| Madame Alexander Doll Club Convention: Part II | |
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The Raffles
What nobody told me ahead of time is, bring money for the raffles! Each meal, except the breakfast and the banquet, had doll raffles for which you could buy tickets at $1 each. There was a big raffle room filled with prizes, and you could buy strips of raffle tickets and drop whatever tickets you wanted into whichever bag was marked for an item you wanted. There was a separate raffle, with tickets at $5 each, for the convention one-of-a-kind doll. And there was a Cissy bride doll being raffled off to all convention attendees.
Well, I was having no luck at the raffles. Not the luncheon raffles. And I sat at the raffle results for an hour, listening to one winner after another called off. None of them was me, and most of them weren't in the room, which was disappointing to those who were present -- no excited squeals -- and must have made one heck of a crowd at the after-banquet pickup time. I began to think I'd have a better chance if I left the room.
At the banquet, they announced the winner of the one-of-a-kind doll -- not me -- and then held a reverse raffle for the Cissy bride doll. The way it worked: everyone at each table put in a ticket for the table prize, which was a copy of Madame Alexander Dolls: an American Legend. After that, the winning tickets would go to the front of the room, where they would be drawn one at a time until the last ticket was left. The owner of the last ticket would win the doll. Some other dolls were being given out, too, to some of those whose losing ticket was drawn.
Well, I won the book, which was a thrill, since I've wanted it but couldn't justify spending all that money for it. And my name and number went into the raffle!
So Herb Brown started
drawing the numbers. We applauded for those who had received consolation dolls,
and said, "Aw," for those 
who received nothing. And he kept pulling
numbers. And more numbers. And none of them was mine. And more numbers. There
were 58 tables. How many numbers had he pulled already? I'd lost count.
"Has he called your number?" my table hostess asked. "No," I
replied. And he kept pulling numbers, some for dolls, some for nothing. People
at my table looked at me. I shook my head no. And Herb Brown said, "There
are four numbers left." I gulped. He pulled a number. It wasn't mine.
"We have three numbers and 2 prizes -- no, three prizes left, so everyone
left will get something." Then he pulled my number.
So I won a small doll, the maid from the Clue set. And as it was being brought up to me, Herb Brown said, "These are artist's proofs. Make sure you leave your name and address with one of our people, and we'll send you a certificate for it."
So I'm very pleased. I would have had to sell off the special Cissys -- they're too big and valuable for me, and I'd be afraid of something happening to them. And while I know they would fetch a lot of money, that's not dolly pleasure. But I can safely keep and store my little 8" doll for as long as I like.
The Special Exhibit
The special exhibition was a
Newbury Street display -- Newbury is the classy boutique shopping street in
Boston, all sorts of expensive 
shops in little brownstones. So they made sets
-- brownstone on one side, shop interiors on the other -- and populated them
with Cissys. All sorts of shops -- a 1920s modiste, modern suits, 1960s mod, an
Elsa Schiaperelli shop, a bridal shop, a milliner, a shoe store. A children's
dress shop for smaller dolls. And Cissys dressed to the teeth, just strolling
along the street, or resting on a bench. There is a vintage Cissy in
vintage-looking Schiaperelli -- taken from illustrations in 1930s Vogue. And a
Titanic trunk and costumes, perfectly done. The suit shop has a black leather
suit trimmed with red snakeskin, the shoe shop has red snakeskin boots -- you
can just see the Cissys strolling down the street, shopping for clothes and
accessories.
And some of the hairdos! One very advanced Cissy, in an aerobics class, has hair that stands straight up! She's adorable! My daughter gets her hair cut on Newbury street, and while it hasn't stood straight up yet, there've been some pretty dramatic effects -- and always adorable!
Apparently some Cissy collectors are dissatisfied with clothes for the modern Cissy, and want to show what can be done, and did they ever. I was told that the Madame Alexander company people were very surprised and very impressed by the display.
The Competitions
There were two competitions at the MADC Convention, the regular one and a special design competition for Alex dresses. I made a Dolley Madison costume for Alex to wear in the main competition, and a ballgown and stole for the Alex outfit competition. The main competition revolved around the MADCC theme, "Remember the Ladies", and there were no prizes except ribbons. Most of the entries involved old or valuable dolls, but there were costume entries for sewers, for dolls under 10", over 10", and groups. I've never been to a convention before, and showing a doll seemed a way to jump right in. So, I made a costume for Alex.
