A Deep Dive into the American Girl Franchise | History, Controversy, and Capitalism
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- In this video essay I discuss the history of the American Girl doll company, their historical dolls, movie and book ventures, as well as their controversies and other similar doll alternatives.
TIMESTAMPS:
Intro 0:00
Part 1: A Brief History of the Brand 1:44
Part 2: Trying to Tell History in a Capitalist Hellscape 8:25
Part 3: “Not Like Other Dolls” 14:21
Part 4: Other American Girl Ventures 19:18
- The Online Games 19:34
- The Physical Stores 21:21
- The Puberty Book/Content Note 24:40
Part 5: The Movies 29:17
Part 6: The Controversies 34:19
Part 7: Radical? 44:34
Part 8: The American Girl Alternatives and the Canadian Girls? 47:32
Conclusion 51:48
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I'm asian american and when I was younger, I got the Ivy doll for christmas. I was adopted into a white family and I remember being so embarrassed that I got the asian doll while my other white cousins got the "cooler" white historical dolls like Felicity, Molly, Kit, etc. Like it pointed out how I was different than the rest of my family. idk. also even back then, I thought it was weird that ivy was marketed as the best friend doll to the white doll? like i get that it's cool to have dolls that have intertwining stories but it feels weird to me that ivy was marketed as a supplement to julie's story. (i might be mistaken but this is how i remember it being when Ivy first came out)
This is absolutely how Ivy was marketted-- all of the 'friend' dolls, honestly, but Ivy was by far the most egregious example. She had only one other dedicated outfit, and it was a 'cultural' one. That was it, her entire 'collection'.
But if you had been given a white doll couldn't that also be problematic?? I think the parents of interracial adoptees often genuinely struggle to figure out whether differences should be ignored or embraced and how much so. I understand everything else you're saying though.
@@bunwithgun1587 I think her issue is more that American Girl didn't provide a doll of Asian background that was the main character of her own story rather than a side character
@@CheeseCake5990 Well I can definitely understand that. Just offering POC dolls as side characters could give one an inferiority complex.
It's impossible to figure out how someone else will take something. There are other girls that would be upset if they got a doll of a different race when one that represents them also exists .
Maybe bring it up in a non-confrontational way? Can't learn without asking questions. We don't ask each other enough questions. A lot of problems would fix themselves.
I was the only kid of color at my grade back in the 90s. One girl told the other kids not to play with me because I was Black. The other kids ignored her because they thought it was cool that I looked like Josefina. Maybe not the most progressive company, but sure as hell made my life that much easier.
Shows you how fucking important representation is
@@nah_. agreed
Yes I love josaphina I am white but I have brown spots on me due to a disorder and kids would say don’t play with me because I would spread it I always found it hard to make friends but when I josaphina she became my friend I loved her she helped me though the hard time of my life
I remember saving up money to buy Josephina as a kid. I loved that doll and the books SO much. luckily the local library had the whole set.
@@67luis64 better avoid you. Until you can learn to respect others.
I grew up in a VERY conservative household within a conservative school system and so I was never taught about puberty properly. When I was 11 I kinda knew that puberty was a thing and I could see my friends' bodies changing but I was still pretty ignorant. I saw The Care and Keeping of You: The Body Book for Girls in a Bath & Body Works and asked my mom to buy it for me (thank GOD she didn't flip through it). That's how I taught myself about what would happen to me within the year and when I got my first period during school I knew exactly what was happening and didn't freak out (my mother proceeded to lie to me about tampons and virginity when I told her that evening though). I later gave that book to my two younger sisters because I knew they weren't going to learn about puberty in an honest way and 20 years later they still occassionally thank me for preparing them.
The sad truth is that in the early 2000s (and still now) too many adults are uncomfortable with female puberty and having a no-nonsense resource with anatomically correct colored pencil drawings made it feel like it was going to be ok. I don't remember the ED sections too well, but I agree that it would have been more responsible to have an expert write those sections.
That book also taught me about puberty, but not because my parents were strict. It was just less effort to give me the book and be done with it. It was actually a very helpful book for me though.
@@ashtaylor4107 That was exactly what my mom did too, though she waited to actually give it to me until I actually started my first period, so a bit annoyed at her about it.
Gosh, that book really helped me too. My mom hadn’t told me about periods by the time I got my first one, but I knew about them and what to do through that book. My mom actually asked “How do you know about that?” when I came and asked her for a pad or tampon the first time 😂 MY GOSH, MOM, it’s a good thing I did know! I would have legit thought I was dying!
I'm so sorry for your previous experience ): It's good to know that some good came of that book in a small way! So sad that it was with no other option for you, and presumably others, though /:
Did you read American Girl Magazine too? Because I always wondered about the qualifications of whoever was answering the letters in the Help advice section. I thought it was odd that they never even mentioned the name of the person, let alone any information about their education or background. I also always wondered if the magazine ever received any letters about really serious issues where they would've gotten police or social services involved, like sexual abuse situations or something. That magazine was an institution. It's a God damned shame that it's not published anymore. There's been nothing to replace it. I feel like children's media is getting crappier and crappier in the 21st century.
I would LOVE to see a historical African American doll from the Harlem Renaissance era. As a kid I felt forced to like Addie because she’s the black doll. But I hated her low key I hated that she was a former slave. I hated that her clothes wasn’t as fancy as some of the others. My favorite despite her family being a slave owner was Felicity because 18th century fashion has always fascinated me. And Samantha. By the time Cecile came I was a grown adult and I’m not a doll collector. My original doll I got Christmas 96 was lost in hurricane Katrina
This is such a great idea!!! Her outfits would be so much fun too!
it wouldve been great if since the beginning black and asian girls got as many dolls to choose from as white girls (not saying poc couldn't love the white dolls, would've just been nice if black girls who wanted a doll who looked like them had more to choose from)
I was the complete opposite, I read every single one of the American girl books and was surprised and amazed when I got my Addy doll. My sisters both got modern black dolls and I was the only one with a historical doll so I was thrilled. I loved her story, I loved the extra bonus book that it came with, and I loved her clothes and hair. It was definitely the nicest quality toy that I'd ever seen and the details taken into account when crafting the doll definitely didn't go unnoticed by me. Her clothes weren't "fancy" but I understood why and I liked the simplicity. I think her hair was really specially to me because it was the most like my hair that I'd ever seen on a doll. She also had the darkest complexation that I'd ever seen on a doll
Ohh a Harlem Renaissance doll would be so cool! I had a just like me doll, but loved putting Samantha's clothes on her since I loved the stuff they would release for Samantha. I owned the Addy book series, and while I enjoyed reading them, I never really liked the dolls or the stuff they would release for her.
@@AuthorMorganaSinclayr I love Addy's Pink dress because at that time pink was only reserved for the girly white girl. Although it was not as fancy as some of the other girls, it help Addy stand out. I also really like her holiday dress. But yeah, Addy could of had some more accessories and a best friend doll (Sarah)
there was an episode of Arthur where Muffy is obsessed with buying up all these dolls and she ends up showing how she barely cared anything about the dolls and their backgrounds while Sue Ellen had one Inuit doll who she loved and really wanted to try and find its historically accurate accessories
I remember that episode and I was waiting for someone else to mention it. Honestly this episode was the first time I ever heard about any controversy about the brand.
That was my favourite episode as a kid but I forgot about it until I saw this comment!
I love that episode. Plus it showed that dolls of color had less attention or accessories than white dolls-a real issue that we still have.
i remember this episode vividly omg. at the time i was a huge american girl fan, but i loved the stories of the dolls. i was upset that muffy didn't seem to care about the dolls and who the dolls were based on. honestly when i think of american girl now i think of that episode
This comment made me revisit that episode and after rewatching it apparently sue ellens doll was from Tibet. When she tried to get an accessory for it, she learned it was discontinued bc the doll was from “a Buddhist country which didn’t sell well”. I also have a theory that considering the year this episode probably came out, the free Tibet movement was a hot button issue and there was probably the subtext of a giant corporation appeasing a certain big country that doesn’t like talking about that. Although that’s just my take on the episode
Cecile was NOT a "best friend doll", she and Marie-Grace were a simultaneous release with both dolls being the main character of their storylines.
This comment gives me the energy of the “I think I know more about American girl dolls than YOU do” vine
i-is that.... klavier on your pfp????
@@hlnolvrgo_c Yes, yes it is.
It always felt like people treated her like one. Like, I barely saw her gain as much attention as Marie-Grace, and whenever she did she was normally referenced as "Marie-Grace's friend" by other people. Despite the intention being different, people really did like to treat her as a token
@@leggoyourego2981 marie grace also got a lot of attention bc she had a unique face mold that was never used again
If there IS a historical Asian American doll, I hope she is set in early Los Angeles when Chinese railroad workers were facing massive discrimination after being largely responsible for the transcontinental railroad. I would love to see how her story could bleed into LA's culture, I feel like the LA store would be the best to debut her in
That would be cool. If you haven't already read Laurence Yep's historical Chinese American historical stories, you should check them out. They were very important to me as a kid.
The vast majority of Chinese immigrants at the time were men because women did not work on the railroad. It'd be had to work in a believable story of a Chinese immigrant girl. Unless, of course, you don't know the vast majority were men.
@@Fumi007 I mean, she would be the daughter of a guy who worked on the railroads I guess? All of the American Girl dolls are children so they can't be adults.
