The Complicated Legacy of Addy Walker
Vložit
- čas přidán 18. 02. 2024
- The articles mentioned in the video:
slate.com/culture/2016/09/the...
www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...
www.chicagotribune.com/1993/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/archiv...
www.chicagotribune.com/1994/1...
And here are the pages of those quoted:
x.com/toroc4t
x.com/Tak_akoChig
x.com/Pyonchitchi
x.com/CodenameSailorE
Check out my Patreon here!
/ darlingdollz
This video is intended for adult, and young adult, collectors- NOT children!
Follow me on twitter!
/ sweetdreamzkumi
Follow me on instagram!
/ darlingdollzofficial
To me it seems the issue with Addie wasnt that her story specifically was about slavery, it was that she was the ONLY black american girl doll avaliable for a long time
agreed!
!
I really don't think they could (or should) have made the first black doll about anything else than the end of slavery. That's the essential story to tell. But yes, the choices they've made for historical girls since is worth criticizing.
I mean it's 2024 and we're till waiting for an asian historical doll.
@@vanyadollyi think the story of slavery is an important story to explain to everyone but cmon we need more than 2 black ag characters and we dont need to put down the 2 black characters tk lift up others we can fight for both at once
@@jillettax5393 Who's putting down the other black dolls? I just said I agree with the choice of making Addy the first one.
I also think they should have prioritized the other ethnicities after Addy. We have plenty of black historical dolls to choose from now while there's still only one native american and hispanic, and no asians.
The staggering amount of time between Addie and the next black girl in the historical line up is honestly insulting
Do you mean Cecile or Claudie?
Or Melody, almost forgot her
I think they mean Cécile.
I agree! It took them eighteen years to introduce Cécile.
@neb.9489 Yeah, I didn’t get to the part in the vid where they mentioned when Cecile was released, I thought she had come out way earlier
As a Black American who grew up in the South and knows the history of slavery told through the school system and them family . Addy was very important, her being a former enslaved person and having dreams of becoming a teacher. Is so very important. I think a lot more than people want to admit they are ashamed of Addy having been enslaved, they see it as why couldn’t she just be “normal” but the truth is it very normal to be from enslaved Black people as a Black American. It’s about of American history and it was what happened to us. When you meet a Black American person with an English last name. There is a reason for that, I also think people have a very surface level understanding of American slavery and how it shaped America afterwards. Going back to the last name thing for example how there is two different spellings of the same last name, after slavery ended a lot former enslaved people took on their former master last names, this upset white people and they changed the spelling of their last names so it would be different. Also with first names for Black Americans born after slavery they were given names like “Queen, Queenie, Major, King etc” so white people would have to call them Queen or Major because during slavery Enslaved Black people weren’t allowed to name their own children. There is a lot of little things that being told about slavery helps you understand and connect to others people who have had their humanity taken from them and learning to never side with those who seek to belittle and discredit rights to be alive.
Wow, I didn't know that about the names! That's really interesting
I think this is a really good point. Slavery bothers people, so they'd rather pretend it didn't happen. But it DID happen, and it shaped America more than most historical events.
“why couldn’t she just be “normal””
Correct. The sad, fucked up reality is that she DID represent the completely normal experience of a black kid at that time. Her experience was normal for any decade prior to that as well. Her life after escape was normal, if not actually pretty good for what could be expected, for decade more to come. There is no divorcing black American history from slavery, and to do so would present a fantasy version of history. I think that the anger at AG for having her story include an escape from slavery is misplaced. The company picked the most hopeful point for her. They didn’t create slavery. And they didn’t ignore it. Last and racism of the time is where that anger should be placed.
As a '90s kid, I remember consuming the books from the library. My middle-class, African American family couldn't afford the doll; but, that was alright because I saw Addy's family going through similar struggles-a parent who worked too much because the alternative meant a broken home; budgeting the precious cents and gifts I stumbled across; resenting our lifestyle, but so very aware this was the embodiment of a dream, of my parents, of their grandparents. My parents were not shy about putting kids and YA media (at times, too mature for me) about slavery in my hands because I needed to understand how parts of the world saw me, how to accept that reality; but, Addy moved that truth from apprehension and terror to reflection and persistence-Who did I want to be REGARDLESS of the world? And, what did I need to do, day in, day out, to BE that person? Thank you so much for sharing Harris and Bennett's articles and this history!
Same here.
Wow, this was so beautifully written! Thank you for sharing your experience
Growing up as a little white girl in a mostly white town, reading Addy's books gave me insight into Black history that I might not have gotten otherwise. Books can help you empathize with characters that are nothing like you, which can be just as important as reading books that you can see yourself in.
It's important to not sugarcoat slavery and the struggles black people went through in America. I think Addy did a good job of telling a story of a girl's struggles for freedom and finally getting that freedom.
At the same time, AG could work harder on the diversity of their dolls. Black American history is so diverse and it would be cool to see other stories represented.
Me and my sister were grown when Addy was released; but we were both so excited we had to get her for ourselves. Today my sister is in her 60s and still brags about having the first Pleasant Co. Addy.