The Alex Outfit Contest
The Alex outfit contest is a first, and still has a lot of bugs that need ironing out. A different person was in charge, the competition was was added late, and it seemed less closely organized. But...it had valuable prizes: a total of more than $1500 dollars worth of current Alex dolls and costumes to the grand, first, and second prize winners.
For the regular competition, at the end of July I received a note telling me exactly when and where to bring my doll, and enclosing a tag for me to tie to her wrist for security and identification purposes, as well as instructions to send a photo of my doll, for a scrapbook. But I received no confirmation/information from the Alex design contest, and an email I sent on the subject was not answered. As a result, I ended up nervous that my entry form might not have arrived, and I had to carry the outfit around with me all day Thursday, since I didn't find out until I got to the convention Thursday morning that the Alex costumes would be entered the same time as the regular competition items on Friday.
The pattern for the Alex costume contest that appeared in the MADC magazine a couple of months ago was not to scale. They got one to scale in the current issue that arrived a week before the contest! Fortunately, the pattern, to scale, appeared in Doll Reader last November. But entrants were experience Alex sewers. Some of them were professionals, as was also the case with some of the costumers in the regular competition.
But the most difficult part of the Alex design competition was that the rules and the circumstances seemed to keep changing, and kept changing for different people in different ways.
No one was clear whether, under the rules of the contest, it was one entry per person. I wrote to confirm that this meant one costume entry per person, and was told that an entrant, if she wanted, could enter more than one costume, using the designated representative's number. Then casually, the email added, "Yes, one outfit per entrant, but a friend could enter another one for you if you have more than one. However, technically if you won, the prizes would go to that other person." She did note, later in the letter, that the outfit would be entered under the designer's name, not the representatives.
Uh oh. I wrote back, suggesting that, if the prize went to the designated representative, this could cause some hassle if she then refused to hand it over to the actual entrant who made the outfit. I said, entrants needed to be warned.
The written rules are clear: it says that the winners of prizes, presumably the entrants, will be notified by mail, and, to claim a prize, must return to the Club an "affidavit of eligibility and release of Sponsors and their affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, divisions, franchises, advertising and promotional agencies and each of their respective officers, directors, and employees from any and all liability with respect to, or arising out of, the use of any prize."
Sounds like they talked to their lawyers. But no one ever found out if they could enter more than one costume and, if so, how. Worse, different people were told different rules. I was told by email that the dolls would be on mannequins, so I didn't have to worry about shoes and undies. And we assumed that the costumes would not be returned to us, so some people hesitated bringing in their very best stuff, for fear they would lose and the outfit be lost. Then, on Thursday, we were told that actual dolls would be used, and I had to toss a set of pantyhose and shoes into my box for the next day. Then, on Friday, it was mannequins after all! And that, if our costume was not among the first 3, we could pick it up and take it home after the banquet. Worse though, some people -- not all -- were told that it was the dress itself that counted, but not accessories, so don't bother with the latter. So they didn't. And the rest of us did. And when Herb Brown announced at the banquet that one thing they liked about the dress that won 3rd place were all its nifty little accessories, was the woman sitting next to me at the banquet, who had been told to leave hers at home, upset? What do you think?
Fifteen of us entered. I was with the first few who came in to dress our mannequins, and simply by looking at the other three outfits, I could see I couldn't win. That was OK: the purpose of entering a contest is to have fun, and to see that the contest could be run. If no one except those who were certain they were going to win entered, you couldn't have a contest.
Herb Brown himself brought up the box of mannequins: I like a CEO who's not only hands on, but also totes cartons! The mannequins were torsos on skewers! My kids loved that! Those of us who did not win were able to take our dresses home on our mannequins. The winners were a trio of very pretty dresses, not particularly prettier, and, in some cases, I thought, less interesting than some that lost. Obviously, a lot of people just love sewing for Alex, and it shows.
When I brought my Alex as Dolley Madison to the competitive room on Friday, there were already two dolls in her category on the table. I had to put her next to an Alex as Amy from Little Women, dressed to the teeth in a Victorian travel coat and plumed hat for her trip to Europe with Aunt March. My poor Alex! In her little Regency dress, clutching her portrait of George Washington, she definitely looked outclassed!