@@assholebyginger The problem is the majority of children coming into the country at that time were paper sons and daughters. Meaning their fathers would lie by saying they were born in the United States so they could get through immigration. After that, they may still be held at Angel Island for long periods of time. But the company often has back stories that are possible, but generally uncommon. Like how Samanthat was a rich orphan. That wasn't the experience of most orphans. But the company needed a flouncy dolls with flouncy items in a flouncy era. So to Granmary's house we go!
@@Fumi007 because it’s not possible for our American girl to have a father of course. Or friends with fathers. Or boys a few years older she’s known since childhood who are just now entering the labor force.
There needs to be an SNL skit on American Girl dolls - when I (black) was a little girl my family took me to the Chicago store and when it was time for me to get a doll that looked like me, I had to get the SLAVE DOLL 😂😂😂 like omfg??? That is so hilarious. Here honey here’s your slave toy 😂
That said, I was a history nerd and deeply enjoyed the void in the market that American girl filled, so thanks for this vid :)
There is a snl skit on american girl dolls
there kind of was one with that step mother evil doll making fun of American Girls
I had no idea. I'm not a fan of American girl dolls. But I can tell you Barbie has come out with some gorgeous dark complected dolls. I like the articulated dolls and there are both male and female. And now they have females in all kinds of body shapes. Check out the signature looks and extra collections.
@@kilodeltawhisky1504 Well diversity at AG still isn't the best, but now there are other options for dark complected dolls other than Addy Walker. For example, dolls from the Just Like You line, Melody and Makena.
@@phadenswandemil4345 I shouldn't even be commenting on AG anything, I think they're ugly with the teeth...lol. The only reason I ever had an interest in them is because I like to sew and I thought they'd be fun to sew for. The only one I have is a wellie wisher I picked up for $3.49 at goodwill.
A good number of doll collectors seek out "ethnic" and human hybrid dolls these days. Come to think of it, most of the Chinese knock off bjds on Amazon do not come in a world of shades. The artist originals do, but they're spendy. Oh well... There are alternatives, and customization is a nice option for creatives.
The Addy doll...🤦🏾♀️ It had been soo frustrating growing up being told that was the doll for "girls like me". Hint, pigeonholing Black Americans into the suffering and oppression of slavery (adjacent) or Civil Rights eras is NOT it.
This reminds me of the episode of blackish that I saw a couple weeks ago about an American girl-esque store where their dolls were full of white dolls but the only two black ones was a woman escaping from slavery and a woman named Selma with a picket sign. 😔
Completely agree!! I could never afford the dolls, but I read the books, and I was soo disappointed that the story for young American Black girls was a slavery/post slavery story AGAIN, whereas the white American, Latina American, and Native American dolls seemingly got more unique stories and backgrounds.
Almost all historical US media geared towards Black people talks about slavery or Civil rights and Addy's story was no different. Why couldn't it have been about the Harlem Renaissance, or the start of rock and soul music?? We are more than just struggle, though that's a part of our story, too.
@@LoveAndSnapple that is SO ACCURATE lmaoo
My godmother was a white woman and she bought me gifts all the time when I was younger. She got me a generic Black AGD, but I cut all her hair off (yknow how kids are) and she subsequently bought me a new one. I'm not sure why she made this decision, but the replacement was Addy. I read the books that came with the Addy set (a set that included Addy's own little doll, historical clothing, and a wooden chest to store everything in) and, suffice to say, I didn't play with Addy very much after that.
@@ambriaashley3383 I'm not denying that there have been many prominent black historical leaders that these dolls could be modeled after, but you're kind of missing the point. They are AMERICAN Girl dolls , and they have stories based on American history. The sad reality is that most girls of the period were enslaved. Until we start venturing into modern history and the post war civil rights movement, they will be kept in dark times 😔.
Edit: I'm sorry people tried to pigeonhole you. That doll is not "made for girls like you" that doll is supposed to be a representation of history that any girl can play and empathize with. I'm sorry people put you into a vox
American Girl was one of my autistic special internets as a child. I read everything AG and subscribed to the catalog and saved all my money to subscribe to the magazine. I even worked at their MOA store when I was 19. It was so important to me.
Thank you for addressing the way these dolls were catered for rich kids tho! I was poor AF and usually homeless when I was into those dolls and I had one that my aunt got me for my 8th birthday but no accessories and I sewed a lot of her clothes myself. When I worked at the store I rang up sales that were more than the paycheck I’d earn from them almost 10 times a day
I believe this was also an autistic special interest for me. I knew those catalogs by heart and spent hours looking at them.
DITTO! Funny enough, I grew up in a town that had a lot of middle-to-upper class, so it was common to have them (but only if you were into it, that is). One of my classmates proclaimed that she had 37 or so, which meant that she had to have every doll from the GOTY and Historical doll as well as 2 or 3 JLY/Truly Me dolls, and only a nerd like me could figure that out.
Mine too!,,,
I remember being obsessed with these when I was younger. I watched the movies, played games, read some of the books, I even had a magazine where I would fantasize about having my own customizable doll, since I never had a doll that look like me. I wasn't necessarily broke, but my parents were not the type (they didn't have the disposable income) to spend hundreds of dollars on a doll just for me, even if it was Christmas. So I lived vicariously through the other American Girl Doll media.
this!!!!! im autistic too and still have a huge hyperfixation on AG and it sucks bc i wasnt able to get one until my 13th bday when i begged my family and then i got made fun of for being so old and playing with dolls that i tried to hide it until much later, they really shouldve had a way for kids to access them easier :(
I mean it's hard to do a historical kids toy "right". American history for all races, especially women is dark. But you can't be too dark in a kids toy, which makes it feel pandering to adults. I think we need to realize kids should be exposed to real history, but you don't have to throw all the horrors in their faces before puberty. Sometimes knowing you could relate to someone who lived in a different time or from a different culture is enough to spark something.
it should be diluted for the sake of kids but not too diluted to where it’s inaccurate. it can be very hard to find the right balance, AG is doing a good job of finding it in my opinion. it could always be better tho,
I had the puberty book when i was a young kid. personally, i loved it so much. it was the first-and only- time in my life that menstruation and body development weren't treated as a super embarrassing, taboo subjects to be whispered about. From what I remember, it treated those things as completely normal and things to be talked about. It helped me be comfortable in my body, if just for a small time, when no one and nothing else did.
I hid it under my parents coach… I was to scared to face the reality’s. Though I found some of the picures so funny as a kid
I had it too!
while i agree that they seem to be a form of “not like other girl-ism”, American girl really was the only doll or even toy that appealed to me. I’ve been a history nerd since i was really young, and the historical dolls were super magical to me because they were all that were on the market at the time. I was into AGD in the early 2000s and 2010s as a kid, and at the time toys were very heavily gendered. So to be a girl who was living in the south, there was really nothing pushing me towards entertaining my love for history. It’s not that i was too cool or quirky for brats or barbie’s, it’s just that AGD dolls ( and mostly their knockoffs) were just what i liked. I think there is a clear line between trying to be not like other girls, and just genuinely having different interests. Additionally! my interest for american girl fell out of my favor after i got the puberty book. it just made me feel so uncomfortable about my body, and about pretty much everything. that book really snapped me out of my childhood. it’s really hard to look at those YOU books and then go back to playing with the dolls as per usual. This was a great video!!
Even if AG was made with the intent of being "not like other dolls", it at least had an audience and a goal beyond that. So many people create "not like other dolls" doll lines that are just boring and don't truly offer anything new and good. Like, it's just a knockoff doll but with boring clothes. No understanding or care of what kids actually like, just trying to appeal to parents and parents alone.
AG definitely has a big parental appeal, but the books, the focus on characters, (as opposed to Barbie's blank slate model) and the cool historical fashions give it appeal to kids. The AG dolls succeeded because they were able to provide something good that other doll lines couldn't.
I agree overall. They just filled a void in the market.
I totally agree with you on the topic of that puberty book. I remember looking through it with my cousin as it was given mostly in place of any comprehensive education. It just made me so uncomfortable, it really flips your world view a little bit. It bothered me so much to think that people saw me like that, it felt like it was trying to prepare you to feel uncomfortable about yourself, maybe that’s just my personal feelings.
“The care and keeping of you” scarred many of us I’ve discovered
This. Also, though my family was poor, I was really drawn in by how real all of the toys and accessories were. I knew the difference between pink plastic barbie things and painted wooden chests and real clothing. I liked both, but I yearned for something that was "real" and meant to last.
That book was actually really helpful to me as a kid- it was the fist time I had seen female anatomy in a neutral light. not in a science book or on a sexualized model, just normal people with vaginas in drawings. However I’m very bothered that it was written by a toy sales person and not a health professional...
Ok people need to come off that b.s. about how "bothered" they are that a toy sales person wrote the book and not a "health pro." You guys are literally talking as if the woman who DID write the book is some sort of bloody alien who has 0 understanding of what the female body goes through. You guys talk as if the author ISNT a woman herself and she never went through puberty on any level. It's Psychotic. Now it would have been understandable to nitpick and complain and whine about it if it had been A MALE who wrote it. Because let's face it. What the heck does a man really know about what us women go through? Except for what they learned in school and hearing women go through pms if they are in a relationship...Males WILL NEVER KNOW what it's like to give birth or even carry a human for 9 months. They will NEVER KNOW the irritation of cramps, and how it literally varies for every woman, to them it's all "she said this and that girl said that." And all they do is regurgitate what they have been told. So YES it would be more logical to complain about this if the author was a male. But NO it was a woman who wrote the book....to just illogically complain about a woman who went through puberty HERSELF so she DOES KNOW what she's talking about,...as if she doesn't know a thing about it at all......is just a product of simple-minded tom foolery. Your statement has to be the 2nd one who acts like the author isn't human or something. (Aside from the creator of the video saying it, so you guys fall in line like dominos and absentmindedly agree) I have the book and read through it as a growing girl about over 12 times, before passing it down to my younger cousin when she finally hit middle school. A LOT of what Mrs. valorie said in the book is both considered "personal experience" (because her body DID change too) and COMMON BLOODY SENSE! ITS A NO BRAINER THAT WE HAVE to take care of our health and wellbeing. Common damn sense that if you don't brush your teeth they will over time eventually rot and fall out and you develop bad breath,. If you are the type of person who easily smells when sweating then it's COMMON BLOODY SENSE TO SEEK OUT deodorant to combate it. Honestly everything she wrote in the book....YOU DONT NEED A BLOODY FRICKIN DR TO TELL SOMEONE THE TRUTH AND COMMON SENSE THINGS.
