Madame Alexander DollsBack in the 1920's, the first all cloth versions were created from Madame Alexander's own imagination and dressed in the latest fashions to be delivered to their growing audience. What made Madame Alexander dolls different, however, was that from the very beginning she intended them to be more than just fashion dolls...her goal was to create a well made, collector quality doll that could still be played with by eager little hands. Her philosophy was that dolls were made for playing, not sitting on a shelf gathering dust, leading to changes in the original cloth composition of the dolls into a harder wearing plastic as materials became available. Thanks to Madame Alexander's original vision, most of her earliest models are still in pretty good condition, even after years of love and play. Almost a century later, new dolls are being designed and created every year in the same tradition as they were in those first days. Fashion still plays a big role as well, with a special line of Madam Alexander dolls that showcase the latest casual and runway fashions each season. The most popular dolls in production, however, are the many different ones that are made to commemorate a special time in children's lives such as First Communion or graduation day, and these remain top sellers with collectors of all ages. The Storyland collection is a perennial favorite among Madame Alexander doll collectors, thanks to the fact that much like the Fashion doll line, new characters are being introduced all the time. There are even dolls created from popular children's books such as Harry Potter and that spunky Harriet the Spy to help kids act out their dreams and bring a bit of the magic of their favorite book into their arms to cuddle and love. One of the reasons that Madame's dolls stand up so well to the test of time is because they are made to last. Caring for your Madame Alexander doll is actually fairly easy compared to some of the other collectible dolls on the market. If you keep her out of direct sunlight and away from excessive temperatures and moisture, she should last you many years with no trouble. However, even the best of us have accidents, and if that should occur, there are steps you can take to bring her back to her old condition. The Madame Alexander Doll Hospital recommends using Ivory soap along with a soft cloth rag to clean dirt and sticky stuff from the hard plastic and vinyl body parts of most of the dolls in the collection. A soft bristle toothbrush with diluted Ivory soap or dishwashing liquid, can be used to gently scrub out any stains that might end up on a cloth body. Clothing, on the other hand, must be carefully hand washed in warm water and hung up to dry just like any piece of fine clothing to make sure that it doesn't get damaged. Millions of children and adults have fallen in love with the fun and fashion that they have come to expect from Madam Alexander dolls, and with their steady stream of popularity it doesn't look like they'll be stopping production anytime soon! Every doll is still being produced to exacting standards, ensuring that dolls created today will still be around for the next generation of collectors, and the next and the next! |