The Regular Competition
The judging for the regular competition was Friday afternoon, and, since I wasn't going to the Travel Wendy dinner, I went home before the room reopened to convention members. When I finally went to view the competition Saturday morning, I glanced behind me as I was moving up the line -- and I couldn't believe it! My Dolley Madison had a third place ribbon! I was shocked and thrilled! Amy, of course, won first place, and a Cissy dressed as Eliza Doolittle at Ascot won second. There were other outfits more elaborate and finer than mine, but for this competition, I think imagination and sticking to the theme counted for a lot as well.
No pictures were allowed in the competition room. The doll that won best in competition was a 1951 Lady with a Rhinestone Beautymark. If you want to know what she and some of the other winners looked like, check in the book Madame Alexander Dolls: An American Legend. The competition dolls were absolutely as perfect as the ones in the pictures, and it was exciting to be able to see them up close.
Shopping, or Looking for Auntie Em
My one shopping task at this convention was to see if I could find an Auntie Em doll for RomaMay from the About.com Doll Collectors' Forum. I had a description of the doll -- 8", made for the 1995-1996 season only. I started asking around at the Louisa May Alcott lunch on Thursday, before the shopping area opened up, and was directed to Ellie, who was a vendor who knew everyone and everything. I wasn't able to get to the selling rooms until Friday morning, and I was worried that someone might have had an Auntie Em and sold it: I needn't have. She wasn't there.
I did find Ellie, who didn't have Auntie Em, but said that the vendor next to her did. The conversation went like this:
"Do you still have your Auntie Em?"
"She's not here, she's at home."
"Well, you do mail order."
"No, no! She's mine! I don't want to sell her!"
Well, great. I now know two people who have Auntie Ems and don't want to sell her. At this rate, RomaMay and I can just do a national survey and keep our eyes on the oldest and frailest owners!
I asked at every other likely table, but no one had one. Everybody told me she hardly ever came up for sale, and most of them directed me back to Ellie. I did get a few other suggestions for Roma, and have a few thoughts myself, which I will share with her off-line.
The salesroom itself was exciting because there was so much there that you usually don't see for sale, or that is only available online with high shipping costs. Still, for the most part the prices were only good, not great. I was able to get a box of 8" doll undies and shoes which I needed for the couple of 8" dolls I have at a bargain price. And I got the Pashmina accessories for Alex at $22.50 -- better than I've seen most places, not as good as the sale price Denise from the Forum got at a doll store. And that was pretty much the status of things: a lot available, little of it rare or unusual, only some of it hard to obtain, and the prices good but not great.
The Great Box Controversy
Madame Alexander has new boxes. They are more like the Alex boxes, thicker and covered with shiny paper. The bottom half of the box is pink with blue stripes, the top half pink with blue polka dots. Opinion is divided between those who hate the new box, and those who like the new box well enough, but are nostalgic for the old. Dealers like the new box because it folds well for storage and reassembly.
Herb Brown and the Direction of the Company
Herb Brown spoke about his leaving Madame Alexander, and about the direction of the company, at an Alexander seminar that I had had to miss, and at the banquet. I spoke to two people who were at the seminar, and from all of this, this is how I understand the situation. Herb Brown was brought into Madame Alexander 5 years ago by the parent company in order to get the company back on its feet, and he has worked hard to do that, he says, because he and his wife genuinely like the dolls and want them to be there for everyone's children and grandchildren. He has trained his successor well for the past 3 years, and has faith in her ability to do the job. The parent company offered him another 5 year contract at Madame Alexander, but he was also offered the job of getting another one of their companies, in a completely different field, back on its feet. Turning companies around is what he likes to do, and that is what he is going to do. The entire toy industry is a fragile one -- he cited the recent decision of Eden Toys to go out of business after 28 years as an example of just how fragile it is -- but believes Madame Alexander can continue doing well. The company is going to concentrate more on the serious collector, and he himself still holds a position and title at Madame Alexander and will continue coming to doll events.
Table Dolls and Travel Dolls
Travel dolls are very popular, and many people carried their 8" dolls with them. They set them on the table, often in specially made clear plastic containers. And that was fine.
