Born in 1895 to Russian immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, Bertha Alexander Behrman grew up surrounded by dolls. She lived above her stepfather’s doll hospital, the first ever in the United States, and started making her own cloth dolls—representing Red Cross Nurses—to help his business during the difficult years of World War I. Bertha eventually married Philip Behrman, changed her first name to Beatrice, and founded the Alexander Doll Company with her sisters in 1923, adopting the title “Madame” to give her some upscale cachet. Though they started with cloth dolls, like a muslin Alice in Wonderland, the company soon switched to porcelain products aimed at the higher-end doll market. Some of Madame Alexander’s first creations were other dolls representing popular characters, such as the March family featured in Little Women and the Three Little Pigs. Later versions included the Trapp family from The Sound of Music, Brenda Starr, and Nancy Drew. In 1937, Madame Alexander produced the first doll based on a licensed character—Scarlett O’Hara from "Gone With the Wind"—and though it debuted two years before the famous film adaptation, the company lucked out that its star, Vivien Leigh, looked remarkably like their doll. Eventually, Madame Alexander dolls included other celebrities like Geraldine Farrar, Sonja Henie, Margaret O’Brien, Judy Garland, Doris Keane, Shari Lewis, Marlo Thomas, and Jane Withers. The Alexander Doll Company became the first manufacturer to make dolls based on living people, such as the popular composition versions of the Dionne Quintuplets, which Madame Alexander secured the rights to in 1935. The full set included babies Annette, Cecile, Emelie, Marie, and Yvonne as well as their physician and nurse, along with tiny wooden cribs and pink bedding. Two years later, the company released a toddler version of the Dionne Quints with identical dolls identified by their colored dresses and name tags. These rare Madame Alexander dolls from the 1920s and ‘30s are among the most collectible today. During World War II, Madame Alexander 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 they were more difficult to break. Madame Alexander’s plastic dolls continued the company’s legacy of well-constructed dolls with delicate details and were typically marked on the head with “Alexander,” the date, and the model number. In the 1940s, the Alexander Doll Company also pioneered the use of rooted hair and developed the first doll's eyes that could open and close. In 1947, to commemorate the royal family’s trip to South Africa, Madame Alexander was asked to produce a set of dolls representing Queen Elizabeth, Princess Elizabeth, and Princess Margaret. For the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the company made a detailed set of 36 dolls including the royal family, archbishops, pages, choirboys, and members of the royal guard, all dressed in textiles made by the same British mill that produced the real royal coronation mantles. The extravagant set was exhibited at the Abraham and Strauss department store in Brooklyn, New York, and later donated to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. That same year, Madame Alexander also released the Alexander-kins, eight-inch baby dolls made of plastic. Today, Alexander-kins may be the best-known vintage Madame Alexander dolls. Only two years later, in 1957, the company launched its line of 21-inch tall Cissy dolls, designed as a fashion doll for older children four years before Barbie hit store shelves. Cissy dolls were sold with tiny hatboxes attached at the wrist and marked “Madame Alexander, New York,” and a miniature version named Cissette was made as a companion doll. Their stylish appeal even landed a modeling gig with Yardley of London, which used Cissy dolls in its ads for perfume and toiletries. The Alexander Doll Company also added vinyl bodies and synthetic hair to its production materials during the 1950s, making these vintage Madame Alexander dolls softer, harder to break, and washable. Nylon wigs could also be styled and set by children using water. During the 1950s and 60s, various Disney characters were added to the Madame Alexander doll roster, including Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, and Pollyanna. In 1961, the company released a toddler doll named Caroline, which resembled President John F. Kennedy’s daughter, and a Jacqueline doll wearing a miniature version of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ white inaugural gown. Other vintage Madame Alexander dolls from the decade include international-themed dolls, like those from Argentina and Ecuador, and those representing other eras, like those wearing Gibson Girl and Gold Rush costumes. At its peak, the Alexander Doll Company employed around 1,500 people and produced several lines including fashion dolls, First Lady dolls, international dolls, and baby dolls. Madame Alexander believed that dolls could help children learn empathy for people from other eras and places, and that they could teach good parenting to boys as much as girls. In her personal life, Behrman donated generously to organizations like Planned Parenthood and Einstein College of Medicine, as well as several Jewish charities. In 1984, the founder herself became the model for a vinyl doll with blond hair in honor of her 61st year in the doll business. Although the company hit a rough patch after Behrman sold it in 1988, it was recently purchased by the clothing business Kahn Lucas, meaning new dolls bearing the name "Madame Alexander" are still sold today. In fact, the company released another doll made in the likeness of Madame Alexander herself in 2013, appearing as she might have looked in the early 1920s when her company was launched.