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Janet Laura Scott (1888–1968)
Artist Bio:
Janet Laura Scott (Berry) was born in Augusta, Wisconsin, to George and Laura Scott. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and began her career drawing greeting cards for the P. F. Volland Company, which was so impressed by her work that they sent her to Germany for a year of design study. Janet also created storybooks for Volland and, according to her obituary, served as the company’s art director for many years, during the same period when Johnny Gruelle was writing his Raggedy Ann and Andy books for Volland.
Scott illustrated books for the Saalfield Publishing Company as well, and it was for Saalfield that she created her only known paper doll book. She also did greeting cards and books for Whitman, and numerous magazine covers for Child Life.
In 1926 Janet married engineer and artist Carroll Thayer Berry. They lived in Chicago until the 1930s, then moved to Wiscasset, Maine, and finally to Rockport, Maine in 1945, having their boat shipped so they could continue sailing. A dedicated gardener of both flowers and vegetables, she loved painting flowers from her garden.
Source: Adapted from Paper Dolls and Their Artists, Revised Edition by Mary Young (1993).
This artist entry is part of the OPDAG Paper Doll Artists Index, an ongoing research project. Entries are updated as new information is confirmed. We welcome corrections, additions, publication information, images, and other materials that help preserve and document the work of paper doll artists. Please contact Jenny Taliadoros at info@opdag.com if you have information to share.
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Publication Notes (selected)
These notes highlight the original Saalfield paper doll book by Janet Laura Scott and a family of known reprints and retitled editions derived from it.
Saalfield Publishing Company – original paper doll book
Paper Dolls to Cut Out, #230 (1932) – Janet Laura Scott’s only known original paper doll book for Saalfield.
Saalfield reprints and retitled editions of #230
Five Paper Dolls, #143 (1937) – reprint of Paper Dolls to Cut Out; also found with no number.
Four Standing Dolls, #2077 – reprint using the same basic material.
Happy Family of Paper Dolls, #895 (1932) – variant edition using the #230 dolls.
Paper Dolls to Cut Out, #230 (1939) – later reissue with the same number as the original but a different cover and date.
Rock-a-Bye Baby, #1228 – reprint using the same dolls.
Seven Standing Dolls, #229 (1939).
Ten Paper Dolls, #994 (1933), also issued as #2224.
Another closely related reprint in this group features new dolls drawn by Mary Lamb Lewis.
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