so many.

 From the mid-1970s until his death, Mr. Tierney reigned as “the undisputed king” of the international paper-doll world, as The New York Times wrote in 1999 — a milieu that comprises thousands of collectors in the United States alone. Over the years, he created more than 400 paper-dolls books, most issued by Dover Publications.

A message from Dover Publishers:

"Everyone at Dover—and his legion of fans—is deeply saddened by the passing of Tom Tierney on July 12, 2014. One of our most beloved authors, Mr. Tierney created over 275 books for Dover, including dozens of bestselling paper dolls, with subjects ranging from U.S. presidents to popular movie stars. As one of America's foremost authorities on fashion history, Tom's books are famous for being meticulously researched and beautifully rendered and his works are prized by designers, collectors, and paper doll lovers around the world. We've put together a collection of books by the King of Paper Dolls to help you celebrate his life and work. For, as he once said, "My books can be a way to discover things that you weren't taught in school. And I like to think that they bring their subjects to life for readers, just the way they do for me when I work on them." For more about Mr. Tierney, use this link to read the exclusive interview "For My Work Is My Pleasure: A Talk with Tom Tierney." 

A page from Dover's Tierney offerings.

Tom illustrated the unsual (for a) paper doll:

Historical:

Pop culture:

 

Fashion:

Official web site of paper doll artist Tom Tierney

Dover still offers more than 125 of Tom's books for sale here:

http://doverpublications.ecomm-search.com/search?keywords=Tom+Tierney&sort_by_field=Popularity

Re: Email from Jose´ not showing up for subscribers >>

To my subscribers:
Several people have informed me that the email from Jose´ is not showing up. I apologize for that. If you click on the name of my blog in your email, it will take you to the blog page where I have changed the color of the email to make it appear.
The problem was I copied his email onto my blog post and the background (black) was hiding the text which was also black. Long story...it's better now although it doesn't look too cool.
Terri

Jose´ Ferrand, Designer

This afternoon I received a lovely email from Jose´ Ferrand who designed many of the Ashton Drake fashions produced for Gene Marshall and Madra. Here is what he wrote:

Dear Teri,

I was the first (chronologically) of the "second batch" of Gene designers during the Ashton Drake years. Designing for her was the most enjoyable work I had ever done; it was like playing with dolls for a living. Aside from that, she proved to be a much needed balm to soothe the immense pain of losing so many friends to AIDS in the Nineties and provided many hours of quiet solace. I'll be forever grateful to Mel and Joan (Greene) for those years. 

PS: It was nice to see "Belle of the Ball" in purple and green in Sandra's collection.

Jose´ is referring to the images I posted here. I would love to meet Jose´ and hear his story of that time. Perhaps I can get Sandra to invite him to an event. 

Some of his designs (left to right) After Hours, Stardust Memories, Cat Walk, To Have and To Hold:

See more on the Gene Marshall Wiki: Items designed by Jose´ Ferrand