If the original intent was to stack black history with Addy and continue making dolls that would branch off into more of the post-slavery American struggles, they really should've done that in a timely manner. Addy would've been a great foundation for understanding further stories as intended and I'm sad that it never paid off.
Thank you so much for quoting me! Also, thank you for this video, I had no idea how much was behind Addy's production. My mom just saw this video and said she felt and still feels that Addy is a perfect doll. She doesn't remain a slave beyond her escape in Meet Addy. She becomes a hero, using what she learns to help pull her family back together and to help give her mom a better life. ❤️
I read the pdf of her story the other day and they dont sugar coat SHIT about slavery. TOO many times r the horrors glazed over. I read this and was shocked that it was a kids book. Theres a literal picture of her mom practically drowning and it is g r a p h i c. But i wouldn't change a thing about that book. I learned so much about my history that i didnt know before.
That’s why I loved the AG books growing up. Kids die. Shit is fucking REAL. One moment from a Molly book that stuck with me is Molly and her brother playing “bomb shelter” like it was a game, until the refugee girl they’d taken in from England ripped them to shreds for thinking that it was something fun when she lived through the terror of not knowing if she was going to live or die. Kirsten’s best friend dies, and then the terror of not knowing if her mother would die…. And Addy’s fears…. Those books were written in a way that kids would understand them, and they didn’t sugarcoat it. I wonder how many people learned sympathy and empathy that they wouldn’t have otherwise, and had their views on various events changed.
The modern historical girl stories are so, SO tame in comparison. Courtney, Nicki and Isabel, etc, there's no real depth to them at all. They've just become generic stories that could be any Girl of the Year when in fact these time periods had equally interesting trials and strife they could be writing about.
My issues isn't with Addy at all, but as others have said, American girl hasn't cared about diversity at all. One of the reasons I stoped collecting was because American girl just refuses to care about diversity. Weather it was due to race or not, getting rid of characters like Ivy and Cecile, making the first black girl of the year a truly me doll overshadowed by Tenny, creating a separate sub line with dolls of color instead of giving us more dolls of color in the girl of the year lineup, even recently we've had 3 dolls from the 80s and 90s, both eras that could have had a doll from ANY race but chose to have two more white dolls. Not to mention black dolls only having straight hair or big curls. Ag really does not care about diversity and seems to think that non historical dolls of color are unimportant.
I think the biggest issue is that they've padded out the line with so many mediocre white dolls. I mean why wasn't Ivy the 1970s girl? She could have explored the history of Chinese immigrants in SanFran as well as the feminist movement. I won't get into my peeves about all of them, but UGH 😒
As an Hispanic woman, I would be past the age of interest by the time they came out with an Hispanic doll, but when Addy came out, I was so in love with her that my parents saved to get her for me for Christmas (we were lower middle income, so getting even one doll was a huge treat) as well as all the books. I’d been taught about slavery in school, and I, too, can understand both sides; for me, getting to read it and her story bringing the era to life for me was huge because it helped me to not only appreciate the struggle they went through, but to see how they took every opportunity they could to forge a better life for themselves. I’ve still taken those values with me as I have navigated through struggles even in adulthood.
@@holdenmenard1312 They’re saying that they outgrew the brand by the time she was released.
I’m really glad that they made Addy as is. I remember reading her books and found them the most interesting. The pictures were stunning too. I didn’t know they changed artists mid books. I really wanted Addy’s doll, but we were too poor to afford any. I have bought her, Samantha, and Felicity as an adult though.
They really had stakes the other books did not.
I just recently found Addy’s “my heart is glad my country is free” flag accessory at my parents house going through my AG stuff - and it made me really reflect on what AG taught me about American history and all our interwoven stories. Thanks for making this video and being as nuanced as you were with it!
The legendary Ms. Aduke Walker!
I bought Addy almost immediately after she was released, with my own money. I'd been saving for Felicity, but once AG announced Addy, I was SO THERE. I was a little white kid with a very high reading level who read a lot of history and historical fiction, and I was fascinated with the Underground Railroad. I remember going to an American Girl event at a bookstore, and I was the only one there wtih Addy. It was in Minnesota, so about 65% of the dolls there were Kirstens. :D
My parents got me Felicity several months later, and I - age eight or so - sat Addy and Felicity down at a doll-sized table and chairs and told them that they needed to have a big discussion about slavery so Felicity could understand why it was bad. Then I came back maybe an hour later and pretended that they'd worked it all out. I also remember that Addy's hair was referred to in the catalog as "beautiful hair to brush and braid" - which it was, but brushing it could get a little scary because it seemed like so much would always come out. Finally my mom put it in one big braid and said she wanted me to leave it that way while I played with Addy.
I thought Addy was such a badass for escaping slavery. And even as a kid, I realized that they had Addy's mom be a seamstress so she could have leftover fabric and it would be plausible that Addy would have so many new clothes. :D I really want to read the Addy books to my third-grade daughter, but she has an anxiety disorder and thinks the first book will be too scary. When my younger daughter was three or four, she heard us talking about the books and was under the impression that Addy "escaped from Avery." !!!