Sorry for the caps/the sections where it would look like I'm yelling if this were to be a verbal communication. But I can't stand when people act so thick in the head and act like things like this topic is so "problematic" to talk about unless a Dr is involved. This Valorie lady who wrote the book is talking to girls through the pages......it's NO different than a bigger sister, or female cousin, or Aunt telling a middle schooler in their family, the same.....damn.....thing....so for future reference to you, stop hopping on the band wagon and repeating what you hear someone say just because they don't agree with something. Think deeper,think longer before responding to them. Think about what the person is saying first (and this goes for whatever the topic may be) because honestly speaking honey, you agreeing with the person who made the video about how it "bothers you" that a WOMAN who is not a Dr. Wrote the book, in a way that Valorie is NOT a woman herself and couldn't have possibly experienced puberty HERSELF is ridiculous and illogical and retarded and insensitive to Mrs. Valorie. Just some realistic logical advice for you.
@Bianca C da Kitteee
I get that anatomy, changes that occur in puberty, how to have a balanced diet, etc. is information that isn’t too complicated and with proper research can be written by a non-professional. However the book also includes more nuanced subjects like eating disorders and body image. There is a lot of stigma and stereotypes surrounding eating disorders that can get in the way of a balanced and informative discussion about the topic.
Moreover, AG is a company with rich resources. They pay so much attention to their dolls, for example making their faces non-symmetrical to make them more realistic. The same attention to detail could have been given to the body book, such as hiring professionals to fact check the book.
@@biancacdakitteee7161 mother Teresa had a pu*sy would you trust her to right a puberty book
I really liked the history books as a kid!
Same!
Me too!
Me 3
Same here and amen to that.
Yes! A generous relative bought me the Molly craft and recipe books also and they both became well worn and loved. I loved the historical trivia they included.
I remember the dolls being $100 back when I was kid I’m actually surprised they are nearly the same price now. The custom ones were always more expensive too
I remember when they were $100 as well. Surprised they aren't a lot more expensive these days.
Man, I never thought of myself as someone for whom American Girl was terribly formative, but now I'm realizing how much of a role it played in my life; I watched almost all of the movies, some of them a *lot* of times, and I was in a Felicity play, and I owned the books and mini-dolls...Wow. It runs so deep, lol.
Yeah, memories I haven't thought about in years resurfaced with this video.
my first ag doll was rebecca when she first came out, and my best friend had kit from the year before. i learned so much about jewish history and culture from rebecca that i otherwise wouldn't have been exposed to in school as a child. kit came out just before the recession and i remember reading her book gifted to me by my best friend on the drive from north carolina, where we had lived prior to the recession, to texas where my parents' families lived because we were stripped of everything, our possessions, house etc. we were about to be in a similar living situation as kit. it actually put things into perspective for me and made it easy for an eight year old to comprehend what was happening to us and the country at the time, and comforted me a lot. same went for the gwen doll
Yeah. Me and my sisters each had two, so that’s a total of 6, and me and my little sister had two of the mini dolls. I kinda feel bad having been rich enough to have had two dolls that we now rarely play with and don’t know what to do with
I was privileged enough to afford more than one American Girl doll growing up in the recession, and I definitely still have them, but I didn't play with them often bc they were more like collector's items and therefore really hard to play with and I liked the portability of Barbies a lot more. My sibling and I did have Julie and Ivy Ling and we still have them.
I think the American Girl books are a fairly ok way to introduce kids to difficult-to-discuss topics in history and in their life, especially because discussions of history are so nuanced and difficult to begin. The first time I ever heard of the N*zis were from a Molly book. Obviously these books aren't perfect retellings of history (especially with Addy and Kaya) but I think they were entertaining ways of introducing kids to very basic history concepts. I think that's what makes the American Girl franchise that unique that it was willing to tackle very difficult topics and introduce them to kids who might've been facing those same issues. Kids are much smarter than we take them for, and purposely avoiding telling them about the world they're experiencing will only hinder their growth more.
Amen to all of that! It's true that kids are WAY smarter than we think of them as, which is ironic given that everyone started out as a child in one way or another. Even test tube babies are NO exception to this rule.
It's a damn shame that they don't publish American Girl Magazine anymore.
but other cultures during school just tell kids about their history, good and bad, so that they can learn from the mistakes of the past. american’s have this weird fake handicap when it comes to that concept. if the germans can teach kids about what the nazis did…. come on now.
@@animeevergreenathena Why would anyone think that test tube babies are an exception?
same here with molly!! her stories gave me a great foundation to take in ww2 history later on, and they were gentle and entertaining enough for me to listen. Reductive and nationalistic at times, yes, but I can't help but think that those stories were a net good in my education.
I think Addy’s case is interesting. I totally get the frustration, and fatigue. People want a more diverse depiction of historical black experiences, and that’s completely reasonable.
My parents were protective, and prone to censor. They were also not fully equipped to handle difficult discussions. But American Girl books got a pass. Addy’s story functioned as a good intermediary, directly leading me to learn more about women like Elizabeth Keckly, Ida B Wells, and Sojourner Truth,
Considering conservative reactions to critical race theory, and the bills being proposed for more “patriotic education” that intentionally ignore, and mischaracterize American
history; maybe there’s still a place for stories like Addy’s.
I'm pretty sure we read Addy's book in second grade. Idk, just interesting.
I loved addys story when I was young.
Addy was one of my favorites when I was a kid. As a children's book, I think Addy does an exceptional job at painting the horrors of slavery in a way that's easy for kids to understand and digest, even if it is more catered to white children, and children who haven't grown up in or among black communities - for that alone, I think she still has her place among American Girl Dolls.
I saw a play adaptation of Addy's story when I was a kid. The moment with the grub on the tobacco leaf was burned into my brain. It might have been traumatizing for kids with African American ancestry to see something upsetting/graphic like that, but I think it was a hard truth I needed to see to cut past the "kind slaveowner" myth that was in my own textbooks.
@@rfrolicarts Oh my god so that wasn't a fever dream. That terrified me when I was a kid.
I saved my money for months to buy Molly. My grandma loved it bc she grew up at the same time Molly did. I remember her touching all the outfits and accessories and telling me stories about her childhood. She sewed outfits for Molly and even a matching nightgown set for Molly and I. That was a beautiful part of my childhood. I do remember always wanting more though and knowing I’d never be able to afford the majority of Molly’s collection.
As someone outside the US, I always find it fascinating to see what the US popular culture landscape was like in the early 2000s and just realizing I've been oblivious to a lot of it thh despite the fact that America has great influence or whatever. Great video!! I loved the little animations and l'm glad you got share another aspect of your creativity with us!
"Get over yourself and just...do the work." Honestly, the best way of putting it. (With regards to doll brands' "fear" of portraying people of Asian descent.)
Dude the Samantha movie scarred me for life, the scene where the little boy in the factory gets a needle stabbed through his hand horrified me and still plagues my mind to this day.
I watched it recently last Christmas and was shocked that they would separate Nellie and her sisters if they were to be adopted. It didn't happen but imagine the horrors they wouldve faced. Also the kids at the orphanage/sweat shop were mentally and physically abused, which I thought was important.
The late 90s, early 2000s revitalization of history also brought about the scholastic book series “Dear America”. I had SO MANY of those books growing up. It’s basically a series of fictional diaries about fictional girls who live through real historical situations - it includes everything from the revolutionary war, to escaping from slavery, to surviving the titanic, to being a pilgrim, to working in a sweatshop or being married to a coal miner.
And the Diaries!
I read those too!
Did anyone else read the one called “Behind the Masks”? All I remember is the horribly unsettling storyline about the main character’s friends little sister, who had died mysteriously. It ended in this frightening sequence where the little sister’s ghost appeared to them (but it wasn’t her ghost so much as an image of her dead, slightly decomposed body) and led them to a box in the barn where the MC and her friend found a box with the little sister’s dress and shoes. It turned out that the little sister had accompanied her dad on a hunting trip and drowned in a freak accident. All I know is that it was so terrifying to young me that I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t even look at that book’s cover without getting scared for the longest time.
It was just crazy cause the rest of those books were never supernatural or anywhere close to that scary
Those were American girl books?? I have the titanic, the Irish immigrant from the industrial revolution, and the Pilgrim. I loved those books so much!
Man, I love how comprehensive this is. I love how you address the history, the classism aspect, the internalized misogyny. It's a very nuanced and considerate take, which is very fun to watch and listen to.
Exactly!
It’s literally a doll brand and you think it jade internalized misogyny and classism do you hear yourself???
Right!
I am so intrigued and fascinated by American Girl dolls because I remember for like 2 months I was obsessed with those dolls. And I begged my mother to get me one and she never did but I eventually got over it. But I know how obsessive some people get and I'm just deeply intrigued for this deep dive.
