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Alexander managed her business with meticulous
care. As the Company expanded, she maintained the
high standards she had set for her sisters when
they sewed the first Red Cross Nurse. "If a
child plays with a doll put together poorly,"
she said, "dressed with pins and poor stitching,
she is apt to...become a woman who reaches for a
pin instead of a needle in later life."
"You never knew when she would suddenly get
it into her head to take a walk on the factory
floor," says Alexander's long-time secretary.
"I guess you could say she was conducting spot
inspections. She demanded the best from everyone
who worked beside her because she demanded the best
of herself.... If she saw lace on a hem that seemed
to be frayed or uneven, she would complain and
demand that it be fixed immediately. It wasn't
nit-picking; she was the quality control of the
whole company." The care with which Alexander
oversaw operations ensured that her dolls always
retained their reputation for quality. She
maintained the same exacting attention to detail in
all of her business
endeavors.
Alexander was a demanding employer, but she was
also fair. Long-time employee Greta Schrader
remembers her as direct and to-the-point—she
"called a spade a spade"—but also as polite,
amenable to suggestion, and truly caring about her
workers. Her employees worked year-round, unlike
those at other doll factories, and Alexander paid
bonuses twice a year. Despite the lower labor costs
abroad, she was adamant at keeping production in
the United States; by the 1980s, hers was the only
American doll company that did not manufacture any
part of its dolls outside the country. Alexander
was also committed to the local community, making
significant contributions to local organizations
and refusing to leave her Harlem location. Her
workers rewarded her with loyalty, some over
several generations.
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