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Madame Beatrice Alexander

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Entrepreneur

The Resume

    (March 9, 1895-October 3, 1990)
    Born in Brooklyn, New York
    Founder of the Alexander Doll Company (1923)
    Won the Fashion Academy Gold Medal four times (1951-4)
    Honored by the United Nations for her international line of dolls (1961)
    Awarded the Distinguished Public Service Award by the Anti-Defamation League (1981)
    Inducted into the American Toymakers Hall of Fame (2000)

Why she might be annoying:

    She is sometimes called the ‘First Lady of Dolls.’
    She used the pretentious title ‘Madame.’
    She longed to be rich from the time she was 11.
    She married a few weeks after graduating from high school.
    She would flirt with bankers if she felt this would help her get loans.
    She told her husband she would divorce him if he didn’t agree to manage her company.
    She was a demanding perfectionist with her workers.
    Her Scarlet O’Hara doll began the trend of movie tie-in merchandising.

Why she might not be annoying:

    Some relatives claim her father and siblings were killed in Russian pogroms.
    She grew up in a Brooklyn ghetto.
    During World War One, she created a Red Cross nurse doll that saved her family from bankruptcy.
    Initially she had trouble getting loans and credit as it was felt women were financial risks.
    Her collectible dolls proved as popular with adults as children.
    She produced Cissy, the first fashion doll, in 1955, four years before Barbie entered the market.
    She disliked gimmicky dolls that walked and talked.
    She insisted her dolls be manufactured entirely in the US.
    She helped create the Women’s League for Palestine (today the Women’s League for Israel) to help female immigrants find shelter and work.

Credit: Georgina


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 30 Votes: 56.67% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 22 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 28 Votes: 46.43% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 80 Votes: 50.0% Annoying