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Madame Alexander Dolls
About Madame Alexander Dolls
With a successful history of high-quality hand-crafted dolls that spans over 80 years, Madame Alexander has become a household name in doll collecting.
Founder Madame Beatrice Alexander Behrman grew up surrounded by dolls. She lived above her father’s doll hospital, the first ever in the U.S., and started making her own cloth dolls during World War I to help his business. These cloth dolls are rare and highly collectible today...
Some of Madame Alexander’s first creations were dolls representing popular characters, such as Alice in Wonderland, Little Women, and the Three Little Pigs. She produced the first doll based on a licensed character (Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind), and she was the first doll manufacturer to make dolls based on living people (she created composition dolls representing the Dionne Quintuplets and a young Queen Elizabeth when she was still a Princess).
During World War II, she developed doll representations of the armed forces to boost morale, and by the late 1940s, she switched to using hard plastic for her dolls because it was harder to break.
In 1953, she released the Alexander-kins, eight-inch dolls made of plastic. Alexander-kins may be the most well-known Madame Alexander dolls today.
Madame Alexander also produced popular fashion dolls, First Lady dolls, international dolls, and baby dolls. Although she sold the company in 1988, dolls bearing the name "Madame Alexander" are still sold today.
Interviews & Articles
An Interview on Antique Dolls With Museum Curator Noreen Marshall
We have a very small team here at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, so we all have to do lots of differe… [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
Dollreference.com
This densely packed index of antique and vintage dolls claims to offer over 10,000 images of dolls from the 1800s … [read review or visit site]
Vintage Dolls of the 50s
Rhonda Wilson's collection of 1950s dolls, organized by name (Ginny and friends, Littlest Angel and friends, etc.) … [read review or visit site]
Lorettas Shirley Temple Dolls
Loretta McKenzie's tribute to the charming, singing, dancing, curly haired Shirley Temple. Click 'My Dolls' on the … [read review or visit site]
Kaylees Korner of Collectible Dolls
Kaylee's extensive collection of vintage dolls from the 1930s to 90s. Click the balloons to browse. Though Kaylee s… [read review or visit site]
Museum of Childhood
Embrace your inner child on this microsite from the Victoria and Albert Museum, filled with high-quality images and… [read review or visit site]
Got a site to suggest? Let us know.
Clubs & Associations: Dolls
Discussion Forums: Dolls
Other Great Reference Sites: Dolls
- Madame Alexander Dolls: The Alexanderkins
- Musee de la Poupee - Paris
- Nancyanndolls.com
- Ginny-Type Dolls of the 1950s
- Index of American Design: Dolls
- Ginnydoll.com
- Poupendol.com
- Puppenhausmuseum
Are we missing one? Tell us.
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Recent News: Madame Alexander Dolls
Source: Google News
Gary R. Wallace
Antiques and Arts Weekly, March 19th
Sterling Jewelry, Costume Jewelry, Vintage Steiff Bears, Vintage Madame Alexander Dolls, Store Advertising Displays, Old Car Parts, Glass and China...Read more
Famous Ohio doll company has new owner
Columbus Dispatch, March 18th
By Tim Feran Alexander Doll Co. Inc., which makes Madame Alexander dolls, has acquired the business assets of Lee Middleton Original Dolls...Read more
Imagination in focus -- St. Patrick's Day
Mormon Times, March 16th
They came down the fireplace chimney, leaving a trail of sooty little Madame Alexander doll-shoe-footprints behind -- looking for mischief wherever they...Read more
Alexander buys assets of Middleton Doll
Playthings, March 15th
According to the paper, Middleton had been manufacturing exclusive doll designs for the Madame Alexander Doll Club. The formerly publicly owned company went...Read more
New doll museum to open in Pittston
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader, March 13th
The dolls represent more than 30 years of collecting, and many of them are from the famous Madame Alexander Doll Co., which burrowed into everything from...Read more
Middleton's Future
WTAP-TV, March 12thThe company's buyer, the Madame Alexander Doll Company, did not purchase the Washington Boulevard building, and is uncertain about its future...Read more
NY doll company buys Middleton
Parkersburg News, March 11thThe company designs and manufactures all of the exclusive dolls for the Madame Alexander Doll Club. Lee Middleton Doll Co.'s purchase was made official...Read more
Doll Club to hold 18th annual March Fantasy Doll and Toy Show and Sale
Press-Register - al.com (blog), March 6thDolls and toys range from older favorites such as antique bisque and composition dolls, to the popular modern vinyl dolls such as Madame Alexander and...Read more
Dolls
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