My friend Paul allowed me to photograph this very special LE collectible 90th Anniversary doll. I love this doll! She is a 21" Cissy dressed as Beatrice Alexander in all of her 1923 finery! Only 125 made, she cost $1500. She holds two play dolls because Beatrice believed that dolls were meant to be played with, not housed on a shelf. Porcelain dolls were all the craze during her time, and she set out to create plastic vinyl dolls that children could play with and not fear breaking.
Beatrice's birth name was Bertha. Ahead of her time, she had a knack for licensing and merchandising. She created collections based on films, movie stars and heads of state.
Beatrice started her company with $1000 and grew her empire during a time when women were not business owners. She founded the first successful female owned doll company in the United States, long before Ruth Handler launched Barbie 1959. Madame Alexander set the gold standard in doll design with beautifully detailed clothing and was among the first to implement the "sleep eye" mechanism. The Ideal Toy Company claims to have made the first American "Sleep eyes" doll in 1914. While Horsman Dolls used sleep eyes and wigs in 1918.
In 1955 the Alexander Doll company produced its first fashion doll, "Cissy", four years before Barbie was released in 1959. The
21" Alexander Cissy doll is hard plastic with jointed elbows, wrists and
knees. High heel feet, sleep eyes and wigged, the Cissy head mold is gorgeous. Clothing pieces are tagged "Cissy", she had
hundreds of outfits produced for her.
Beatrice checking the quality of these Cissy dolls.
Unfortunately the Harlem factory was closed October 2012. The space was home to the Madame Alexander Heritage Gallery doll museum, a small store and the doll hospital.
