If and when we think of vintage paper dolls, we quite naturally picture the female variety — a Betty Grable or a Betty Boop stripped down to her lacy teddy and camisole, and provided with trunks full of accessorized outfits for every occasion.

But there were paper boys as well over the years, the guys who were supplied with terry cloth robes and tuxes to place over their skivvies.

And more than you might imagine. It all began with Napoleon around 1840 — though we never did get to see him in his undies. But he did have several changes of uniforms. The Little Emperor was followed by Kaiser Wilhelm II and a number of other royal and military figures of the period. One of the first civilian (despite his title) celebrities to be a cutout was Gen. Tom Thumb, in a beautifully lithographed set produced by Loughlin Brothers around 1864.

But it was the paper dolls of movie stars that really caught the public's fancy. The forerunner was probably a Charlie Chaplin pantine (or jointed pasteboard doll) made about 1919. Before long, several newspapers were presenting a star and his/her wardrobe every Sunday in the comics section. In October 1919, for example, Douglas Fairbanks appeared in his underwear and garters in the Boston Sunday Post, and a few years later, Chaplin and Jackie Coogan were seen in the St. Louis Globe Democrat.

The St. Louis Post Dispatch printed 252 sets of motion-picture paper dolls from November 1931 to 1936, about half of which were men. Among them were Maurice Chevalier, Clark Gable, William Powell, Frederic March, Oliver Hardy, Charles Laughton, W. C. Fields (the last three considerably slenderized), Leslie Howard, Eddie Cantor and many others. Laura Brock paper dolls of Wallace Beery, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, et al, were seen in such papers as the Los Angeles Times and The Mobile Press Register in 1934.

In 1925, Woman's Home Companion magazine presented a series of paper dolls featuring screen children of both genders. Coogan, for example, appeared fully dressed as Oliver Twist, surrounded by costumes from his other movies: "Long Live the King," "Boy of Flanders," "Ragman" and "Little Robinson Crusoe." There were no tabs on these clothes, but there was a helpful hint to solve the problem: "A wee bit of beeswax will help to keep the costume in place."

In 1934, commercial artist Constantin Alajalov drew a clever satire on the paper doll craze in Vanity Fair magazine, depicting such renowned figures as J. Pierpont Morgan (with pirate costume), Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein in a "relativity suit" and "anti-Nazi" armor, with a Star of David on his shield.

It was in the early 1940s that beefcake entered the picture. One of the most popular and collectible cutout books of all time was "Gone With the Wind," the two versions of which featured an extremely virile Clark Gable. From then on, it seemed that every important male star had his own book, from the cowboy heroes like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers to heartthrobs from Tyrone Power to Rock Hudson to young (at the time) favorites like Mickey Rooney ("All-American Boy").

The '50s saw a boom in television show-inspired paper doll books, enabling kids to snip out and dress Greg, Peter and Bobby of "The Brady Bunch," the Cartwright members of the "Bonanza" clan, Edd "Kookie" Burns, Jackie Gleason, Eddie Albert of "Green Acres" and many more. When recording star Pat Boone got his own ABC television show, he also got a cutout book, and later, Elvis and Beatles fans got the chance to dress and undress their idols.

Later, paper boys included Ronald Reagan, who was depicted on the cover of the "First Family Cut-Out Book," in his patriotic undershorts.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, most recently "Beyond Ava & Aidan: The Enlightened Guide to Naming your Baby" (St. Martin's Press). Visit her baby names website at http://nameberry.com. She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.