Off and on for many years, I searched to try and find the historical doll collection that my mother had designed. In November 2024, while searching once again, I came across a website about the dolls that I had not seen before. When I read that “the mystery remains as to who the 24 year old designer was,” I spoke aloud and said, “That’s Mamma!!” The site went on to say that rumor has it that she might be of Asian descent. I had to laugh because our mother was Texan to the core!! At the end of the website, there was a place to respond. It said if you want to “ask a question, report a find, or just say Hi and Yes, we do buy dolls.” So, I did reply with how I had periodically searched for years to find the dolls and stated that I was the daughter of the 24 year old designer. Needless to say, I heard back – from Tammy Trujillo. From that time forward, she and I have been in contact. When Tammy asked if I would be interested in coming to the United Federation of Doll Clubs Convention in Norfolk, VA, I didn’t hesitate to reply “YES!” and finally have a chance to tell our Mother’s story and honor her as a designer, mother, and person.
Her mother was the influence in her life to become a designer- Velma Elliott, another true-blue born and raised Texan, had moved to New York City in her early adult years (around 1919 or 1920) where she attended and graduated from Traphagen School of Fashion. She designed for Western Isles Import Company of New York City for many years. She raised her 2 children in New York.
In 1942, she moved back to central Texas to live on a ranch with her siblings and other family members. But, she continued to design – she set up large cutting tables in the family room to make children’s dresses. She had 6 foot pedaled sewing machines. She made dress patterns out of tissue paper and used sharp cutting shears to cut layers of material 1 inch thick. She kept her contacts in New York City and sold her designs to Saks Fifth Avenue and Newman Marcus in Texas and New York.
She was known for the smocking done on many of her designs. She cut the yokes for the smocked dresses and sent them to Mexico to be smocked and then shipped back to her. Her sister would hand paint designs on some of the dresses. Velma would then put the dresses together and make a rag doll to go with each one.
Her business became too big and she moved it into a building in the small community close to the ranch. It was called, “Velma Elliott House of Design for Children”. She had 20+ power sewing machines and hired local ladies to help with the production. She had sales reps across the US – Chicago, San Francisco, and Texas and sold dresses to such stores as Lord and Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Newman Marcus, Sakowitz, and Marshall Fields.
She was in the dress-making business for many years. I say all of this because of her influence on our mother. Obviously, our mother saw professional dress designing first hand.
Miss Sharmel Elliott was born in Jacksonville, Texas in 1915. Her family moved to the Northeast when she was 4 years old.
She graduated from Hempstead High School on Long Island, New York and attended Randolph-Macon’s Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia for 2 years before transferring to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois for her final two years of college. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in the Theory and Practice of Art and, I learned in just the last few years, a degree in Psychology as well – both of which were used throughout her life.
Following in her mother’s footsteps, she then went to Traphagen School of Fashion in NYC. Her designing career began when she was hired by Effanbee Doll Company in New York City somewhere around 1934. She would have been 20 years old. Her first assignment was to create a historical doll series depicting American fashions from 1492-1939. She told us she had to do extensive research on the history of the various time periods so she could create the fashions from the various eras correctly. She said this process took four years to complete.
There were three sets of display dolls for the series – each one consisting of 30 dolls. The three sets of Effanbee Historical Series Display Dolls toured the US and were displayed in many large department stores. Her costumes used expensive and rare fabrics with each set being valued at $10,000! In her later years, she told us that she had heard that they were in the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Recently, proof of that was found. Going through some items her aunt had sent me several years ago, I found a picture from 1939 of the dolls with the following written across the top – “Dolls dressed for World’s Fair, 1939, by Scharmel Elliott.”
The dolls were not for sale, but her designs were also produced in less expensive fabrics for the 14 inch replica series that the display dolls promoted and were sold in department and toy stores all over the country for $4.98 each.
An article about her designing of these dolls appeared in multiple newspapers throughout the United States in 1939. This speaks of her work on the Historical Doll Series. It also gives us our only insight into how she went about deciding how to costume the dolls. Interestingly, it does not mention Effanbee.
She loved designing and planned to eventually go to Paris to be a designer there. But, she gave up that dream after meeting our Daddy. Our Grandmother had met him previously and thought her daughter needed to meet him. One day, our Mother went to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to attend a fashion show. Our Daddy happened to be the house physician for the hotel. And they met.
