Cynthia's Original 1952 Price

23-, 15-, and 18-inch Cynthia dolls by Madame Alexander from 1952

In a comment to my Cynthia! Cynthia! Cynthia! post, RLC of Paper Thin Personas stated and asked:

...I have always had an affection for Madame Alexander dolls. I am curious about the market for these dolls when they were first produced in 1952. How expensive were they and for how long were they made?

I answered the first part of the question and promised to try to obtain the answer to the second.  Again, Madame Alexander Cynthia dolls in all three sizes were produced for one year only, from 1952 through 1953.

Regarding the original price, I had to do some investigating.  As mentioned in my previous post, Madame Alexander Cynthia uses the Margaret head sculpt.  It was first used for their Margaret O'Brien doll, named for the 1940s child actress.  The first Margaret dolls were made of composition in 1946.  Margaret dolls continued to be made after the popular doll medium transitioned from composition to hard plastic.  During the 1950s, the Margaret sculpt was used on other hard plastic Madame Alexander dolls as illustrated by those offered in the 1950 Sears Christmas Wishbook below.

Page 201 of the 1950 Sears Christmas Wishbook features dolls with the Margaret face (top left, standing).  Click or tap to enlarge this scan from the book, The Doll & Teddy Bear Department... Sears Christmas Wishbooks of the 1950's and 1960's.*

The three dolls that use the Margaret face in the above 1950 Sears Christmas Wishbook scan are:

• Wendy Ann with Human Hair Wig, available in two sizes:  14-1/2 inches and 17-1/2 inches, priced at $8.95 and $10.95, respectively  
• Famous Amy of "Little Women,"  available as a 14-inch doll for $7.98 
• Poor Cinderella in Kitchen Dress, a 14-inch tall doll with Margaret head sculpt priced $6.98

These dolls were offered two years before Madame Alexander produced the three versions of Cynthia.   Similar Madame Alexander dolls offered in the 1948 Sears Wishbook were priced about the same as these 1950s dolls.  Since the Sears Christmas Wishbook for 1952, the year Cynthia debuted, did not offer Madame Alexander dolls, we can use the 1948 and 1950 prices to safely assume the three Cynthias were probably priced between $7 to $11.

In the above scan, the Madame Alexander dolls and Ideal's 16-inch Toni (the dolls at bottom of scan) were comparably priced.  Dolls by Effanbee (top right, standing and seated above the caption, Big Value Girl Dolls) were priced much less at $2.98 and $3.29.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if dolls of this quality were as low today?

In my search for Cynthia's original price, I read here and here (where the second author probably quoted the first) that Cynthia and another Black doll named Hilda use the Margaret head sculpt.  Madame Alexander's Hilda was said to have been produced in 1946.  Since I was not able to locate pictures or further documentation, for clarification, I wrote the author of the first linked article (Judith Izen).  Izen has also written several doll-reference books.  With Judy's permission, her reply is shared below my email inquiry:

Hi Judith,

I read in your article, Madame Alexander Fashion Dolls, that in 1946 Madame Alexander made a black doll using the Margaret head sculpt whose name was Hilda.  I have not been able to document this elsewhere.   Can you tell me your source of information?  Have you seen or do you have a photograph of this doll.  Thank you in advance!

Debbie Garrett

 

Hi Debbie,

That article was from 1999. 

I believe it may have been an editing error since

I probably meant the hard plastic Cynthia.

They never asked my permission to post the article

so I never had a chance to review it.

Hope this answers your question.

Judy

Short answer:  Cynthia is the only Black doll made by Madame Alexander that uses the Margaret head sculpt.

_____

Read more about Margaret dolls here.

*The pages of vintage Sears Wishbooks are fun to view, particularly the doll offerings.  View the 1945 Sears Wishbook here. Search Google.com or Flickr.com to browse the pages of additional Wishbooks by entering the desired year followed by:  Sears Wishbook.  Example:  1955 Sears Wishbook.


dbg

1960s Sears Wish Books

My memories of thumbing through the toy section of the Sears Wish Books published during the 1960s, specifically from 1963 through approximately 1969, are still quite vivid.  By 1969, my interest in dolls had faded, but in the years prior, I enjoyed circling the dolls and toys I wanted, hoping that these things would be under the Christmas tree.

Prior to age 10, Christmas Eve would find me full of anticipation.  I would always stay up until after the local weatherman, Dale Milford, had provided the forecast and used his primitive animated graphics to illustrate Santa's exact location.  I always wanted to be asleep before Santa arrived to our house, because although he would bear toys and gifts, I was terrified of him!

In later years, after discovering what Santa really was, I still continued to circle desired stuff in the Sears Wish Books.  I had also discovered my mother's toy-hiding places and would peek at some of my toys as soon as she began hiding them and when the "coast was clear" for me to invade these places.  My invasions were done with precision, often alone, but sometimes with my brother as my accomplice.  Except for once, I made certain I  left everything exactly the way she had it because I did not want to suffer her wrath.  After one invasion, she angrily asked, "Who's been in my closet?"  My answer was silence.  If I didn't say anything, she couldn't prove it was me and I wouldn't have to lie.  After I became older, I discontinued this behavior to eliminate the need to pretend to be surprised on Christmas morning as well as to rid myself of the guilt of having done this.  


Because my mother is a fashionista, I believe she wanted Barbie for me more than I wanted the doll for myself.  I was between the ages 9 and 10 when I received my first round of Barbie, Midge, and Ken dolls and extra clothing packs.   I honestly do not remember circling Barbie in any Sears Christmas Wish Book, but in separate years I did circle Ideal's Tammy and Pepper, and Barbie's little sister Skipper.

This book is a compilation of doll and bear pages from Sears Wish Books from 1950 through 1969.

 The doll pages of the 1950-1969 Sears catalog are compiled in their entirety in the book, The Doll & Teddy Bear Department, edited by Thomas W. Holland, published by Windmill Press in 1997. 

In this book, the introduction to the 1963 Sears Wish Book reads:

The Barbie explosion hit the Christmas Wish Book big in 1963.  The headline reads, "Sears puts at your fingertips more of what America's children want most:  Barbie and her friends with 4 pages of wardrobes and accessories."  The buying public had made the shapely doll a huge success and now there were costumes and accessories galore.  Barbie now had bedroom suites, sports cars, authorized carrying cases and more.  She even had a beau, Ken, and a best friend named Midge.

She also had competition.  Sears aggressively marketed Ideal's Tammy, a teenager not as busty or thin as Barbie, along with her Mom, Dad and siblings Pepper and Ted.  Tammy was a wholesome family girl... not a flighty high-fashion model!  But the public spoke again and Tammy never came near Barbie's popularity...

Published in black and white, flipping through specific catalog years of The Doll & Teddy Bear Department can still conjure up fond memories.  I can easily visualize my young self thumbing through the actual pages of the 1960s Sears Wish Books in hopes that those circled items would appear under the Christmas tree or be found, pre-Christmas, in Mama's hiding places.    

Today is Christmas Eve.  I now get to enjoy the anticipation of Christmas Day through the emotions displayed by my grandsons.  While they have never viewed a Sears Wish Book or invaded any hiding places, they have either circled the Toys R Us Toy Book, prepared handwritten lists, stated their desires vocally, or used some other form to communicate their Christmas wishes.



dbg


Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen