Remember playing with “cutouts”? Paper dolls that came in books–the dolls were on the cover, and a whole assortment of clothes was inside. We cut out the dolls, dressed them, and sat on the top step of our stoops playing for ages and ages. A world of fashion and fantasy for a dime–or a quarter for the good, heavyweight cut-out books. My friends Maria and Starlet and I bought our cutout books at Miltie’s candy store (on Dahill Road, Brooklyn). We kept the paper dolls and the clothes in shoe boxes. We had whole families–I remember that my favorite “mother” doll was Sheree North! (Celebrity cutout books were big!) Her family was usually baby triplets, who came in another book. This was several years before Barbie dolls, and I suspect we had just as much fun with the paper dolls as girls do with their Barbies today (if not more!).