In households around America during the 1930s, mothers scraped together what funds they could to take their daughters to the hairdresser's and have them put fifty-six curls in their daughters'.hair in imitation of the child-star phenomenon of the decade, Shirley Temple. Temple was-only five when she appeared in her first starring role, Stand Up and Cheer (1934). With her perky demeanor, apple cheeks, and curly hair, she quickly became an audience favorite, the top box-office draw in Hollywood from 1935 to 1938, with most of her movies grossing more than five million dollars each. But Temple was much more than a movie star; she was a national icon. Her face adorned buttons, books, soap boxes, ribbons. Six million Shirley Templeendorsed dolls were sold per year, for prices rang- . ing from three to thirty dollars each. "Moppet contests," featuring girls who looked like Temple, were...