There was definitely some problems with the fact that Addy was the only African American girl in the lineup for so long, but I can certainly understand why her time period was the one that was chosen for her. Like you said, with the American school system were it is, she may well have been the first real introduction to that history for some children.
As for Cecile, I admit she was after the time that I was very actively invested in the dolls as a child (something I am trying to catch up on), but I suspect that her discontinuation likely had little to do with her being another doll of color at the very least. She was discontinued with the dawn of the Beforever era, a time where it is visible that AG's historical line was somewhat losing its way. Caroline launched a year after her and Marie grace and would be discontinued a year after them, giving her a similarly short run of just three years. This was a period where they were launching a lot of historical girls very back to back, something that just wasn't true of earlier years when more time was put into the development of each... They were quick to rise and quick to fall, it seems.
I expect that the true downfall of Cecile was the choice to make her a doll that was part of a pair. There seems to have been the perception for some that you could not have one without the other. That's true in a sense because of the way they were set up, but it also made them less appealing to the budget conscious parent who is perhaps only able to get one special doll for their child instead of two. Why buy your child half a set instead of a standalone girl? It was a gimmick that didn't play out how they might have expected it to. I have to wonder how Isabel and Nikki will shake out as they try something similar.
I appreciate you taking care and being respectful while reporting on this topic. I love Addy and her story so much.
I'll admit, I didn't have much appreciation for Addy as a kid. She wasn't marketed much by American Girl when I was introduced to the brand. However, as a young adult, I've grown to appreciate and love Addy so much! I greatly appreciate her story and hope to purchase her doll someday.
As a white, elder millennial who entered this world at approximately the same time the pleasant company was created.. my experience with these dolls is less relevant to the discussion. I was, however too poor to afford them and only really interacted via the books and some paper dolls/activity books I think? (I went to a private religious school and most of my friends were from richer families than me so I occasionally got to play with someone else's dolls on a sleepover or play date) that said my memory of the "core" characters includes Addy and I didn't realize that there was a time when she didn't exist yet.
I agree with some comments above, I do think it was important for Addy's story to be the first from the point of view of American history and if another black doll had followed (and stayed)1-3 years behind her we wouldn't be having this conversation at all.
I read Addy's books as a kid and there are two scenes that really stand out in my memory: a specific horrifying scene of abuse during her enslavement involving caterpillars, and when she chooses her birthday. A terrible low and a fantastic high for Addy! Seems apt when I think about that quote about humanizing enslaved people who were denied their humanity.
I remember loving addy. She taught her mom how to read, she was reunited with her sister, brother Sam and her father! I didn’t like how she was a slave though. I’ve been wanting American girls to have another black girl for their newest doll. Sure we got Melody but we could have another black doll.
Claudie Wells is a newer historical and is from the 20s (I don’t have the space for her but I wish I did her collection is so cute)
There’s also Cecile
I appreciate you talking about Addy and how black girls are presented in media!! It’s so important for other ethnicities to be aware and discuss this as well!! As always I love your channel!! ❤️
I feel like it's perfectly fine and justified to have been angry that Addy was the ONLY black doll for such a long time, but to get upset that she was a former slave and that her story wasn't sugar-coated or downplayed is strange and a bit insensible. A lot of people seemed to and might still look at slavery as if it was something shameful for black people. It's... really not? Those people had no choice in the matter, they didn't all collectively get together and say, "Yes, let's be treated like less than animals and be subjected to horrible living conditions." But so many continued to survive and fight for their freedom. That's strength, not shame. I'll agree it shouldn't be used a sole identifier for black people, but it's not at all something to look at in shame or embarrassment or to be seen as automatically harmful/racist, so long as it's handled respectfully. And it looks like Addy's story was handled very respectfully.
The shame should be felt by white people whose families owned black people, but even then, today’s white people weren’t the culprits. We just happen to have a twisted society where the victim group is shamed and blamed while the perpetrator group is excused.
I love how Anderson Cooper, when he found out his great-great-grandfather, or three greats, was bludgeoned to death by a black man he owned, and Cooper was thrilled about this. The guy who was telling him about this was like, “You’re happy about this? Do you thing he deserved it?” And Cooper was like, “Well, YEAH!” He was literally glad his own racist ancestor was killed by a human being that the racist ancestor owned.
My second grade teacher read us these books and our class loved Addy. As a white person, it was my very first exposure to slavery and honestly racism in general.
Sadly you see a lot of people disparage that nowadays and say Addy shouldn't be educating while people, but I think it's fantastic that she does. You can't end racism without non-black people being exposed to stories like Addy's. Anyone who reads the books would be as affected by her courage and wonderful personality, regardless of who they are.
@@vanyadolly yes I was deeply affected by the story for sure. I do still get all the criticisms though, especially her being the only black character for so long 😢
@@ducky19991 Yes, that really is the primary issue. They need to tell more stories about non-white girls, especially their history.
hey cammy, i'm a black fan of your channel! i was never into american girl dolls as a kid because history was never something that interested me and i liked more contemporary dolls like bratz but i appreciate you covering this topic because black history in the form of dolls, so integral to black childhood(!!!), is so fascinating and important
I know nothing about American Dolls (they dont sell them in Italy) so these videos are always very interesting
I like Addy and I think her story is an important inclusion in the historical collection, but it took them way too long to produce more options that didn’t have such a traumatic association.