I remember Liberty's Kids
Yes! I wanted a deal with every fiber of my being but they were awfully expensive. Just like you, I got over it over time. But my mom did buy me a dress from the catalog and I had never felt prettier in my life! I was so sad when I eventually outgrew it. But it went to younger cousins who could fit the dress. 😊
You brought up a repressed memory for me! I haven't heard about Liberty's Kids in such a long time!
liberty’s kids? i watched that show, well, some of it.
I’m glad that there is some LGBTQ+ rep in Kira’s story, although I do think kids could appreciate some more queer representation. When I was 7 in 2008, my aunt and her wife got me my first American Girl mini dolls. My aunts name is Julie and her wife’s name is Kirsten, so they got me the Julie and Kiersten mini dolls. I always played with those mini dolls as if they were a couple, because that’s what I saw my aunts as. I would have found it really cool if there was a gay couple in the AG books as a kid, but it was the late 2000s so I understand that it wouldn’t have been likely.
aw thats so cute
i would also love a gay AG character! although i think that’s unlikely as AG doesn’t really bring up relationships, because it’s targeted towards young kids. maybe instead of a gay main character they could have gay parents and talk about the things they face!
That's sweet. Are you gay(if you're we're minority too I'm brazilian) it's very interesting understanding American culture from doll. I Brazil don't have such thing as those dolls . It's even almost impossible other things such as diy of miniature of cities to build or ships to build in a glass and is super expensive to most people. Most people in Brazil are conservative and very surpetisious (Brazil have a lot of African religion influence like condonble and Umbanda )
@@deliciouslycrispyfrog2053 Yeah it wouldn't make sense for them to have a sexuality, kids can be trans / nonbinary, but I'd be surprised if it actually happens. People still seem to think that gay and trans people's whole existence is inherently inappropriate for children
Thank you for mentioning the fetishization aspect! I feel like that has gotten worse with the introduction of the create your own line. It’s supposed to be a way for girls to make dolls that look just like them but from what I’ve seen on social media, what ends up happening is adult doll collectors mixing and matching “exotic” features (AKA POC features) to make the “prettiest” dolls. It’s the same way people fetishize mixed-race babies.
I didn’t know that.
So overdramatic. It’s a DOLL. painted plastic. Lmao
@@user-qv6fg1zr6y it’s meaningful painted plastic. Kids are going to want to play with dolls that look like them. I sure did when I was growing up, and the only role model I had back then was Addy. It would’ve been nice to see a Historical character that was more than just a slave.
@@dontmindme.imjustafraidofe9327 - “it’s meaningful” LMAO. This world isn’t going to go the way you want. Kids need to learn this. Your kid can live their life without a piece of plastic that looks like them. I guess your username is spot-on, you’ve been undisciplined.
Yep :/ Lots of collectors will make a doll with dark skin and dark hair and then give her green or blue eyes so she's ""prettier."" It's a huge problem
I grew up Josefina!! I remember it being the BIGGEST deal - we did not have a lot of money throughout my childhood as my family owned our own small business. My mom saved the whole year to get me the doll & my grandfather got me a few of her matching sets.
I was obsessed with all of the books and read them all frequently as I was homeschooled & wasn’t around many people in general, but especially of different backgrounds! I also loved history & historic clothing (and still do!)
Thanks for the great video as always! ♡
Imagine boycotting a whole movie for a five second appearance of one character
I grew up reading the American Girl doll books, and I’m not gonna say they’re the reason I’m into history today but they certainly helped me find that passion as a kid who spent my spare time in the school library lol. I never actually had one because I was perfectly content with the Barbies and Bratz my parents could afford. Kids really can’t tell the difference y’all, it’s not that deep…
The thing with kids & dolls too is there’s so much imagination involved. My parents couldn’t afford AGD but that didn’t stop me from turning my Barbies into whoever I wanted them to be. If I was into a certain character or historical figure, that’s who Barbie was going to be that day lol.
omg octet pfp
Honestly, I hated Bratz with an undying passion when I was a kid. Barbies we're fine, Polly pockets were fine, but Bratz represented everything I hated about being a girl and made me incredibly uncomfortable with how sexualized they seemed.
@@sierrasouthwell9237
Yes. This. Thank you. Finally someone who agrees with me on this. Like, yeah, I love that they were more diverse and focused more on stuff that teens were into rather than careers....but they looked so gross.
@@sierrasouthwell9237 I was a kid on the older end of the spectrum when Bratz were released -- just about the age when I stopped playing with my barbies -- but I was also absolutely shocked about how sexualized they were. I just remember feeling so uncomfortable whenever I saw them on the shelves.
I dragged my doll around everywhere. Played with her everyday. My mom told me when I got older how upset some parents were because it was a “collector’s item” and my mom said, it’s a toy.
Girls in my class had dolls as well but they told me their parents wouldn’t allow them to play with them. I thought that was so strange.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 thanks for that. Your mom sounds great.
I remember my mom bought me a Rebecca doll when I was little because she wanted me to have some nice Jewish representation for young girls. I remember distinctly being very excited that she had little Shabbat candles and a little challah. It meant a lot to me, but I wish that we didn’t have to pay for representation
THANK YOU for talking about Care and Keeping of You and the ED section. I also read it and was obsessed with it (actually the book was given to me by my sister because I was saying body negative things that worried her in third grade or so) and reading that book definitely didn't prevent my getting an eating disorder, didn't help me identify mine, and did sort of glamorize EDs. Most troubling is the illustrations where anorexic girls are all skinny and stuff like that since I didn't realize you could even have an eating disorder other than binge eating disorder if you weren't skinny/losing weight. I wish more ED educational content would underscore that people in larger bodies are MORE likely to develop EDs like anorexia and bulimia than skinny girls because of fat phobia and the bullying they receive in school for their bodies
Oh, my dad bought me this in an effort to get me to realise that I should take care of myself when I was 10, I never learned and possibly developed bullemia afterwards.
I agree to an extent. It honestly more educated me on them more than anything when i read it growing up.... But I also think that at the time this was pretty progressive for the time. I hope they release a new edition that is a little more ED conscious.
I always thought it might be neat to have an Inupiaq American girl, even just for the whole "farthest north" gimmick. But like actually my grandma's village, King Island, had to relocate to a recently desegregated Nome in the 1950s (Natives were discriminated against bad enough that it's sometimes referred to as "Alaskan Jim Crow" and one Inupiaq girl even got arrested for refusing to get out of the white seating of a movie theater) and that does sound like a classic setup for an American Girl character. Also, all the pretty kuspuks American Girl would have made for an Inupiaq doll!
Also, yes, I loved Liberty's Kids. I tracked it down on youtube to watch through it again, and it holds up surprisingly well, especially for something made about American history post-9/11. The medical description of the aftermath of tar-and-feather-ing haunts me to this day and I remember being upset that my teacher didn't bring it up when we got to that event in US history
That episode haunted me as a kid- I saw it when it was airing on PBS, and would always turn the channel when it came on
Omg that sounds like such an amazing story for a historical doll!!
Now I just want to make doll kuspuks (the Iñupiaq tribes I lived near for a few years called them atikluks) so badly. I made one for myself and the culture teacher at the school I taught at made one for me and they’re so pretty, comfortable, and functional. Little ones for dolls would be way too cute 😍
@@averyeml i'm sure you could find a pattern, i've seen plenty of photos of them online. Someone was selling them last time I went to the Tannana Valley Farmers' Market.
(I think in King Island Inupiaq it's called "uģiłikaak." Something like that.)
There is a Canadian company similar to American Girl called Maplelea. You might be interested in Saila from Maplelea
The Girls of Many Lands line didn't get a mention, but that one was out at just the right time for me to obsess. It was like the historic American Girls, but taking place overseas in historical times. The dolls were for display (not play) and the books were for slightly older readers, like teens. The dolls were extremely beautiful. Spring Pearl was from China, Neela from British occupies India, Kathleen from Ireland, Cecile from France... etc. they all had the most beautifully detailed costumes.
@Rebecca Woolf Kathleen seems to have been super popular among collectors, I think because Irish dance was also having a big moment at the time.
I adored these books too. Like I still have images of them stuck with me. I grew up in a very conservative Christian household and I remember thinking that I could never let my parents read Minuk's story--in some ways that book started me on a path because it was the first time I saw Christian missionaries portrayed as not the absolute best thing ever. I was shocked by it and read it over and over. It was one of the first books/media I misled my parents about the content of because I was "radical" to them. I dunno--the memory is very much a "wow see how far I've come" thing for me
@@lydiastucki721 Her story was absolutely brutal. This is the kind of media that kids need to be exposed to.
I have Minuk and Cecile and their books as well as Kathleen's book. I absolutely treasure them, even though Minuk is missing her shoes. I love Cecile's dress so much.
Yes such an underrated line!
I still have my Rebecca doll. I liked her story because it kind of paralleled my own experiences. She was the only non-Christian doll (not counting Kaya) and I liked that her stories showed the small disconnects between her home life, which followed Jewish traditions, and the outside world, which is very Christian centric. This resonated with me because I grew up Hindu in America, and there is still a disconnect. She's also a second generation immigrant, and the way that she sees her family, not bad, but kind of out of touch with the world she lives in, was something I could relate too. There is a big cultural difference between America and Russia, and that really shows through the characters of her grandparents. I grew up Hindu in America, and there was a disconnect between my home life and school life. I really saw myself in Rebecca, even though she was white and I was not.
