Composition Dolls changed Doll Making History

Composition dolls overtook the market for bisque dolls in the early 20th Century. Hailed by American dollmaking companies as unbreakable compared to bisque (also often called porcelain) dolls, the novelty of the new material for doll heads, coupled with World War I, helped to bring down the once mighty German dollmaking industry, and helped to make America the premier dollmaking country of the early to mid 20th Century.

What is Composition and What is a Composition Doll?

Composition is generally a mixture of glue mixed with sawdust. Heavier and denser than paper mache, composition is easily molded and is thus an excellent material to make doll heads. Composition was used to make doll bodies for many years, from approximately the late 1870s, long before it was widely used to make doll heads. Since the material a doll head is made from determines the type of doll, only dolls with heads made of composition are referred to as composition dolls.