Composition Dolls & Doll Makers Menu

American composition boy doll 15" tall

Composition dolls were made by American, English, French, German and Japan doll makers.  Early composition dolls were made from glue, glycerin, zinc oxide and Japanese wax, it is a heavy and dense material, the coloring can be almost white, gray or brown.  Each doll manufacturer kept their exact composition "recipe" a secret. 

About 1916 doll makers began using ground-up sawdust, also called wood flour, which made a much lighter doll, then the doll was airbrushed with oil paint.  Composition heads were also described by American doll makers, as "unbreakable" opposed to German bisque doll heads that dominated the doll market, prior to World War I which began in 1914 to 1918.

Water is a composition dolls worst enemy, extremes of temperature in Heat, Humidity over time, affect the wood material which expands or contracts, the painted surface on top doesn't, instead fine lines appear in the paint called crazing and cracks that expose the material below.  After World War II (1939-1945) plastic material was developed that was light and durable, by the end of the 1940s plastic replaced composition as a material used to make dolls by American doll makers.  Here is a list of all pages with composition dolls.