Wow I read so many of the books, my favorites were Addy, Samantha, and Kaya. I’ve always been into history but american girl helped me imagine day to day life with more clarity. My parents floated the idea of getting the dolls for me especially as I matured. But my grandparents grew up in the depression/wartime eras in the segregated south, and the influence of my grandparents shunning so many of those sorts of luxuries really discouraged me from trying to get an american girl doll by the time I was of age. I wasn’t impervious to advertising and wanting expensive exciting toys as a kid, and I’m still not ofc, but the impact of my grandma telling me stories of being pulled out of school to pick cotton as a child to help feed her family, while reading about Molly’s struggle to on put on a victory play started to pull me away from the narrow storytelling american girl dolls covered. It was definitely a good basis, but when the dolls and stories aren’t made for you I feel like the connection to the brand and the characters, especially the historical ones, fractures pretty quickly.
But I played those flash games for hours, I was dedicated to Josefina’s market game 😄
my favorites too!! and I had both Addy and Samantha.
This iceberg is going to resonate so hard with me. I was a BIG American Girl fan. I did have the Marisol doll, so I'm interested to hear about the controversy. Such a big part of my childhood. The online games slapped! EDIT: accidentally hit post too early.
I remember Marisol! My mom got her for me because she was Mexican American and from Chicago like me and my mom also grew up in Pilsen.
I never knew about the controversy though. I’m really conflicted about the way it talks about Pilsen though because on one half, my parents left Pilsen because it really wasn’t a safe place at the time. I understand it’s a little more nuanced than that but basically that’s why they moved.
Now, it’s really different from how my parents remember it but on the other hand we do need to share that there is history and culture in places like Pilsen and it’s more than “a bad neighborhood” and not like the stereotypes or what the news wants you to believe it is.
I’m glad to see there was conversation about it but I don’t think the author was trying to do anything bad for making that insensitive line.
Edit: But I also think the author should own up to what they wrote was misinformed and it could have been used as a learning experience that neighborhoods like Pilsen are losing its history because of stereotypes, negative stigma and gentrification.
I had no idea about the weird hierarchy as a child, I just adored my doll and didn’t see it as any different than any other girl adoring any other doll. At an American girl themed party plenty of the other girls brought cheaper plastic dolls from like target or something, I didn’t think I was in any way superior. It’s didn’t matter, they were the same size so all the accessories we made together still fit them. But I don’t know, maybe that’s because I wasn’t actually a rich kid, my grandparents just got me one for my birthday one year and I was so excited that she looked like me. I’m not sure I even realized how much more expensive they were, just that it was a doll and I liked it. She sits on a shelf in my room now. I also have an Addy that I got for Christmas when my mom saw her being resold for a nonprofit of some kind. I never collected a ton of accessories or obsessed about the brand, but I do find AGD to be very nostalgic because of all the memories I have with my two dolls. I checked the books out at the library and my grandma read them to me. I have pictures with them with little party hats at my birthday when I didn’t have any friends who could come. I remember making Addy more stuff because her story was so sad and I wanted to ‘cheer her up a little bit’ since at one point in the story she’s insecure about only having one dress she wears every day.
That's because she's projecting. I knew my AG doll was expensive, but I was allowed to play with it as I wished and I definitely never thought other dolls were lesser than. She's seeing things as an adult, not as a child.
@@Uhohlisa For sure.
In reference to Marisol, Pilsen is a vibrant community that has been fighting against it's gentrification. The Mexican Museum (which has had a youth program since the 90s alongside hosting cultural events) is next to a park in the heart of Pilsen. The whole area has been made to be walkable and explored to showcase its murals. The 90s was once called the Bloody 90s because of an influx of gang activity that leaders and activists combatted through community efforts, but violence is a symptom of people not getting their needs met in a capitalist hellscape. It's not tied to Mexican identity.
I'm not from Pilsen, I grew up in a Chicago suburb known for gang violence, but I spend a lot of time there. Mexican-American communities don't need big companies for nuanced representation as they tell their history and culture. Could a doll capture the experiences of Mexican-American kids? Afro-Mexicans, White Mexicans, the complexity of Mestizaje? No. I don't expect an American Girl Doll highlighting the Bath Riots, Grape Strikes or School Walk-Outs anytime soon. Major companies make these types of stories accessible, though. There are a ton of books from Mexicans writing about the various experiences of growing up Mexican, growing up queer, in mixed status households, and with different types of labor. Supporting those efforts alongside our communities is more important to us. (Yes, there are radical, anti-capitalist, feminist, LGBT+, environmental Mexican groups).
Drawing attention to our community at all matters way more than one doll somehow being able to represent every single person within that community. Love your comment, so few people know this.
When I was little, I wanted an American Girl doll because a lot of the upper-middle class girls in my school had them too. My aunt, who owns a huge house with a self-heating saltwater pool bought her daughter, who is the same age as me, several American Girl dolls. She was pretty spoiled, and still is as a child lol. Anyways, I was invited to her birthday party, which was American Girl doll themed, where you could go and dress up the same as your doll, get a spa day, bake, make crafts, etc. but I couldn’t go because I didn’t have a doll. All of her friends and even my other cousin had one, but since my parents split up and my Mom was low income, I couldn’t afford to get one. I definitely saw it as a status symbol lol
Wow, that's horrible. If your aunt was gonna do a American Girl themed party, where dolls were required, it would make sense to make sure everyone interested had one. Like I can't see myself ever doing that sort of thing to children. If one child is gonna have it, then everyone else should too. That's just how I was raised when it came to most things in life
You couldn't go to the party unless you had a doll??? Huh??? I'm sorry, I know that had to be the worst feeling at the time. That kind of exclusivity for a kid's party is ridiculous to me. At least let the kids w/o dolls borrow one if you already have several in the home 🙄
Wow thats fucked up... they made having a doll a bar to entry?
If I was your aunt I would have bought one for you. I would've looked on fb marketplace, ebay or whatever. Its horrible to exclude kids because they can't afford a dol.....
That's terrible. Your aunt should have gotten you one. That's what I would have done. I can't imagine doing that to any of my nieces or nephews.
8:25 I mean sure the dolls were expensive but the books (where the actual learning took place) honestly weren't.
I read most of them in the public library for free. And that's including ones not in the Girls main series but add on books like the mystery and Holiday volumes.
The dolls were just a bonus if you could get a hold of one. That said they did gave the cheaper mini dolls of each girl. All and all, the educational part wasn't really something's you'd HAVE to pay through the teeth for.
FINALLY someone who recognizes that the dolls were a bonus. I was a huge fan of the books but I hated the dolls xD I played with calico critters and Barbie’s insteads
Yes and no- the DOLLS were the thing. I started with the books and absolutely devoured every one at the school library. Ironically it was at the school in the neighboring district that was wealthy AF (as in that district has some of the highest property values in the US). It didn't take me long to realize that I probably had the most in common with Addy as despite being white, we were poor. However I sent away for the free catalogue, begged for the magazine subscription (as a bday present or something), and eventually got a doll as my primary Xmas present (after yrs of pleading). There's now mini dolls and things but the company almost never had sales and even today bargain bloggers recommend getting knockoffs with DIY accessories. Reading about mainly white upper class girls (most of whom never experienced food insecurity) and seeing their super expensive merch, is just a mindf***. However at least I learned history isn't a bunch of boring dates and discovered a deep love of cultural history.
I'm older and I was thrilled to collect all the books available. I never needed a doll to enjoy the stories!!!
THANK YOU i feel like this video is hating on agd soo much for making educational dolls but then making the education “unattainable.” but it’s rly not. i read the books in libraries and my school classrooms for free and the movie dvds were usually cheap too. i think agd did a great job educating young kids regardless if they could afford a doll or not.
I remember when my best friend and her sister got these dolls for Christmas with I’m not even joking, ALL the extras. I can remember the look of terror on my moms face when she saw everything they had gotten. I just knew that she was thinking “how am I going to let my daughter down without breaking her heart because I can’t afford a doll like this”. It was such a status symbol and I think it’s sad that little girls can be made to feel bad for not having a freaking doll!
i remember in elementary school girls looking at the catalog and bragging about which ones they have. i grew up poor but my mom saved up to get me one when i was 11 so that was nice :)
@@smelly6137 your mom is a star. That’s sweet of her.
I have a complicated history with this company. Grew up with the toys, my grandparents bought me the Pleasant Company versions of Molly and Kit because my parents couldn't afford this stuff. And I treasured my dolls; still have them now and a few years ago sent them off to be repaired so they are in prestine condition.
Then a few years ago I worked for American Girl Doll at one of their stores. The company overall treated me pretty well but the rose-colored glassed definitely came off as I understood more about money and its impact on the company. Overall you did a really excellent job going over a lot of the things that are issues and the controversies (I was around for the Perma-panties drama and oh boy was it fierce 🤣).
When we launched Melody I asked the question about why there were so few dolls of color and got, what in hindsight, is a pretty frustrating but unsurprising answer. The white blonde dolls sell better. It is sad to me that profit is put over the chance to make a true difference, but truly with a billion dollar company what does one expect?
Thank you for such a thoughtful and well researched piece!
Thanks for sharing! How interesting. Really wish the company had been willing to put more effort into developing POC stories and doll characters. I think they would've sold just as well as white dolls if more effort & advertising were put into the process, but im sure there were no POC execs in the room to argue for that. Consumerism won that battle for sure 😒
I mean...if there are more white blonde dolls than anything else of course they're going to sell better. That just seems like such a lazy excuse.
And honestly, if the white, blonde dolls are selling better, I think the blame falls on the consumers here. Would it matter how many POC dolls the company put forward if people just don't want to buy them? Maybe I'm expecting too little, but I think the most important part is that there is *some* option of representation.
As a black kid I grew up playing with the Theresa doll because she was closer than Barbie.
@@vanyadolly
I mean, I dunno if it's the consumers fault if they don't have much to choose from to begin with.
it’s so frustrating what mattel has done to AG since purchasing pleasant company! i feel like they completely lost the vision that made me love pleasant company so much
So, for a tentative Christmas present for my niece, I was looking at magazines that I loved to read at her age, thinking that I could subscribe her to one of them for a year. Well to my surprise, most of my favorite old zines are now defunct - including the American Girl Magazine! I LOVED that magazine! I was so shocked. While it did market for the dolls, it also shared helpful tips for school, friends, and fashion. End of an era. 😭
American girl magazine is gone??? I remember waiting every month for a new issue and pouring through it. That’s so sad. Really end of an era
@@crys_cornflakez I KNOW! I still can't believe it. They discontinued in 2018. 😭
ahh the American Girl Magazine was the best! My favorite part was the paper dolls they had of real people! That, and every couple issues they had a mini version of the magazine you could cut out and staple together, so your doll could read the magazine too
@@huwfylt I forgot that they included the little magazines you could cut out for your doll! That is SO cute! 🥺
Wow this is really informative! I remember begging my parents for Addy when I was 8, and she was the only Black doll American Girl had at the time. I saved my birthday money to help "purchase" her, and I still love her to this day. However, I always wished the historical line was more diverse back then. I was excited when Cecile was released, because she was a Black doll who didn't have that "historical Black struggle" as the main theme of her story, like Addy. I never really understood why she and Marie Grace were discontinued since their stories/books were really interesting. I loved the stories from any doll/character as a kid; I would read them at the library/bookstore whenever I could! I'm still a history nerd until this day.
Aww that sucks :( both Cecile and Marie Grace had amazing stories and I was so disappointed when they retired!
The ED section actually made me realize I seemed to have one at the time and I was embarrassed to talk about it with my mom. It sort of did the opposite of opening the conversation. It made me upset and I didn’t want to admit that food made me anxious. I felt like “oh this book said it was bad.” But it never mentioned how to really “fix” the problem. So I sat in a new found guilt that I wasn’t quite aware of. And I sat like that for a long long time. I’ve finally started working on my food anxiety and issues but I believe there is a much better way to inform young girls about this issue
I loved American Girl as a kid - I had Kit because I also had short blonde hair and blue eyes lol, but I also had all the books for all the historical girls and read them over and over. I also had a few of the Amelia books if anyone else remembers those? The flash games however are definitely where I spent the most AG related time - that Jess waterfall game absolutely kicked ass haha. Great nuanced breakdown of the brand!
i'm so glad you brought up the need to have both historical and customizable options! i feel like a lot of people think that somehow the truly me dolls have 'less value' because they're not specific characters, but when i got mine as a kid i was so excited to have one that i felt looked like me and could live through the same events i did, and i'm sure this was even more important for young poc. also, i had no idea about the marisol controversy! she was the girl of the year when i got one and since i wasn't very creative back then i just named mine after her, haha
Oh, Liberty's Kids! It had a profound affect on my love for history. I remember loving the show as a kid, although I'm now aware it's a bit too glamourizing of the revolution's cause. I still think of the way Ben Franklin said "clever" during the commercial break joke segments, and it's a running gag in my family to say "clever" the exact same way to lower-mid tier puns.
I had a lack of health classes of any kind growing up so the book Care and Keeping of You, was really helpful for me. Especially since it wasn’t easy to google things back then.
I remember getting the American girl catalogs as a kid (in the 90s before the internet was a thing) , and pining after the cool outfits. It was a HUGE deal when my folks got me an American Girl doll (Felicity, who I think was brand new at the time) for the holidays. This was after a year of so of me showing responsibility, and trying to save my Babysitting money to afford one.
I had collected the books, and read them obsessively long before then.
I never used to play with dolls as a little kid, but I got into American Girl because of the Stop-Motion animation community associated with it (AGSM). It was an amazing introduction to the internet, and I made so many friends. It was also really inspiring that the entire community was run by young women. It was welcoming and supportive, and it was one of my fondest memories. American Girl itself has a lot of issues, but there are some really great groups that have been formed parallel to the company. Great video as always!
those videos hold such a special place in my heart! that was also kind of my introduction to youtube and the internet as a whole too!
When I was in Daisy’s/Brownies/Girl Scouts American girl dolls are what all the girls in the group obsessed over, and if you didn’t have one you were the odd one out.
I was the odd one out.
Coming from a lower income family we just couldn’t afford one, and so I was always left out when the other girls would constantly be playing with theirs or talking about them.
I didn’t even like the dolls, I thought they were creepy, I genuinely believe they were haunted or something, yet I begged my mom for them constantly so I wouldn’t be laughed at by my so called friends.
I think the worse experience was when one of the girls had their birthday party at the big American girls store in NYC and of course it said on the invitation that you had to bring your American girl doll, which I didn’t have.
And I cried for like 3 hours cause I was a six year old girl pretty much being excluded from my friends at a event that I was supposed to feel close to them.
Eventually the day before the party my mom surprised me with this crappy knockoff one she found at Target, she was really cute, wearing a little mermaid outfit (and since mermaids were my favorite thing in the world I was even more ecstatic) and I remember just squealing with joy.
And so I brought her to the store with me, and all the girls just looked at my doll and were like “uh what is that?”
And I told them it was my doll and they all just were like “but it’s not a real American girl doll, her legs are all squishy, not like my doll.” And they just kept pointing out that yes, my doll was cheaply made.
And I just felt low.
I remember spending the rest of the day begging my mom for one of the dolls in the store, any of the dolls in the store.
Cause I was already the weird kid, the autistic kid with the messy unbrushed hair who was obsessed with all the stuff my piers thought were weird, and it just kinda sucked being even more excluded then I already was.
I never did get a American Girl doll, and honestly? I’m glad I didn’t.
I wouldn’t have cared about it at all.
I now collect all the other dolls I actually like and couldn’t have as a kid, stuff like Monster and Ever after high, Lalaloopsy, etc
And I’m hoping to maybe get my hands on a Bratz doll at somepoint, or especially a Bratzilla cause my mother just in general refused to let me have one lol
I just wish kids could be more understanding and less cruel, especially over something as stupid as what dolls you play with.
And trust me that’s not the worst I faced in my elementary school days, I still think “the [my name] touch” that lasted a whole week where none of my friends even looked at me the entire time was one of the most damaging, or where on my 6th birthday my bully told me that I should’ve never been born was the worst lol
I just wish someone could’ve just told me that it was ok I didn’t have a American girl doll, or that I wasn’t like the other kids around me, no one should have to feel so alone.
TL;DR a girl with a concussion at 3am writes about how she was a lonely poor kid who got bullied for not having a 100$+ doll that all her friends had.
Also the food at the café is to this day the WORST food I’ve ever had.
The burgers were actually inedible, even as a small child who ate freaking Playdough it made me physically sick.
A child saying “you should’ve never been born” is hella weird, that’s probably something their parents said to them at some point which is kinda messed up. Not a reason to bully you but that’s wild. Also I’m autistic too but I was always too busy in my own world to think about what other kids had or were doing I was oblivious af. Only white kids had American Girl Dolls and our schools are mostly minorities so I didn’t know what they were until my dad dated a woman whose daughters had them and they were the only white people I knew. The dolls that have hard limbs and faces but soft torsos weirded me out as a kid so I didn’t care and moved on and forgot about them all together.
the american girl games were so fun! i particularly enjoyed Kit’s egg selling game! it was basically an egg tycoon game on a small scale. Kaya’s survival adventure game was also super fun!
i am 27 now and i am still very into both tycoon style and survival games.. RIP flash big time
My only prior knowledge of AG was incidentally from a segment from Conan O'brien's show (which you can watch on youtube) where he visited one of their stores. While I had found the segment quite funny, thinking back about it after watching this I came to realize Conan's gags subtly played to an audience's negative stereotypes of the kids who would play with AG dolls, namely being affluent and entitled girls. It made me think why society is so contested surrounding the idea of "girls play" and how it has always been devalued compared to "boys play" or today the idea of "gender-neutral play". I can see how AG dolls skillfully made their product with an awareness to these issues as having such a sophisticated concept for the dolls encompassing liberal values and historical narratives can be seen to elevate the level of the often demeaned idea of "girls play". This suggests that parents should invest in better toys so that their children may have quality, or the right kind of "girls play" with orientation towards certain values and social issues whereas toys for "boys play" does not have the same level of concern or scrutiny.
I have an interesting view into this. I worked at a science summer camp this summer, and the theme for the camp I was running was actually American girl dolls. It was a class of 18 girls and they were all instructed to bring dolls to class. About 10 of them actually had American girl dolls. It was insane to me to see how they formed cliques, basically only the girls with American girl dolls could play together and everyone who didn’t have one couldn’t play. This really frustrated me but no matter what I said I couldn’t stop this. It is very much a rich class symbol
I have a feeling that Samantha's friend Nellie was my first interaction with the idea of labour, and Kaya was my first introduction to Native American culture (also my hyperfixating ass found out about the genocides very very fast. I was in a catholic school and I had such a cognitive dissonance about the shit they taught after that)
The books were near perfection, but the dolls.... idk
i was obsessed with ag in the early 2000s and i remember reading all of the books that were out by that point (marisol was introduced shortly after my interest waned), i really liked that the books at least mentioned some of the negative aspects of history and helped drive home the point that all these injustices and human rights violations happened to people who were all individuals with their own personalities and dreams and families. my public elementary school education glossed over absolutely everything that wasn't about a significant figure who was on the winning side of history and so much was lumped together or just a statistic; for example, kaya's release was the first time a lot of us learned that native americans aren't just one culture but rather many distinct tribes, and while i'm grateful that there are interesting ways for kids to learn these things, it is kinda sad that we had to learn them through a doll line.
American Girl was my childhood. I had Kit and Kirsten. My family is very passionate about history and they wanted a kid-friendly way to get me interested in it. I have so many good memories about the dolls and the books that I never really thought about how problematic they could be at times.
WHOA, "The Caring and Keeping of You" hit me with so many memories. I remember reading that!
The first American girl movie I saw was Samantha and I saw her steroscope and instantly became obsessed. I got one for my birthday and it looks just like the one she has! I'm still obsessed at almost 16 years
This was such an interesting video! I remember my family being too poor to afford an AG doll for me and my sister growing up, but all of my friends had one. We even participated in AG clubs where we would read the books and dress up as the characters. I didn’t have a doll so I definitely felt excluded. Eventually, one of my friends gifted me one of her old Target My Generation dolls which made me feel even more ostracized amongst my peers. Then, my aunt bought me the Kirsten AG doll for my birthday and later got me the Jess AG doll (girl of the year). I definitely took extra great care of my dolls compared to my wealthier friends. Sadly, I would hide the Target doll under my bed in shame after receiving my own AG dolls. Yup, there was definitely some classism surround the brand that even ten year old me could recognize.
this resonated with me, even as a kid i recognized the class implications of owning an AG doll. after i got one i remember me and my friends only wanting AG accessories for our dolls and looking down on the sensibly priced our generation stuff. none of our families were particularly well off but we still treated those dolls like status symbols. really a sad thing to look back on
What a coincidence!! Last night I was on the AG website looking at the new products and feeling nostalgic for the historical dolls
Really excited to see this video, I had an American Girl doll growing up and really loved it. I loved getting the magazines and browsing the doll merch and visiting the website and playing the games. The brand holds a lot of nostalgic value for me and I was never aware of any controversies regarding them, so I am ready to learn!
Adult collector here I'm 22 and when I reached high school and even early middle school I was bullied into putting dolls and toys aside. But I came across my childhood doll #26 in college and decided I'm not done yet. I could only afford one as a child because they were 100 dollars. I choose 26 because she looks the most like me. I always got the catalogue in the mail and tried to DIY the clothes and accessories. If you have a child who really wants an ag doll specifically and you really want to do that for them I suggest buying from the secondary market of Facebook marketplace eBay or mercari they might need some tlc but they are much cheaper
One HUGE controversy within the American Girl collecting community is the fact that there's no asian American historical and there's no black girl of the year.
@@chxrbb_dxllhouse5403 Gabrielle was a black GotY so there IS one technically, but oh man, was she clearly phoned in and last minute at that.
@@fthurman soo badly phoned in tenny was supposed to be the goty but they switched it last minute for "diversity"
I read the Addy books when I was in elementary... They were SO good in my opinion and I learned a lot from them. I still remember a lot of the plot to this day. It was a sad story but very well written.
I remembered reading a couple of American Girl books, namely Addy, and I thoroughly enjoyed them when I was an 11-year-old fifth grader. Addy's story still resonates with me to this very day because of the challenges she endured growing up as a young Black American girl. Knowing that One Million Moms made such a hullaballoo about a recent American Girl doll makes my blood boil because, as rudimentarily reductionist as this sounds, One Million Moms ruin everything!
I'd like to push back a bit on the idea of parents wanting toys/media/etc to provide good role models for their kids instead of *being* the good role models themselves. There are many families where parents (either single or jointly) work full time. Their kids don't get to see them as much on a daily basis (for example, my dad would be away from home for days/weeks at a time for work), and often they may come home too tired to really spend time with their children. Sure, seeing your parent\s work hard to provide for you makes for a good role model, but what about learning lessons not related to work? What about the more subtle lessons about social situations? Before they're of school age (or to counter the shittier lessons kids tend to learn on the school playground), it's good for kids to know about how to treat other people, how to look at the world, what kind of person they can or want to be, etc.
It can take a real load off for those overworked parents to have something to show their kids that can help teach the lessons the parent doesn't have the time/ability to teach. Or in the case of parents who have jobs that are seen as lesser or unskilled, having their kids be able to watch something like Doc McStuffins gives their kid an aspirational job to want to reach for. And that's if the kids are lucky enough to have parents who give a heck about all that. Some kids sadyl don't have irl role models to look up to at all.
The complaints from parents about things like "taking away the Mr. from Potato Head will gender confuse my kid" definitely tend to come from ignorance and even bigotry. But I feel it's important not to belittle/forget parents who can't always be there to be a role model for their child. Who try their best to cater their kids' viewing and playtime habits in a way that will help their kid grow into a better person, even when the parent can't be around.
As an American Girl fan, this was such a well put together video! Thank you for addressing many of AG's flaws
American girl dolls were definitely something that fueled my insecurities when I was little. My siblings and I grew up not knowing if our dinner was gonna be something “fancy” like hamburger helper, or just a pb&j sandwich with an apology. There were times when we would ask our parents for some cool toy we saw on tv and and I would get “We can’t afford it right now.” with my mom choking back tears. There were times I was legitimately worried about not having a roof over our head and I’d be sent to school in clothes that stopped fitting me a year or two ago because we didn’t have the money and, at that point, I strayed against asking for anything because I didn’t want to upset my mom or have my dad yell at me. So, in short, I’ve never even touched an American girl doll. But it was one of the things I wanted the most as a little kid, and I would browse through the agd catalog that was sent as junk mail that my parents thought I would love 50x over and over.
I vividly remember, one day, I had mustered up the courage to ask mom if I could have one and so we looked over the site! We looked at the custom doll and made my little 8 yr old self as an American girl doll! And I was so excited! Until we got to checkout and I could see my mom’s face drop. It was over $100 when mom struggled to buy me the $15 monster high dolls. So, we went back to the main site and found the babies. We picked out a baby and it was still expensive as shit. So I got the oh too familiar “Maybe we can get it for you for Christmas, or your birthday next year” which I knew was just mom letting me down gently, which I appreciated.
I didn’t go to a very wealthy school, I grew up in a trailer park so I went to the trailer park school, so it wasn’t like I would be made fun of for not having an agd and I had quite a few friends who sympathized with me. But we would have a few of those “bring your toys to school” days and it fucking hurt when I saw a few kids bring in American girl dolls with the beds and trunks and all that. It felt like something was eating away at my skin as I fawned over the dolls from afar and it really sunk in the class divide between me and those kids.
My family is in a much better place now and my youngest brother hasn’t had to grow up worrying about our parents having enough money to feed us lunch and, while I’m overjoyed that he never had to go through that, I can’t say that it doesn’t show,, But even still, I worry about asking for things unless it’s around Christmas or my birthday (and even then, the anxiety has only lessened, not dissipated) because that money anxiety is just something I was raised with. And, unfortunately, as much as I loved American girl dolls, they were something that helped to cement it into my head
I remember, when I was a kid, that my mom would take me to Barnes & Noble and we would buy the books (or just the first book, depending on which doll) for an American Girl doll, and once I had finished the first book, she would buy me the mini version of the doll that they sold there. (And if I liked the first book, we'd buy the rest.) I still have them (as you can see on my channel. Not trying to self-promo; I just feature the mini-dolls pretty prominently in the background of most of my videos. You absolutely don't have to check.). And I got a My Twin doll for one of my birthdays, but the doll ended up way lighter-skinned than I'd hoped. I still love looking at the old American Doll magazines in my childhood bedroom, though.
Edit: I think my mom probably also had me write book reports on the first book of each one, but I can't be sure.
Ok but that must have been so fun, we couldn’t even afford the books. But when I tell you I was OBSESSED.
American Girl holds a weird place in my life where it was a huge thing for my sisters so I only had tangential knowledge of them. Growing up my sisters had all the dolls (that were out at the time) so I knew all their names but I never read any of the books or anything. I did watch a couple of the movies. It was really interesting to hear about the history of the company and such.
Holy shit, I had forgotten all abt jess's waterfall game. You've just unlocked a hidden memory.
"Does God support the breast milk baby?" is the greatest sentence I have ever heard in my life 😂
I REMEMBER LIBERTY’S KIDS!!!!! That theme song went so hard!
How
I ADORED the care and keeping of me books. They definitely destigmatized a ton about puberty for me.
i loved american girl dolls as a kid, pretty much solely for the historical aspect. I read all the books and kisten was my favorite, but she was retired by the time that I got into it. I ended up having two dolls, a look alike and the Caroline one. I still have Caroline in my closet lol. Also ive been to the Chicago store twice and we stayed at their partner hotel and you better believe I got that bed XD
I LOVE the drawings! It adds a more personal touch that’s very unique to the channel. More plz!
My family did historical reenactments of roughly the civil war era (the Pony Express, specifically) so when I was younger my grandmother bought me Addy, since she was the closest time period. As a little white girl in a very white area, her books were probably my first introduction to the time period written from the black perspective, and she along with Kaya and Kit are probably my favourites still. (Though I was an absolute sucker for one of the other dolls, the one with the monarch butterflies. I loved insects.) I never owned any other dolls, though I collected a lot of the books, usually second hand. I think they offer amazing perspectives and introductions to the periods they cover, but also can be just read alone, without going off on a special interest dive if the time period isn't for you. Which is probably my favourite part, the fact that they can be enjoyed as is, or lead to a much larger interest too.
