Collecting Vintage Dolls: What is Composition?

I only started collecting vintage dolls about seven or eight years ago, if you don't count my Barbie collection from when I was a kid in the 1970's. I inherited a great collection of Barbies, and still love to see that disproportioned beauty, but over the last few years, my interest has gone more towards vintage baby dolls.

You can start a collection of vintage dolls without a huge investment of cash, especially if you are willing to go to local auctions. I have a collection of about a dozen, mostly composition dolls, and paid about $50 for all of them together. I have also been able to sell a few I found at local auctions for a much higher price than I paid, simply because they were not to my personal taste and interest.

I like composition dolls because they are pretty easy to spot once you know what you are looking for. It also allows you to get a pretty accurate date (at least within a couple of decades) on your doll, just in case you aren't lucky enough to get a doll that has a mark or date on it. They also tend to have lovely baby faces, many have working tin eyes, and if someone took good care of them, you can find them with hands and feet intact. I also like the crazing effect on the "skin" (just a note: some collectors do not like the crazing...to me, it just shows that it was used and not just stored away in tissue paper).

What is composition?

Composition is what the body and head of an era doll is made of, underneath the paint job. It is basically sawdust and glue that has been put in some type of doll-body form and allowed to dry. After they dried, the doll got a very thick layer of flesh-colored paint and then other colors like blush, hair, lips, etc. After this paint job, they got a clear seal coat, usually of varnish, to protect the paint.

Most (not all) of the composition dolls I've seen have molded hair. Sometimes, horsehair or mohair wigs were attached.

If exposed to humidity, a lot of light, or excessive heat, the varnish changes and the paint cracks in very fine lines - called crazing.

The easiest way to tell composition dolls is if they have been hurt at all - underneath the paint layer you can see the wood-colored composition material underneath. Also, if you are able to pull the head slightly away from the neck, you can look inside and see the material.

In addition, the crazing is a tell-tale sign of composition.

When were composition dolls made?

Composition was used to make doll bodies for many years, but was only used with doll heads starting in the late 1910's (mostly after World War I). In "doll circles", the material used to make the head determines what the doll is called.

Most composition dolls were made from the mid-1910's to the 1940's and early 1950's, when hard plastic and vinyl dolls were much more common. Starting in the mid-1910's, the United States stopped importing bisque foreign (especially German) dolls, which made a gap in the marketplace for dolls.

They became more popular because composition, although fragile, doesn't break as easily as bisque. These dolls were much more user- and kid-friendly.

How much do composition dolls cost, and where can I find them?

If you are uninclined to go to local auctions that say they have vintage dolls, a new collector could find a not-perfect composition doll on ebay or at an antique store for under $30. Serious collectors look for dolls with manufacturing mark (so you know who made the doll), no chips or cracks, little to no crazing, and working eyes. Such a doll made out of composition could run upwards of $100 or more, depending on the manufacturer.

There are also specialty composition dolls - Shirley Temple dolls are a great example. As of this writing, a Shirley Temple composition doll in original dress sold for $401.54!

How should I clean and store my composition dolls?

I buy my dolls for my own personal enjoyment and display. Therefore, I keep them in a room with no outside light to harm the composition material or fade the doll in any way, and I try to keep the temperature as steady as possible. Also, when handling your doll, make sure your hands are clean - oil from your hands can attract bugs and dirt, even if you can't see it.

At some point, you may want to pack your doll away for safekeeping. Pack with acid-free tissue, and be careful of what kind of box - cardboard can have acid in them, and plastic (like Tupperware or Rubbermaid), if sealed too tightly, can give off gases that can harm a doll. I would go with plastic with a not-too-tight lid. Store someplace where there are not extremes in temperature (attics are not a good idea - blistering hot in the summer and cold cold in the winter) - an inside wall of a closet would probably be best.

Composition dolls are a lovely collector's item. They are relatively easy to spot, and if you are willing to look and shop around, you can find some real treasures on a limited budget. Good luck finding your first vintage baby doll!