I wish I'd known Jane Arden; looks like I really missed something. Jane was a "spunky girl reporter" who romped through the comics from the '20s through the '60s.
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| 1920s |
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| 1930s |
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| 1940s |
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| 1950s |
Jane differed from her girl reporter comics rival Brenda Starr in that readers were able to send Jane designs for her (very extensive) reporter's wardrobe. No simple, sensible suit and white blouse a la Lois Lane for her. Jane's wardrobe is a fanciful yet insightful look at what women wore (or dreamed about wearing) for over 40 years.
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| Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane |
First syndicated in 1928, Jane Arden appeared in newspapers and comic books, movies and paper dolls. She never achieved Starr status in the United States but was quite popular in Canada and Australia.
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| The Beyonce of the comics |
Katy Keene was a comic queen with reader-inspired dresses, but she was too much of hot tamale for my taste. I would have sent in contributions for Jane, earnest girl-with-a-job and on a mission, many missions.
The reader contributions never took up much space on the comic pages (about 5" x 6"), but they must have been lovingly saved by generations of readers. Many page clippings are listed for sale on ebay. There is also a reproduction 1942 paper doll book. I'm eyeing that. Never too late for fun with paper dolls.
