1959 Madame Alexander Doll Gift From My Cousin

On June 19, 2020, I received this photo and the next in a text message from my cousin, which is captured below the second photo.

From my cousin's photos, I thought the doll was possibly a Madame Alexander Cissy and I looked forward to receiving it. The doll arrived in early July. After spraying the outside of the box with a Lysol-type disinfectant, the box was placed unopened on top of a stack of other unopened boxes. It was late July before I opened the box to discover the well-wrapped, well-preserved doll that is simply marked "Alexander" on the back of the head.

Googling "redhead Madame Alexander 1950s doll" and a combination of other search words related to the doll's physical attributes, I found a photo of a 14-inch Shari Lewis doll dressed similarly. Searching further, I found information about the 21-inch size made by Madame Alexander in 1959 (see the first link under Related Links). The doll is style #2430. Madame Alexander was granted a one-year license to make the 14- and 21-inch versions.

My 21-inch Shari is jointed in the usual five places. In addition, she has jointed knees. She still wears her original pearl earrings but is missing her pearl necklace. She also has the original pink fabric floral adornment to her hair that matches the flowers at the waist of her skirt. Her blouse and skirt are original. She arrived with one original stocking and gold shoe (not shown in my cousin's photos, but these are captured in one of my photos below).

Before taking her to my husband for restringing, I removed the clothes, surface washed the doll without getting the hair wet, covered the fabric flowers in the hair with two hair clips, wrapped the head with plastic wrap, placed the skirt of the dress flat, spot cleaned a couple of areas of the skirt, and placed two old-fashioned cast irons on several areas of the skirt to smooth out wrinkles without using heat. I feared using a heated iron would damage the delicate fabric.

My Initial Photos

After opening the box, I undressed the doll and took this first photo.

The gold metallic tulle lace dress has rose brocade ribbon trim at the neckline, bodice, and sleeves. I spot cleaned two small brown spots that removed easily with a damp cloth.

Her original yellow nylon slip, taffeta panties, one gold shoe, and one stocking are shown here.

A few areas of the skirt of the dress were wrinkled. I placed two cast irons over the wrinkled areas for a few days, moving them to different wrinkled areas as necessary. The weight of the cast irons helped smooth out the wrinkles. Steaming would work better.

After Cleaning

After washing all vinyl parts with mild soap and drying with a towel, I placed the doll on a hand towel for a day to allow all parts to air dry.

To prevent damage to the cloth flowers that adorn the upswept portion of her hair, I clamped two hair clips around the flowers.

I was worried that my husband might crush the flowers during the restringing process. So I protected the flowers with hair clips before asking him to do the restringing and without letting him know why the clip was in the hair.

To keep her hair in place, I wrapped plastic around the entire face and head before the restringing was done.

Restrung and Dressed

Shari Lewis poses proudly after the restringing was completed.

Shortly after the doll's shipping box was opened and I measured and identified her, I purchased new stockings from an eBay seller (see link under related links) and a pair of replacement shoes from another source.

The new stockings fit perfectly.

After putting the stockings on the doll, the original undies were replaced.

The elastic at the waist of the panties is stretched. As a quick fix, I folded the waist in the back. It is held in place with a piece of Scotch tape.

As I was preparing to put the half slip on the doll, I saw the tagged Madame Alexander label that includes the doll's name, Shari. I wasted time googling to determine her name when it was right under my nose all the while.

The yellow nylon slip has tulle underneath at the hemline.

Because the elastic is stretched at the waist of the slip, with the doll wearing it, I gathered the elastic in two places in the back and tacked it in place.

Shari now wears the original blouse, slip, undies, and new stockings.

Now she has on the skirt.

This photo illustrates the pink satin sash and the pink fabric flowers that embellish the waist of the dress.

The plastic wrap has been removed from her face and head. As illustrated, she has beautiful facial coloring and clear eyes.

The flowers that accent her hair can be seen in this photo. I added a hairpin on either side of the upswept section to lift it to the original position.

Shari will wear a pair of old store stock gold high-heels until a replica of her original elasticized shoes can be found.

Fully Dressed in Final Photos

Shari, a 21-inch vinyl doll by Madame Alexander has been restrung and dressed.

She poses here looking forward.

In this photo, she must be looking for her missing hand puppets Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Blue Dog.

Whose Doll Was It Anyway?

In her text, my cousin indicated the doll was probably her older sister's doll. This most likely is true since the younger of the three of us (the cousin who gave the doll to me) was born in 1958. That year her sister, Michelle, was five and probably six if she received the doll in 1959. Always mature for her age, my aunt probably felt she was old enough to take care of the doll. During the countless times I spent days, overnight, or weeks during the summer with my favorite cousins at the house on Caillet Street, I don't recall seeing this doll. I do recall Chatty Cathy and other doll friends that attended our tea parties where we used water for the tea we sipped from Michelle's child-size porcelain tea set.


About Shari Lewis

Born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz, Shari Lewis was an American puppeteer, ventriloquist, and children's entertainer. She had her own TV show from 1960 to 1963. I enjoyed seeing Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop on Captain Kangaroo. Later, I watched the Shari Lewis Show and enjoyed seeing Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop on several other shows in guest appearances during the early to mid-1960s. While I quickly outgrew Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, she continued performing until the 1990s. On August 2, 1998, Lewis succumbed to complications of viral pneumonia following a hysterectomy to treat uterine cancer.

Related Links

21-inch Shari Lewis - Worthpoint

Shari Lewis doll documented in the 1959 Madame Alexander catalog.

Stockings, tights, undies, leggings, etc. for dolls at Dollsecrets

Interesting Facts about Shari Lewis

Shari Lewis (Wikipedia)

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