19:40 While there is no recent Asian character in the historical line, the 2022 Girl of the Year was Chinese-American Corinne Tam. Also, the 2023 Girl of the Year was Indian-American Kavi Sharma. That is at least a short-term improvement.
I have mixed feelings about what I expect from AG and Mattel. Although one can argue that certain dolls “should” be made, Mattel is publicly-traded business. Recently an activist Mattel shareholder was calling for AG and Fisher Price to be sold due to poor performance. There are almost no physical AG stores left. AG dolls will probably survive in some form, but I have doubts the historical line will be around at all in 5 years. It would depend on the purchaser.
I wish they would do more with Ivy (Julie's friend)!! I like having Kalani and Molly co-exist as they show two different perspectives of the time, and I think it would be interesting to have Ivy as an additional 70's character in the same way instead of being just Julie's friend. She already has multiple books (and for a short time she was made as a doll) but I think Ivy would be a wonderful Asian addition to the historical line
@basicallyperidot5299 No, Kanani was a girl of the year, back in 2011(?). The historical girl is Nanea
The difficulty is you can’t please everyone when you have one black doll for years because if that one doll didn’t talk about slavery then people would be upset that it didn’t talk about that history but also talking about that history also will upset people.
Then the solution is more than one black character
I was OBSESSED with Addy as a little white girl in the 90s. The other girls in AG were fine, I went through a Felicity phase and read all the books (they were in every library back then) but I remember poring over the catalogs and staring at that green gingham dress...
I feel like Addy represented a lot to kids who felt poor, too. She reflected reality in a way that felt less sanitized than the other girls' books to me.
I never got an AG doll (I guarantee they'd have gotten me Kirstin because of my nationality and no thanks, get that cursed bitch away from me) and I probably wouldn't buy one now, but I have a lot of fond memories of Addy.
ive seen a few videos about addy and i really liked how often you used quotes and interviews. i feel like i've gotten more valuable information here than other videos
I hope that kids of today and tomorrow will always be able to enjoy playing with Addy and get to read her stories. Especially kids in rural and/or southern states here in America, schools are constantly trying to rewrite history, specifically Addy’s time period.😓
Black history is American history and we cannot gloss over that!
As someone who owned American Girl Dolls as a kid but never really dug into the history of the characters, I love your videos about their history, not just as a doll but also as a person, it's super interesting!
I think it just really rubbed me the wrong way that addy was the ONLY black option for a long time. Her history is important, and her story should be told, of course. But then they didn’t feel the need to tell any other Black girl’s stories for 20 years, which is telling. The slave story is all they see. Nothing else was worth it. and the treatment of Cecile, Claudie, and Melody all seem to confirm that. It’s clear that those girls, their stories, and characters don’t carry equal weight to Addy’s, and aren’t seen as equally authentic. While i’m certain the artists and writers being them are passionate and genuine, the outside view is not that they are releases with love and care. They are there to fix bad optics.
I'm currently writing my undergrad history thesis and my topic is American girl dolls! This was so incredibly helpful and insightful as something I really wanted to focus on was the complexity of Addy.
All i can say is wow for this video. Great job researching all of this. I love Addy and how strong she was overcoming all of the struggles of the time. And true that AG needs more diversity like an asian doll in their lineup. Hope AG continues to expand. Again, awesome video
I feel with more recent years Felicity has become more controversial character then Addy. With Felicity’s family owning slaves and the way the politics from her time period are handled. Overall Felicity has issues with her overall story.
Her books do show how growing up owning slaves normalizes slavery. That doesn’t mean it’s good, but we shouldn’t try to ignore that there were children in slave-owning families who sometimes saw black kids as kids, but who also sometimes saw black people as just people to control, often without realizing it. Felicity’s stories also show that, were she raised in the north or another time period, that she likely wouldn’t have grown up to be a slave-owner. The mindset to own human beings isn’t innate. It’s taught, as her stories show. You’ve got to break that cycle.
not to mention that she had a accessory set called PLANTATION PLAY that somehow managed to be sold for 7-8 years. the accessories don’t even have anything to do with plantations.
I recently bought my first AG doll, and Addy was my choice! I absolutely love her story and think she's so important. I wish I'd had a doll that looked like me when I was growing up.
And yes, it's not all pleasant, but the dolls were about educating children about history. Unfortunately there's no time period when racism isn't an issue for black american girls.
I agree that people get too hung up on the slavery when that's really only in the first book. After that there's so much joy, friendship, and pretty dresses to enjoy. I think the Addy books are a lot more optimistic than Kit and Kirsten's. Addy's faced hardship, but her life was on an upward trajectory towards a bright future. Meanwhile especially Kit just keeps growing thinner and hungrier. 😅
I will point out that the issue with colorism is portraying light-skinned black people as less black, so Rosales' choice to make light-skinned Harriet a wealthy bully is the upsetting part here. We don't know all the details, but I don't think Pleasant was in the wrong there. Rosales mentions how the company was mostly white, but that's why they went through the trouble of assigning a panel of experts to make sure they got things right.