[CW: eating disorders]
Your take on the ED section of The Care and Keeping of You was spot on. The author surely didn't mean it as a "how-to" guide, but I was obsessed with losing weight at the time and that's exactly how I took it. I've gotten better over the years with lots of recovery, and I often wonder how much of that reaction was me vs. irresponsibility on the author's part vs. my parents just giving me this book as a substitute for having a real, healthy talk about puberty with me. Regardless, yikes.
I’m so glad I found this video and your page! I used to be OBSESSED with American Girl dolls. Little girl me was always trying to dream up the $100+ I would need to actually get them and the accessories. I ended up with two: Kit Kittredge, and then one of the “Just Like Me” dolls for the sole purpose of giving the Kit doll a bff, lol. I carried Kit around ALL THE TIME.
My best friend is a first generation half-Chinese, half-Cambodian immigrant, her parents fled the Khmer Rouge with like five kids. Her sister wanted to get her an American Girl doll, but this was the mid-late 90s and even the ones that you could customize were just not even close to my beautiful friend’s dark eyes, Asian facial features, dark skin and curly black hair. So her sister just said “screw it” and got her a Molly.
If AG can’t figure out how to make an Asian doll with an American story, all they have to do is look at my neighborhood. My friends family is from Cambodia, my neighbors were refugees from Laos, and various other areas. These people have fascinating stories and a rich cultural history, and kids growing up in such a different world than where their parents grew up and dealing with those inter generational challenges.
Like, come to the Twin Cities for 3 days, talk to basically anybody… cashier at Walgreens, teller at the bank, and you’ll find the inspiration tor your next doll, AG. So annoying.
I got the “Care & Keeping of You” book when I was 9 & I remember it feeling like a way for my mom to avoid the topic. Like “here’s this book so we don’t have to talk about it.” I got the same exact “this feels like the end of the discussion, not the start” vibe. The book as a whole also felt very opinionated vs scientific now looking back on it. That book kinda negatively affected my outlook on puberty. It made me feel gross about my body.
OMG I gave that book to my daughter as an opener to discuss anything she may be uncomfortable with. We used the book to start dialogue... Sorry that you didn't have the same experience!
@@DJPoundPuppy I’m sooo happy you’re doing it the right way! Your daughter is very lucky!💕💕💕
@Bardenbella120 YES! I swear we lived the same experience. My periods are abnormally terrible but they still could’ve explained that all women are different. It felt way too “one size fits all” when bodies are so much more complex than that.
Yeah. Same.
So interesting; I'm just realizing that American Girl was really formative for me. I believe that Kaya was the first book series that I ever read about Native Americans, and being introduced to the idea that girls who looked different from me were just normal people probably had a big effect on me. I was like six and my gma read them to me when I would have sleepovers with her. I'm a super liberal, anti capitalist environmentalist now, so I guess the books worked??
Just a friendly reminder that capitalism allows for American Girl dolls to exist and for you/your parents to be able to purchase them for you.
@@ladycaticorn2950 Thanks, my grandma borrowed them from the library, and my family was never rich enough to afford those dolls lol
I'm an 80s baby, so I was the target demographic when these came out, EXCEPT I'm Mexican American and for the longest time there was no doll "for me." I held out for one till I aged out of American Girl Dolls. I don't think one came out till my late teens/early 20s. I was really sad about that because I absolutely loved the concept, but felt completely left out when I was a little girl. So I just stuck to my books and hoped one day my dream would come true. Better late than never... I guess.
I can understand wanting to find “you” in the dolls, but the historical dolls were meant to teach history and not to be “just like me” type of dolls. I actually had Josephina as a little white girl and never thought twice about how she was a different race than me. I just liked her story and thought she was pretty.
@@rosyreverie Yes starting in the early 90s they started making dolls you could completely customize, so this argument is stupid
What do you mean? Josefina came out in 1997.
@@Uhohlisa in 97 I was more interested in clubbing and drinking lmao
@@Uhohlisa The OP was probably a child in the 80s but was born at the tail end of the 70s
This was such a good video! As an adult Ag collector, you covered many great points. American Girl still has a long way to go when it comes to diversity/accessibility, however the World By Us line is a clear sign that they've started to acknowledge their faults. There's 3 dolls in the World By Us line: Makena- a black girl who designs her own clothing, (there's a scenario in her book where a racist white lady accuses her of stealing a white child) Evette- a black/white biracial girl who cares about climate change and Maritza- a Bolivian/Mexican girl who helps families who have immigrated to the US stay together. In addition, there's going to be an Asian Girl Of The Year doll for 2022 and a black historical girl doll named Claudie from the Harlem Renaissance in fall of 2022!
omg a harlem renaissance doll? that sounds awesome
Holy shit Liberty's Kids! I've had vague memories of bits and pieces of that show my whole life and have never been able to figure out what it was! It was like a fever dream!
Growing up my fave dolls were Felicity, Molly and Addy. We used to get the catalogs and circle the dolls we wanted and play sets. It was fun fantasizing about owning them but we never could afford them and tbh even if I did get one I would be too afraid to play with it because of how expensive they were. We read some of the books and even went to the restaurant/doll store for our birthday one year but that was all I needed and it left me content. Sure I could feel the void in my childhood by buying one but they discontinued some of my favorites so I'll pass. I love this video tho.
I collect American Girl dolls and was very excited to see this pop up in my reccomended, they actually sparked my love for history and historical fashion!
Edit: The Addy doll that was sold out was her limited edition 35th anniversary doll, although I do believe she was the first one to sell out.
American Girl was (and still kinda is) one of the biggest hyperfixations I've ever had. I watched all the videos and saved all the catalogues to look at stuff I couldn't afford lol. I've only ever got one, the 2019 (?) space girl whose name I cannot remember for the life of me but she really means a lot to me (I also have had a hyperfixation on space n such for the longest time ever). We're not the poorest family out there but we're definitely not the richest, yet I'm glad I had the chance to get into history because of their books (which also gave me #girlboss queens too look up to when I was young, ig lol)
Amelia's diary books were my absolute shit when I was young. I hope someone remembers those.
i think my favourite tidbit of the 2019 goty doll is that someone tried to sue either the company or mattel for copyright infringement... because the doll was wearing a similar galaxy dress that they wore at a ted talk...
@@iwakeupandboomimarat It's more than that. Lucianne Walkowicz (the inspiration behind Luciana), works at Adler Planetarium, not far from the AG store in downtown Chicago. They also did a TED Talk not far from the AG headquarters in Wisconsin, where it's reported that AG/Mattel execs attended. Mattel/AG stole their likeness (notably their holographic boots and purple-streaked hair), along with using an extremely similar name. Walkowicz is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, and over the course of the suit was constantly misgendered by AP and other newspapers. I fully respect their decision to file a suit, but from what I heard last it was settled out of court.
@@alexlissau275 oh yeah i totally forgot the name thing, plus the fact that they did a ted talk there does make it more suspicious. tbf i feel like no matter what its hard to sue for likeness infringement because you need solid proof that your specific likeness was stolen, so im guessing thats why it was settled out of court
I can't stop thinking about the "I think I know more about American Girl dolls than you do, genius 🙄" Vine.
Also, I think the art is very cute! You should keep going with it.
i had kanani, kit, and julie growing up! i really loved kanani. she was my absolute favorite. i think it’s quite cool that they’ve had dolls with hawaiian ancestry. however, they need more dolls with asian and black ancestry! I also really liked the care and keeping of you book. i think it really helped me learn about the changes i was going to go through during puberty.
i think the company needs growth. i am very privileged to have been able to get those dolls. I loved them so much, especially the historical dolls (I always wanted Rebecca and Addy). I wish they were more accessible and had even more diversity.
i really enjoyed this!! i also love that you brought up the puberty book closing conversations. my mother passed like right before i hit puberty, and my father struggled to teach me anything so he bought me that book because some woman from his office said it would help. he gave it to me and basically let that and us sex ed/google teach me. it made me feel awkward asking because i felt he had given me the tools? unfortunately i also ended up just researching and diving into ed and still struggle to unlearn that time today.
(funnily enough my mother didn’t like american girl dolls because of addy and so we saved up for a my twin instead)
When I was a kid I barely realized or cared that American Girl was a doll company. I wanted the books and read so many of them. I DID want a historical doll perhaps, since I loved their stories and clothes, but ended up with a Me doll (I'll add, back when customization was limited and they couldn't even add my freckles).
What I REALLY lived for was the American Girl Magazine. To this day, it's the only magazine I would read back to front (as was my weird tradition). But what I really wanted were the paper dolls that used to be in them. They were based on real girls who submitted their stories and heritage notes. Their outfits showed where they came from and often focused on cultural dress and practices. I still have all of them and was so sad when they stopped. They were replaced by things like cootie catchers and stickers, etc. I stopped receiving the magazines soon after, but would still browse them in the library from time to time.
I vaguely remember an episode of Arthur parodying these things, the rich girl was trying to buy one of every single doll in the series
I just wanted to say those historical books were so so important to me. I learned history, something I didn't know I was interested in, and I can honestly say those books gave me a foundation for what I would learn in school later on. it's sad to see how American Girl's quality has declined recently, but honestly i'm glad they're not such a huge status symbol anymore. Also, great video, I learned a ton! your animations were so pretty i loved them :D
This was an incredibly well-spoken and well-thought out deep dive! Subscribed
Jess's Waterfall Jump! Getting to the bottom was a huge accomplishment