Definitely-- I was going to say people had been doing paper cut silhouettes for centuries, but then, yes- I do think the bicentennial was part of it.

Maybe an even larger influence was nostalgia of the Victorian era, basically the older generations looking back to a "simpler time," the same way we looked back at the 1950s (at least in the USA.) How quaint and innocent to do parlor games and activities of the pre-television era.

You can see this influence in the movies at the time, but I especially remember Disney, since someone mentioned it. Disney had Victorian main street in their parks, there was a long line of cartoon shorts set in that era, like where Mickey was courting Minnie in a very old fashioned way, wearing straw boater and spats. Wasn't Lady and the Tramp set in that time period? Warner Brothers was also doing the same--- I mean, how the heck can I recall the sings "a bicycle built for two" and "Daisy," both Victorian-era songs, if not for them being used in these cartoons?