Agreed. From what I know, that panel really had ultimate say in Addy’s books. If that panel would have wanted the colorism shown in Addy’s books, Pleasant likely would have allowed it.
And another thing-it’s possible if not probably that Harriet would have been the child or grandchild of a white slave-owner who raped her mother or grandmother. That was grossly common.
I don’t think Rosales’s intentions were bad at all, but what she wanted would have opened another can of worms that the story wouldn’t have had as much time to address. Addy was already dealing with racism from white people, and having her deal with racism from other black people would have made her story almost impossible to end happily. What hope could there have been if even other black people were targeting her? There needed to be light at the end of her tunnel.
Harriet is snobby because people in her family were never slaves, right? I took a college class on free black people in the US before 1865, and there were a lot of biracial children of slave masters and slaves who were freed in their master-father's wills. I could see Harriet being the descendant of one of those people, perhaps a few generations later, which tracks with the light skin.
"I don’t think Rosales’s intentions were bad at all, but what she wanted would have opened another can of worms that the story wouldn’t have had as much time to address. " That basically sums up how I feel about the whole thing.@@NoelleTakestheSky
This video and the comments on it make me feel like crying and provoke such thoughtful conversations. That, I think, is the true point of Addy-she is so rich with complexity and emotion. It's why, despite seeing most of the criticisms aimed at her as valid, I've almost never seen an invalid defense of her creation, either. I don't think I can ever not love Addy.
As a young white girl who was obsessed with everything ag, and read all of Addy’s stories, it really gave me a lot of insight to the time period and what a young black girl would have had to go through. It was so important for me because it really got me thinking, “wow I wouldn’t be allowed to play with my some of my friends or even talk to them if we lived in this time period together.” And I think that’s so important because it teaches empathy. I loved her stories.
Omg Addy was my favorite ! I read all her books when I was a kid and did a project on her in 1st grade
I love Addy. Always have, always will. But I'll never forget how excited i was when Cecile was announced. Finally! A black doll with no tragic backstory! She dreamed of being an actress! She was well off! She knew French! Aaannnnd she was discontinued two years after being announced when all the "best friends" dolls were despite being the main character in her story..huh. interesting..
I love Melody too. And Claudie. But it sucked to have an American Girl doll who was a main black girl character not tied to any specific period that people always associate with black people (Slavery, Civil Rights Movement, Harlem Renaissance, etc) and who actually got to be the well off girl in her story and had big dreams that weren't "gee i hope i get to be seen as a human being too one day!" get tossed to the side like that, especially while she was a main character and the ONLY other black girl character besides Addy at the time. Took a few more years before Melody came out and it sucked to see AG push Claudie's collection announcement to the side just to give all the marketing to TWO MORE white dolls (the bootleg olson twins whos name i forget. The new 90s ones.), YEARS later as an adult fan. I know its been stated time and time again, and i get that the main people buying these dolls are probably upper middle class white people who are more likely going to buy their kid a doll that looks like them..but AG really has to to do better with both making more diverse dolls, AND advertising them, too. Really wish they'd bring back Cécile. She deserved way better, and mark my words I WILL get her this year.
My Addy doll has been waiting on her new best friend to arrive for far too long, lol.
I think that assuming a black doll would be exclusively aimed at the African American market is a mistake. As a former little white girl, I've had multiple black dolls growing up. Most of my dolls were white, but that's bc most dolls a available were white! I actually had a particular interest in dolls of color, bc I saw them as special, since they were kinda rare. I liked pretty dolls with nice clothes, whatever color they were. I I know for a fact that I wasn't the only one, bc a lot of my friends felt the same way.
Perhaps, as it was mail order, expansive dolls, the parents were more likely to pick the dolls for their kids, and adults are usually worse than kids at not being racist, if you know what I mean
Yeah, I didn't want dolls because they "looked like me." The AG dolls I wanted were the ones whose characters I liked best. I also was a little white girl with several black dolls. Here's a '90s kid anecdote - one was a baby doll in a white gown that I named Michaela after Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. :D
I think the creator of AG had their concerns in making a visibly POC doll justified. As a collector of dolls i can see how even in current day dolls who are clearly and explicitly darker skin or represent a culture that isnt clearly white or ambiguous dont sell AS WELL or dont get put on shelves at all. Black dolls are never given the same opportunities as White/Racially ambiguous dolls. We can see that with Rainbow Highs Crystal who was massively produced (like the rest of her core wave) but stores didnt put her out on shelves and relegated her to almost being an online exclusive because of it. Same thing is happening with the Forever Bratz Sasha where she has the same exact amount of dolls created like the rest of the line but is stuck in the back for the most part. Clearly black dolls dont get any sort of attention or trust from companies
I think part of the issue is that, by percentages, there are far fewer black people in the US, and far fewer Asian people, and people of other races, and stores will dedicate more space to what sells more. It doesn’t matter what the product is. Dolls, clothes, food, whatever. Whatever sells the most gets the most space. By sheer numbers, it’s basic economics. And when companies have IPO’d, they’re legally obligated to maximize profits for shareholders. Nonprofits and private companies/stores, like your small local toy shop, can dedicate more shelf space to the products that don’t sell as well if the company/store owner wants to have more equality in the shelves since they aren’t beholden to shareholders, but public companies legally don’t have that choice.
It SUCKS for those kids who fall into the demographic whose representative dolls don’t sell as many, and it sucks for white people who want their kids to have dolls that represent the real world in all its diverse glory. All kids benefit from exposure to a diverse world, both in their real lives and in their toys. But a for-profit world makes that much harder.
@chrrycola2717 black collectors and black children buy black dolls dont try to act smart.
i work with kids and the poc students at my school more often than not have at least one doll that reflects their ethnicity or race. black children and people are buying black dolls, companies dont want to sell them
You didn’t mention Felicity had a play set called “Plantation Play”!
What
@@kleinsbottle Lots of people like to overlook how common slavery was during the American revolution. Alexander Hamilton was an anomaly for being against slavery and not owning black people, but most of the founding fathers owned human beings. If you were white, you either were poor as dirt and didn’t own anyone, or else you owned at least one person. You didn’t have to be rich to be a slave-owner. Lower-middle-class was all it took when you didn’t have to adequately feed the human you owned.
So, realistically Felicity, due to the time her stories were set, would have been in a slave-owning family.
I just looked that up, i can’t believe that’s real omg
I couldn't afford any of the dolls, but I read all the books from the library. I do remember Addie being one of my more favorite stories. Like you said, it gave me a better understanding of that time period compared to the washed over textbook school version.
I read Addy’s books in elementary school so yes, I clicked as fast as possible.
I went to a really interesting exhibit on Black Dolls a few years ago and they had an Addy doll at the end of the exhibit.
As an ag collector, and addy/ addy mold super fan.. I am super excited for this video!❤
Ayyy big fan of your videos!
I really appreciate that you centered the black people who helped create Addy, and highlighted black voices that praised and criticized Addy's release. I learned a lot, and you really gave this topic the time and respect it deserved ❤
my family loved AG growing up, but we couldn’t afford the dolls so my mom would buy us the books instead. being white in a rural area, the schools were afraid to teach about hard, dark and shameful parts of history. i’m honestly grateful to the addy books for opening my young eyes to what some people really went through. it’s funny to me that schools are so hesitant to teach hard history to younger kids but an AG book did it without overdoing it or trying to sugarcoat it.
also i’m pretty sure i owe my interest in history to AG because seeing historical stories about other little girls was life changing. usually it’s very specific famous men we hear about in school, books and movies. it’s such a good idea to make a series of books and dolls focused on every day young girls, who get overlooked by history so much.
FANTASTIC video... you present a very informative, sensitive, and fascinating look at Addie's evolution and impact, and the associated company history with her creation. I'm relatively new to your channel and have been impressed with your commentary on other doll lines, and this video elevates your efforts to an even higher level. I was a casual doll collector in the early '90's (mostly Barbies and Madame Alexander... delayed childhood, LOL) and I remember when the American Girl line was first introduced, and then when Addie was introduced (I was on the Pleasant Company mailing list and oh how I devoured their catalogs). The AG dolls were just too pricey for me, though, so I admired them from afar, but I did get one AG item... Addie's little rag doll. A doll collecting friend of mine did get Addie herself, though... we aren't African American, but Addie just spoke to us in a way the other dolls didn't. I hope your video gets a lot of views, because it really deserves it.
I grew up with American Girl dolls and I got Addy on release. I loved her so much. I especially enjoyed playing with her beautifully textured hair. The stories moved me. I remembered her as another girl with hopes and dreams and not particularly as a former slave.
Great video! I have a very soft spot in my heart for Addy as she’s my fondest and most vivid memory of first interacting with AG media. We couldn’t afford the dolls as we were poor but I remember being obsessed with the books and Addys was the first one I remember finishing the series of. I want to own a doll of her now as an adult bc she means that much to me and how she planted that seed of historical curiosity in me. I only own Josefina now (I’m Latina so it made sense lol) but her and Claudie are my next to get hopefully 🫶🏼
Yayyyy my favorite CZcamsr uploaded
Great video, very informative. They didn’t sell AG in Canada when I was a child, but I did enjoy learning about this one. Thank you!
YAYY NEW DARLING UPLOAD
Great video! I'd love to see a similar exploration of Kaya's character
I had a bit of a difficult time growing up, as I was raised around all white people and was verrrrrrry confused about my own identity and frankly my racial background as I am very mixed. I grew up being told that because I'm black I needed Addy, I purposefully got Josefina because she was lighter skinned and closer to my skin tone refusing to get an Addy doll. I have a distinct memory of going to an AG tea party for a friends birthday party. I didn't have my doll with me so I was given a random doll who was black. I didn't know what I was feeling exactly because I was probably 10 but it breaks my heart thinking back on that and as an adult I've thankfully overcome those hurdles and have self-love and self-esteem and fully embrace my blackness. I appreciate why Addy exists and the people who worked so hard to create and develop her. But at the end of the day Pleasant company caused me and so many girls to feel boxed into a specific stereotype of female blackness (and only AMERICAN blackness), and though I appreciate the minimal representation it would have been better if they did a whole line of black characters from different backgrounds, and introduced lines of other under represented ethnic groups within the US.
Not an AG collector but I enjoyed learning about the history of the doll line and Addy. Great video! 👍🏼
Thank you for this wonderful video. I love all the content that you make. Keep up the good work. 😊
Nothing like coming back from work and seeing that my favourite CZcamsr uploaded😍
This is a really interesting topic, and something I was unaware of until now
Great BHM deep dive, Cammy! That Slate article was really eye-opening as someone who grew up reading a lot of AG historical books, I come back to it a lot.
They should do a Japanese doll from the 1940s.
i would LOVE more videos like this !!! this was amazing :))))
really appreciate the time, effort and nuance put into giving us her story
I hadn’t really thought about the play factor of Addy’s story. I wouldn’t have recreated the life of a run away slave in my playtime 😂 As a 57 y/o black adult doll collector growing up in a southern town during highly contentious time I had both black and white dolls. Granted I didn’t grow up with AG dolls. I think it’s great AG are producing black dolls with historical stories. Weather the child utilizes the original story line or not 😉
Thank you so much for bringing to the light this story i wasn't aware of, making us learn new perspective and information
Really enjoyed this video and would love more videos in the future about American Girl! 💞
Me and my sister were obsessed with the AG catalogues, so our mom promised that we could each get a doll if we could save up $100 of chores money. It took us like two years, but we did it. I still have my Josephina, though she's pretty beat up now, and I think my sister still has her Addy doll somewhere. We are white haha but we loved those two characters so much. Addy's books definitely made the biggest impression on me, out of the ones I read. I was already aware of slavery, I'd read plenty of biographies and historical fictions about american slavery and the underground railroad, but it was nice that there was a story that talked about that without making it the main focus. It helped it feel more real, to my young white mind, because it set it in the context of being a part of the world without being the entire world. If that makes sense.
Additional Addy comments:
If you look at the order of the next several AG doll releases, it makes sense that they didn't have another black doll for several years.
1993: Addy is released. Phew, they've got a black one. What other ethnicities don't they have?
1997: Hispanic! Debut of Josefina.
2000: Kit, the Great Depression doll, is released. Kit could have been some color other than white, but I suspect the company felt that, having made two minority-ethnic dolls in recent years, they were going to change priorities for the moment. Kit is the first relatively "modern" historical doll since Molly, and her clothes have sort of a pastel/spring look going on. She's eye-catching and new for little white girls - little white girls being the majority of little girls in the nation. Also, the Depression background is a lot to work with, without adding racial issues of the 1930s.
2002: What other ethnicities don't they have? Native American. Kaya is released.
2004-2006: The company focuses on the "best friend" dolls.
2007: Guess who has young daughters now? Women who were girls in the 1970s! Release of Julie, who will remind white moms of their own girlhoods, and Ivy, because there's no Asian doll.
2009: Hang on, everybody - we've had several doll releases appealing to racial diversity, but our religious diversity kind of sucks. Everyone but Kaya is some type of Christian, if they have any kind of obvious religion. Jews are a small minority, but they're the second-biggest religious group in the US, if you count all the Christians as one group. Meet Rebecca.
2011: Marie-Grace and Cecile. AG makes Cecile basically the opposite of a slave - a rich girl in New Orleans who wears fancy clothes, takes voice lessons, and has an Irish maid.
I think if they'd done a second black doll much earlier, people would have complained about other ethnicities not having a doll yet.
I read Addy's books in the library as a kid. Never had any AG dolls but I read the books about Kaya, Samantha, Josefina and Addy.
Is anyone else just not getting notifications for uploads on this channel? I have notifications on but found myself thinking last night, wow I haven't seen a video from darlingdolls in a while only to find there have been many uploads. Just no notifications or even showing in my feed :/
Thank you so much for this educational video about Addy. I appreciated your research and the quotes at the end. Thank you for making this video. I love Addy and I look forward to reading her books sometime soon.
I could never afford the dolls as a kid, but I did have books. The only AG books I had was a box collection of short stories. In it, Addy and her family were already free, so I didn’t even comprehend her past as a slave until years later. Good thing my state school system didn’t fail me 😅
Thank you for doing such a well in depth and graceful video on Addy ♡ she is my only american girl doll, and i love her so very much, and her history, i feel, is often not as touched on. Both positive and negative responses to her
building a dollhouse while listening to this rn
I love Addy I have a first edition and a beforever one and almost every Addy mold truly me as well as some Addy mold cyo dolls and Addy mold customs ❤
Cool video. Totally needed that slice of doll drama pie, lol.
