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| Gemini Twins from the Madame Alexander Zodiac Collection, 1997 |
Released in 1997, as part of the company's 75th Anniversary celebration, these Gemini Twins are from the Zodiac Collection by Madame Alexander. They were offered on eBay for a reasonable price, but because they were missing their original hang tags, their 75th anniversary gold tags, their parrots (which are a little scary looking so I didn't really care if they were missing), and their floral headbands, I asked the seller if he would lower the price and he did, considerably!
Purchased in June, I used some of my birthday money to buy this pair of 8-inch identical, hard plastic dolls that wear ivory Roman-style dresses with gold lamé Roman sandals. Their hair is styled in two side ponytails with multiple braids that are accented with tiny daisies.
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| The twins hold replaced white parrots and have reproduced hang tags that bear their illustration. |
To reproduce their missing hang tags, I used an image of the original, which was copied and printed twice onto card stock before cutting out and punching a small a hole at the top through which a wire was threaded to attach the tags to their arms. Two white parrots were purchased on eBay to replace their original parrots, as seen in the above photo and a closer view in the next.
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| I purchased two mini dollhouse white parrots like the one shown above to replace the twins' original parrots. One of the original parrots is seen next. |
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| Original parrot is shown upside down in this Internet-captured photo. Scary-looking, right? |
Now they are only missing their gold 75th Anniversary tags and floral headbands. I will fabricate new headbands for them as soon as I find the same or similar cloth flowers as the ones that decorate their braids.
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The twins show off their multiple braids.
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They're lovely dolls. Pairs must be pretty rare. I'm assuming there were dolls for every astrological sign?
ReplyDeleteMadame Alexander seems to have put a lot more effort into their dolls than other manufacturers. Every time I see one of theirs it has the sort of thought and care put into it that you'd expect from old porcelain doll makers.
Thanks for sharing your pictures.
Hi Maricha,
DeleteThe Madame Alexander Doll Company or Alexander Dolls has always been synonymous with quality. Their dolls, which were chiefly made for the play market, were always priced slightly higher than others because of the extra attention to detail. They used to be referred to as the Cadillac of dolls (when Cadillac was "the" luxury car to own).
Starting out as a cottage industry during the 1920s, Bertha "Beatrice" Alexander (Madame Alexander) included AA dolls into the line early on. I also appreciate this about the company. I don't buy as many Alexander dolls today as I did in prior collecting years, but every now and then when I see a newly released doll (e.g. the happy birthday theme dolls) or one of the other themes that I have multiples of (Easter), I will purchase. Somehow the Zodiac Collection slipped by my radar in 1997 when the dolls were introduced to the market.
I do believe all zodiac signs were included in the Zodiac collection and were produced as both black and white dolls.
Interestingly, I reproduced my dolls' hang tags from a photo of white Gemini Zodiac Collection twins. It appears the company illustrated the dolls with dark a complexion for the hang tags for both sets of dolls.
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They're beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'm always impressed by how you work at recapturing the original look of dolls, and the parrots and cards here are no exception!
Thank you, jSarie!
DeleteIt took a while to find just the right parrots (until it dawned on me that dollhouse size would be perfect). Their source was China, so it took a while for them to travel.
dbg
Such cute twins. Madame Alexander always produce gorgeous dolls, especially their AA dolls.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Brini. Alexander does have some of the best dolls.
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