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"Helen Alexander is a woman with a wild imagination. From the curves, dots and dashes that make up stenography, she came up with a line of plush toys that almost defy description." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, by H.M.
Cauley, December 9, 2004.
In 1939, at the Pierre Hotel in New York City, Helen Eisemann Alexander began designing a collection of doodlies now known as Squinkles ©. At age 18, Helen was a budding Broadway actress, taking a shorthand course in Manhattan, New York. Back in the Stone Age, when administrative assistants still wrote everything by hand, Helen studied shorthand as a backup to her acting aspirations. When she practiced the shorthand symbols, Helen began daydreaming and doodling. Those doodles turned into almost 100 fanciful offbeat stuffed animals for adults and children called Squinkles.
Six decades later, after as many years of studying, including at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and acting on Broadway and in films and television under her stage name, Helen Eastman, and raising a big family, Helen has
brought several of those drawings to life. Children love these sweet, huggable critters. The multi-limbed, big-lipped, bug-eyed creations come in a rainbow
of colors. Adults enjoy their sassy attitudes and the poems included on the tag. And everyone is tickled by their fanciful names.
Helen Eisemann during her doodling days. (1939)
Sample doodle that turned into a Squinkle.
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Helen E. Alexander and her Squinkles
Helen wanted to remind you that every Squinkles comes with a special tag
that includes a verse beautifully written by Oregon writer, J. Kenneth Brody
Helen wanted to remind you that every Squinkles comes with a special tag that
includes a verse beautifully written by J. Kenneth Brody. Just like Helen
to be thinking of other.
In December 2004, Helen and her husband Cecil
Alexander, a community leader and retired Atlanta architect, donated 600 toys to
the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program.
Thank you Helen for your generosity and your Squinkles! Since 1939 - Stuffed With Attitude!
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