Long story short, they married in August of 1939. He had completed his residency at Bellevue Hospital and together they made the move to Houston, Texas where he would open an office and start his practice. Before children came along, she would cover fashion shows in Houston for the newspaper. To my recollection, she said she did go back one time to New York City to visit before having children. She and our Daddy would become parents to 4 sons and 4 daughters. I remember asking one of her aunts why she would give up such a promising career, and she said that our mother’s biggest dream since childhood was to have a dozen children. She got 2/3 of the way!
From time to time she would talk of her designing days. She would show us pictures of the Historical Dolls taken in the Effanbee factory. I was intrigued by the fact that she said every hair in the doll’s wigs was put in one strand at a time, and that it was human hair.
She truly loved every minute of her designing days. I remember her taking brown paper grocery sacks and cutting out dress patterns for my sisters and me. Her skills as designer and seamstress were remarkable. And, she certainly used that psychology degree in raising 8 children!
As a mother and wife, there was no one more devoted than she was. Never once did she ever even hint at regretting giving up designing. Her life was not easy as a wife and mother.
When our father was diagnosed with leukemia, they made the difficult decision to move from Houston to a ranch they had bought in Louisiana. Our Daddy remained in Houston to work and he came home on weekends. The 500 mile round trip got to be a bit much so it eventually changed to him coming home every other weekend. He wanted to make sure his sons knew how to run a ranch and make a living so Mamma would not have to go outside the home to work.
So, there is our mother, 15 miles from any town on an 850 acre ranch with a herd of cattle and 8 children. But she managed everything and everyone with such grace. She never lost her flair for fashion. I remember her wearing dresses and pearls even on the ranch!
Our mother was the prime example of Christ-like sacrificial, unconditional love. She was the most selfless person I have ever known. Her children were her world, and we knew it! She was our biggest cheerleader. In her eyes we could do no wrong. She instilled confidence in us.
One day as I was visiting with her, in her older years, I saw a piece of paper sitting on the table in front of her with 3 words on it – self-confidence, courage, faith. I asked her about it and her comment was, “If you have these 3 things you can do anything.” And she exemplified this through her life.
When our daddy retired for health reasons, she was the sole caregiver for 9 years with no complaints. He passed away in 1979.
In the early 1980’s, I found a cardboard box in the bottom of her closet with the original 1939 pictures of the historical dolls. I contacted a professional photographer to help me find a special album to preserve the pictures in. He was quite intrigued by the pictures and story behind them. When Christmas came that year, the family presented this album to her, which was a huge surprise and which she cherished.
A year or two later, we gifted her with a trip back to New York City. She had not been back in almost 44 years. She retraced many of her steps from decades earlier. She stayed at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, toured Traphagen School of Fashion and the Effanbee Doll Company. Needless to say, it was a highlight for her!
Whether one knew her as a designer, mother, or an ordinary person, she was the same incredible person no matter what. Everyone that knew her loved her. She was a gracious lady of tremendous integrity. She had incredible inner strength, was very wise, exhibited utmost dignity, had monumental faith, and was truly a virtuous woman.
When she passed away in 1994, I remember the pastor describing her with words that all started with “P,” saying she was a woman of:
Principles
Priorities
Purpose
Patience
Perseverance
Persistence
Peace
Positivity
Pleasantness
Patriotism
Prayer
Yvonne Capps with one of the 14 inch replica dolls and the album she had made for her Mother, Sharmel Elliott, showing the original picture of the Display Series version of the doll 1711 Colonial ProsperityI think of the Scriptures that describe a virtuous woman, “Strength and dignity are her clothing. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. HER CHILDREN RISE UP AND BLESS HER….” and that is what we do today.
Thank you for the opportunity to honor our mother – a long overdue honor. We are so very proud to be here to “unveil” who the mystery designer is of the incredible Effanbee Historical Dolls. Her talent in the designing world is evident to all.
We give a BIG thank you to Tammy Trujillo for the passion and love she has for these dolls. Had it not been for her incredible website, I would still be searching for the story of these dolls. She has done a phenomenal job in putting this presentation together. The time, effort, research, and love she has put into this website is beyond one’s comprehension. So, my family and I thank Tammy for everything she has done to bring this recognition to our mother and the dolls she created.
