About Madeline Dolls
The beloved "Madeline" stories were first written by Ludwig Bemelmans in 1939 and have become a classic shared with children worldwide today. The character of Madeline is charming, adorable and easily adapted into a wide variety of Madeline dolls. These dolls range from high end collector's items to cuddly rag dolls designed for young children, but have been produced only in the relatively recent past. Madeline dolls are spunky, cute and affordable to collect for either children or adults.
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History
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The first commercial Madeline dolls were made by Eden Toys in 1996. The first Madeline doll wore a blue dress and hat, has the appendix scar from the stories and is distinguishable by the spelling of Madeline as "Madeleine" on the label. Soon after, Eden Toys released a collection including Madeline's friends and Miss Clavel, all in their school uniforms. Playsets and other outfits soon followed. In 2002, Learning Curve bought out the licensing rights for Madeline and made changes to the collection that displeased collectors and the Bemelmans family. Today, 8 and 12 inch poseable Madeline dolls are produced by Madame Alexander.
Significance
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Children, especially little girls, have loved Madeline for years. Parents are eager to share this sweet story with their children and the dolls go hand in hand with the stories of "twelve little girls in two straight lines." Moreover, Madeline offered an innocent and young alternative to more adult dolls like Barbie. Madeline's simple style has also worked well as a rag doll in both smaller and larger sizes, making it a good choice for very young children.
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Features
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The Eden Toys' Madeline and friends dolls wore traditional outfits out of the storybooks; however, each girl had her own unique school uniform. Madeline wore her red plaid uniform, blue coat, yellow hat and Mary Jane shoes. Other dolls in the collection wore variations on the uniform in red plaid, white and navy accented with yellow ribbons. All wore black Mary Jane shoes and white socks and underwear. The dolls all looked very much like the illustrations with a large, minimally detailed head and face.
Considerations
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If you are looking for Madeline dolls today to share with your little girl, you can find many of the Eden Toys dolls on eBay and other retailers quite inexpensively. Clothing and accessories are still available from the same sources. Mint condition Madeline dolls in the box are quite a bit more costly, but still can be found for interested collectors. Doll shops offer the Madame Alexander Madeline dolls; however, these look much more like a typical Madame Alexander doll, not like Bemelmans' Madeline illustrations.
Identification
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The Eden Toys' Madeline dolls all wear traditional clothing similar to the book illustrations. The faces are large and round, with painted on details. Earlier dolls have straight hands, while later ones have curved hands that could hold accessories sold separately. Learning Curve dressed Madeline and her friends in more modern clothing shortly after they began producing the line and changed the face including wider eyes. Madame Alexander Madeline dolls are easily recognizable as such by the traditional Madame Alexander face and body.
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