Addy's main problem is that she was the only black doll for a while. Since Mattel is modernizing AG, idk if we'll ever see diversity in the historical line again. Even the girl of the year is mostly white. I wish they'd leaned back in on adding other perspectives to the previous eras.
I love my addy dolls and i was especially happy when they rereleased her pink dress for her anniversary.
I feel like in this context, dolls about slavery is almost essential since omitting addy would be a bigger disturbance.
Thank you for doing such a Classy and informative presentation of this Wonderful doll! I just Love U❤
Please make more like this!!🩷🩷
I never owned an American girl doll I think. I do have a very big red headed doll that looks like an American girl doll but she’s very much white.
I think it’s very trivial that after many years of American girl dolls being on shelves…there are only a couple historical girls in the line up in the first place who are people of color. Black people are very present in American history, lots would argue that people who had my brown skin helped build America since all we were back then were slaves in American at the time.
The first would have had to be about slavery, though they really could have been more. You could have had one black doll representing blues music. Maybe she’s the daughter of a famous black blues singer at the time. Could have had one about segregation in the 1940-50s. Also you really could have made one about dance in the 70-80s which was very prevalent at the time filled by black voices and dancers.
We still deserve an Asian doll as well. Imagine all the history that could be displayed especially involving the attack on Pearl Harbor which was very prevalent with the Asian Americans of the time in Hawaii in world war 2.
Over all this was a great video and I appreciate it a lot.
i was never able to have any ag dolls coming from a lower income family so these videos are such a treat to learn through
Addy was my first American Girl doll gifted to me in 1995 on my 10th birthday. I remember wanting Samantha soo bad but my grandma got me Addy instead 😂 I am mixed race with black but my skin is quite fair and Addy looked nothing like me! Oh well. I still was happy to have an American girl doll anyway. She also had a very interesting story behind her too.
Finally in 2021 during the panscremic I purchased a Samantha doll. By then Mattel acquired the company and the quality was never quite as good as my Addy but she's still cute 😊
Thank you! 🫶🏾
i always thought agood idewa fr a historical asian charter woulld be from the chinese exclusion act or even the 1940s japanese consentration camp. tuere was this book i read as a kid called farewell to manzanar which talked about the japanese ameeican experience during ww2 that could easily be implemented as a asian ameeican charter in the american girl line
a huge problem in modern society imo is that the conversation around race is a lot more focused on not making people uncomfortable (like white people and not reminding us of our countless historical atrocities) and trying to see everyone as the same ala 'i dont see color' which erases biases that are still 100% there. ignoring something doesnt deal with it. i think addy is very important and the most special of all the american girls.
Just got my first AG doll at 32 years old and I chose Addy and I LOVE HER
i wouldn't have started with slavery, i would have started in the Jazz era, or the Harlem Renaissance
she's an important doll with an important story, but Black people are so much more than slavery and trauma
I'm so tired of people who politicize anything and everything that has to do with women, race, or the lgbtq community.
Why is it that I have to be an activist just to defend my own existence?!?!
I would be interested in you making a video talking about all of the other American Girl dolls.
omg the company saying "we cant be racist, we've spent so much money making this black character!"
Addy was my absolute favorite 🥰 I used to take her with me everywhere when i was little. She sits on my bookcase with Samantha now 🩷
I’m Caucasian but I relate a lot to Addy. My family has always been middle class so I understood the financial struggles (more now as my mom can no longer work and is on disability), I grew up with bullies like that girl Addy had to deal with and I sadly lost family as I aged. While I wasn’t discriminated for my skin, I have been for my mental and physical disabilities, thus I can unfortunately get how it feels to be treated badly by others just cause you’re different from the “norm”.
This is mostly unrelated but you’re telling me there isn’t not ONE Asian character in the ENTIRE AG line up???? WHAT?!
I have Addy Walker. During the creation of Addy Walker there were suggestions to do a Harlem Renaissance doll or one that represented the Civil War. The advisory board chose the Civil War Era for Addy Walker. I am so glad that they chose that era. Yes Addy Walker was born into slavery, but at the same time slavery was a part of history.
I loved my Pleasant Company Addy in the 90's. I took her everywhere with me. I also dressed her up in her beautiful clothing as well as some of Samantha's clothing.
I now have a Beforever Addy and I love reading her 6 book set and collecting her Mattel items.
If you read the books about Addy Walker and her family, Addy Walker was more than a slave. After the first 3 chapters in Book 1 Addy and her mother were no longer enslaved. Addy's story is one of perseverance.
The Addy Walker doll is beautiful and I love her. I am creating a Sarah Moore doll, Addy's best friend with an Our Generation Doll.
Thank you for making this beautiful and informative video about Addy Walker. ❤
I still have my Addy Walker doll! She sits atop my boudoir in her birthday dress.
While yes the amount of effort put into addy should be acknowladged-what rowland did to the illustrator was still bad-
Colorism is an important subject that needs to be talked about just as much as racism, it heavily impacted how certien slaves were treated depending on how light they were, kids do need to learn about it just like they do racism
I know this isnt the focus of the video but i just wanted to note this