But some travel dolls seem to need their own airline tickets! I saw it first at the Cissy dinner: dozens of people brought their dressed-to-the-nines Cissys to dinner -- and put them on the table! You every tried to eat at a table for 10 that has 2, or 3, or 6, 21" fashion plates on it, not to mention the doll centerpiece? You can't see the people at the rest of the table, which makes conversation difficult. And spilling something takes on a terror beyond social embarrassment: if I spilled my coffee on someone's Cissy, it would be her fault for leaving her on the table. But that wouldn't mean that I wouldn't feel terrible. And that's unfair.
Fortunately, the only spill at our table at the Cissy dinner was the water, and the woman who spilled it splashed her sister's Cissy, so that's their problem.
Also, at the other events, these large dolls towered over the smaller doll centerpieces. I suppose the people who brought them enjoyed their big dolls, but, in that case, they didn't even improve the attractiveness of the decor.
Everyone wants to show off her Cissy, and it's lovely seeing her. And if they wanted to set up a room you could come to and admire people's Cissys, I wouldn't mind coming to ooh and aah. But I don't want them on the dinner table!
Dress
Because I could not change my clothes, I was worried about looking right at the dinners, and Denise and Chris from the Forum reassured me. Following their information and suggestions, I wore simple but attractive dresses that could go from day to evening, a linen blazer -- you must have a cover up at these over-air-conditioned hotels and convention centers, or you'll be very uncomfortable -- and very comfortable shoes. The Madame Alexander convention was relatively small -- just under 600 attended -- and pretty much all in one place, on one level of the hotel, with the exception of a few rooms elsewhere in the hotel. But you often had to stand on lines for a long time, and that could be tiring.
Carting it around
Again, because I had no place to put my things until the end of the day, I needed a way of carrying everything. I've been told that, at conventions at larger venues, this applies to virtually everybody, since they can't get back to their hotel rooms easily. So on Saturday, I brought my rolling backpack, which took me through a week in Europe and one day at the doll convention! Mid-day Saturday, I was one of the few toters, but I didn't have all my stuff then, and everything but my purse fit into the backpack, which fit under my chair, out of everyone's way. By the banquet, a lot of people had luggage with them: in addition to us commuters, people who lived within an hour or two of Boston were going home that night rather than spend another $150 for their hotel room. The wait staff at the banquet were very helpful, and probably very experienced, in helping people stow their gear out of the way but comfortably near them and in view. By the time I met the van Saturday night, I had my paperwork and reading and writing matter, 2 Alex boxes, one 10" doll box, 1 8" doll box, 1 14" doll box, my torso with costume on it, my program book, Madame Alexander catalog, Alex catalog, Madame Alexander book, pashmina outfit, and assorted favors and prizes safely stowed in the backpack, in my attaché attached to the backpack, and in a shopping bag perched on top of the backpack and hooked on to it. I was able to manage it easily down a flight of stairs when the elevators were too crowded, and to heave it into the back of the van when it arrived.
Time
The problem with this convention -- and most conventions -- is that you don't get to do everything you want to do because too many things are scheduled at once. And at other times you have a couple of hours between events when nothing is scheduled. I made friends and chatted much of that time, but I also need some down time alone, and enjoyed having a newspaper, some crossword puzzles, and a notepad with me so I could read or write and just have some thinking time to myself.
How To Make Yourself Nervous
Come to the convention the first morning by train. Hear announcement "This is train 514, the Boston local. To those of you who were waiting for train 512, we apologize. We don't know what happened to it." Spend the rest of the ride wondering how an entire commuter train could disappear.
How To Make Your Husband Nervous
Suddenly jump up as he is about to pull the car out of the driveway on the last morning of the convention and announce, "Wait a minute! I have to run back in and get more money!"
Conclusion: Would I Do It Again?
You betcha. But I don't think I'd do it as my only vacation plan, as many of MADC convention-goers do. Which means I won't go to Kansas City: it's not a place I particularly want to visit. But I look forward to planning for New Orleans UFDC year after next -- although considering how exhausted I was here, that one will probably kill me! And I was told MADC is considering Rochester as a possible site in the future.
The convention was held in August, 2001.
Don't Miss Part I: The Special Events and the Souvenir Dolls
Part III: Photos From The Convention--See The Dolls!
Copyright Rene S. Mandel, 2001. All Rights Reserved.
Meet Other Doll Collectors In Chat!
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Denise Van Patten, © 2000. All rights reserved.
