Hanukkah House Part 2 Madame Alexander Dolls

If I told you there was a museum called Hanukkah House in Binghamton, NY you would expect to see a bunch of...well, things used to celebrate Hanukkah, right?

You'll find these of course. But Hanukkah House exists to tell other stories.  It tells the story of the Jewish people, of course, but the exhibits truly speak to all of us, no matter what our ethnic origin or religion. (I'll touch more on that tomorrow.)   One of these universal exhibits that speak to all of us is the exhibit of:

Madame Alexander dolls.

and.....

Madame Alexander (or to be exact, Madame Bertha (later changed to Beatrice) Alexander Behrman) was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants and was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.  Her father ran the first doll hospital in this country.  She founded her doll company in 1923.

She has been gone 21 years now, but lived to the age of 95 - and had a hand in the business she founded until she was 93 years old.

The company is still located in the United States - on West 131st St. in Harlem, to be exact - and is open to visitors.  One day (although I am not a doll collector I know a number of people who collect these dolls) I'd like to visit the company headquarters.

At one time Madame Alexander employed some 650 people to make her dolls, here in the U.S.A.  Apparently, this is no longer the case.

If anyone knows about modern day Madame Alexander Dolls made in the USA I'd love to know about it.

If not, just enjoy them.  You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Madame Alexander and her dolls.