Composition Shirley Temple Dolls

Shirley Temple dolls were first produced in 1934. Made of composition, these dolls had hazel eyes with hair upper lashes, handpainted lower lashes, and painted eyebrows, lip paint, and nostrils.

The wigs were made of mohair and styled in golden curls similar to Shirleys own hair. These dolls wore replicas of the dresses from Shirleys movies. They were originally designed by Mollye Goldman.

The dolls were made into several sizes 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25, and 27 inches. Most were marked SHIRLEY TEMPLE on the back of the head and/or the back of the neck. These dolls were made by the Ideal Novelty Toy Company who held the licence.

Production of the Ideal composition dolls ended in 1939.  Vinyl dolls were released by Ideal in 1957 in conjunction with Shirley Temple's movies being released on television.

Other companies also made composition Shirleys, Reliable Canada being one manufacturer who produced their own version that was not licensed for export to the USA.