The Madame Hendren doll was produced by the Averill Manufacturing Company, the most significant talking doll maker of the 1920's. The success of this company and its doll was based on the patented Averill doll cylinder phonograph motor. Averill produced dolls under the trade names of Madame Hendren, Lyf-Lyk, Dolly-Rekord, Master Bubbles, Wonder and Madame Georgene. Other doll companys also used this same Averill phonograph mechanism and its associated blue celluloid records to make the 1920s a prolific talking doll market. Based on a phonograph motor patent granted to Richard S. Arthur in 1920 (patents 1355523 and 1357936) Averill dolls played a blue, 2 3/16 diameter, 1 1/4 inch long cylinder record in the chest of the doll.

Madame Hendren was given her name as a doll in 1917 but the first talking Madame Hendren didn't appear until 1922. She had a composition head, human hair wig and was 22 inches tall. A tin phonograph horn goes from her chest to her head where the sound came out of holes in the top of her head. Variations of Madame Hendren exist but all play the same blue celluloid records previously described.

In 1923 Averill introduced the Dolly-Rekord phonograph doll with a different mechanism however this doll still played the same records and was advertised as the genuine Madame Hendren. For these dolls the sound came out of the chest instead of the head. Madame Hendren dolls were not sold in stores according to the authors of "Phonograph Dolls that Talk and Sing" but were awarded as premiums for various sales of products or for subscribing to newspapers or magazines. The following record titles and information come from "Phonograph Dolls that Talk and Sing" by Bessie & Floyd Seiter, Joan & Robin Rolfs:

Six cylinder records came with each Madame Hendren Doll

Additional titles were available: