It started at the huge 1939 New York World’s Fair. Companies from all over the world put their most impressive items on display for the year-long extravaganza. For the kids, there was the Children’s Pavillion – part of the overall Children’s World area – featuring all sorts of educational and entertaining toys, books and games. And this is where Effanbee’s most ambitious line of dolls is thought to have first appeared.
It was at the Fair that Effanbee unveiled it’s set of Historical Dolls called The Romance of Fashion – thirty dolls in all – each depicting an era in American history through clothing styles. The set of 20-inch composition dolls – each elaborately dressed and wigged – was said to be valued at $10,000. In today’s money – that would be just over $231,000!
These exquisite dolls were not for sale but they certainly got little girls excited about the 14-inch replica dolls, which sold for $4.98 each and would go on to be one of the company’s biggest successes.
Effanbee actually created three sets of the larger, more elaborate Display Series. But what became of these 90 incredible dolls? For many collectors, the Display Set Dolls are the ‘holy grail’ of composition dolls. The author of this website is among them and years ago set out to unravel their history and locate as many as possible.
In late 2024, one of the biggest mysteries behind these dolls was solved and it was done through this very website! The daughter of the designer of the costumes – who had been searching for more information on the dolls herself for years – found the site and contacted me. To say I was shocked and elated would be an understatement. Not only did Yvonne Capps provide valuable information about her Mother, Sharmel Elliott, but also was able to provide incredible pictures taken of both the Display and Replica Series in 1938-39. Her story and those pictures were presented to the doll collecting world first at the UFDC’s 2025 Convention in Norfolk, Virginia and are now presented on this website. I feel so very fortunate and proud to have been instrumental in being able to add this valuable research and incredible insight into the story of the Effanbee Historical Series. But there is still a lot more to learn and discover about the rarest and most expensive composition dolls in the world!
