In 1923, Madame Beatrice Alexander Behrman took out a loan of $1,600 to start a business to help support her family. Her husband was part of the hat industry, and she felt as though the future of the business was shaky. Because of her fondness for dolls as a child, she delved into the doll-making industry. Born in 1895, she never owned her own doll, though she played and gained an appreciation of them because of her father's antique restoration business. Madame Alexander dolls have been widely produced since the 1950s. They are one of the only dolls that have been made continuously since that time. They still retain their hard plastic head and are about 8" in height. Collectors call them by many different names--Wendy, Wendy-Kins, Wendy Ann, Alex, Alexander-Kins, and Little Genius, just to name a few. As with many dolls from the 1950s, Madame Alexander dolls featured straight legs and came in walker and non-walker models before 1955. After that, they had turning heads and bendable knees. The dolls are typically marked with "Alex" or "Alexander" on the back. They are widely sought after and will continue to be with the current production of quality dolls. Madame Alexander still produces its traditional collector's dolls and baby dolls, and has also created a multi-ethnic line of fashion dolls called Alex. Today, the company has joined forces with other corporations to do promotional campaigns for them. This makes the dolls that are produced more widely accessible to people, thus decreasing their immediate value.
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