ABSTRACT
Kewpies, possessing the essence of infant charm with rounded tummies, golden topknots and a pair of tiny blue wings, first appeared as drawings to illustrate Rose O'Neill's poems in a series originating in the Ladies' Home Journal in 1909. This series was followed by paper doll Kewpies in the same magazine and, later by demand, bisque Kewpies manufactured by the J. D. Kestner Company of Germany and distributed in North America by the George Borgfeldt Company. Eventually, in the post-World War II period, a small number of bisque Kewpies were imported again from Germany; however, by then the market for Kewpies was dominated by American companies. The early Kewpies were as popular with adults as with children. One popular custom consisted of dressing a pair of miniature Kewpies as bride and bridegroom, and placing them atop a wedding cake.
