THE CULT OF AMERICAN GIRL

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http://www.americangirl.com/

I've seen these kids everywhere walking up and down the streets, all with clothes matching their dolls. I fully expect that at a certain date the dolls and their munchkin owners will start their revolution by killing their mothers and stealing their SUV's to travel to American Girl mecca.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

i think it's kinda neat.

― hstencil (hstencil), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:51 (twenty-one years ago)

All I've seen are the tourists in midtown with the bags.

― 57 7th (calstars), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

my aunt worked for them when they started up, she might still. I was in my early teens (a little old for that and never much of a doll girl anyway), but these came with so much backstory! The history part of it was really appealing. My aunt gave me some of the books, there is a picture of my grandmother with a baby (my uncle) in a bassinet in one of the Molly books. I remember I thought the dolls were ludicrously expensive.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:02 (twenty-one years ago)

i had an american girl when i was little!!! still have her, actually, and all of her SHIT. I'm sure that Samantha Parkington has like, loads more clothes since 1991 that i am missing.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been tempted to go in the store. I'm afraid I'd have to be under the influence of something.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, it has been around that long! From the American Girl Collection, I like Felicity and Samantha, but I don't think it would be much fun to dress like Felicity. She ought to have riding clothes.

― youn, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:08 (twenty-one years ago)

there are sets of books that go w/ these things and they were very poular (muy muy popular to sput a spanish twist to this music) when i was in 4th grade. well i wrote a short story about molly (the bespectacled ww2 chick) going to war [title: MOLLY GOES TO WAR], getting captured, going to auschwitz, gettin gassed. v, v good. classique.

it's actually kinda amazing that what 10-15 years on they apparently haven't lost any of their spark.

― samantha parkington, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I had Molly McIntyre.

I wanted Kirsten Larsen.

I don't think I ever forgave anyone for that.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I really liked the books in elementary school. The dolls were too expensive, though.

xpost - Ally just reminded me that one year (fifth grade maybe?) my mom made me a Kirsten costume for Halloween! It was pretty cool.

― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder if they researched the names.

― youn, Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

My sister had Molly McIntire. I think if I could choose now, I'd get Kit.. or whatever, who has the 1930's clothes and the bob.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

and the crazy bitches come out of the woodwork...

― BOATPEOPLEHATEFUCK (ex machina), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

My sister had one of those dolls! I guess everybody's sister did.

― latebloomer: AKA Sir Teddy Ruxpin, Former Scientologist (latebloomer), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

my sister had Samantha, and she had a MY BUDDY. Fuck my sister.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I had Kirsten. My dad built her trunk & bed for me b/c they are so spendy.

― kelsey (kelstarry), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I had no idea these things exisited until like 3 months ago. No one had them in rural eastern NC.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:23 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah I know they have a ton of them now, I don't remember any past the original three: Molly, Kirsten, and Samantha. Molly was definitely the least romantic of the three to get, what with the war rationing and all. Put her next to the spunky scandinavian frontier girl and the rich victorian city girl and it was like no contest, before you even factor in the GLASSES.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow! There are twice as many as there were when I read the books! (I think they were just starting to introduce Addy then, they already had Felicity.)

― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:25 (twenty-one years ago)

whoa, for a kid growing up in the depression, Kit's got a lotta damn clothes.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Josefina has the best clothes, though.

― Maria (Maria), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Whatever, Jeff, I lived in INDIA and my sister had some of the books. Do you just not have any sisters?

― n/a (Nick A.), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:30 (twenty-one years ago)

oh man I never saw nellie! She and Samantha are BFF even though Samatha's a rich girl and Nellie's a servant girl next door, hahaha.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

My favorite clothes are Samantha's "Lawn Party" outfit (did they not have grass stains in the Victorian era? WTF is that outfit?) and Kirsten's CROWN OF FLAMES Christmas outfit.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Only child, but seriously, girls that grew up in the sticks had goats for dolls, or rats.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I think samantha's school outfit made me a goth.

― teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Every christmas my sister and I get out our american girls (she had Molly), and we try to play with them, but it just isn't fun.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a relative who used to earn a living styling hair for American Girl. The little girls (the real ones) would come in, my relative would put the doll in the barber's chair, and start stylin'.

Nice work if you can get it, I guess.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah actually playing with the dolls was no fun at all.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:45 (twenty-one years ago)

obsessively collecting their shit was fun, though!

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 21:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I had Samantha, Felicity, and Molly back in the early 90's.
I was just thinking today as I walked by American Girl Place at MagMile with my new ipod and ipod socks to match my outfits, that I had gone from obsessively collecting American Girls stuff to obsessively collecting i-things.
I'm sill bitter that American Girl PLace didn't exist when my mom was dropping thousands on complete wardrobes and furniture for my dolls. And I'm a little hurt that there's no cafe where you can have lunch with your ipod and put it in a little highchair.

― Holly (an appletross), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 23:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Whenever I see the girls clamoring outside that American Girl Place that Holly mentions, they always seem like totally spoiled North Shore kids with, like, fancy fur boots and stuff. It sort of makes me embarrassed. But maybe I have it wrong. How much do these dolls go for, anyway?

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 23:18 (twenty-one years ago)

http://store.americangirl.com/

The doll on the left looks like a miniature Martha Stewart,and reminds me of those knee high demon things that attacked Karen Black in a horror movie I can't remember the name of.

― Orbit (Orbit), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 23:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I think a lot of them are North Shore brats, but at $100 or so a piece they aren't THAT expensiveand not everyone who gets one is a rich kid. If your kid really wants one, you can swing it. I will say that they are high quality and even thought I was a spoiled Palm Beach brat I took EXCELLENT care of all of my AMerican Girl dolls even though I was chopping the hair ofmy Cabbage Patch Kids and play barbie tug o war with my dogs. They are, or at least they are supposed to be, a special thing. I don't know if those kids actually care like I did.
At school (Columbia) we had a thing about "Marisol" who is supposed to be a poor LATINA from Pilsen (described in her books as a bad neighborhood) and how that makes people actually living there feel, and what it says about who they are marketing to.

http://store.americangirl.com/pls/ag/ag_agt_marisol?catid=432205

― Holly (an appletross), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

This shit it the whitest product ever!

― BOATPEOPLEHATEFUCK (ex machina), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 23:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah I took excellent care of mine too--my parents were by no means wealthy, it was just something that you swung as a special treat and you were meant to know, this is a special treat.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Wednesday, 30 March 2005 23:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Marisol the Self-Loathing Latina. Nice.

I think $100 is insanely over-expensive for a doll.

― pullapartgirl (pullapartgirl), Thursday, 31 March 2005 03:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh and when we accidentally got trapped on a trolley tour of Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue last weekend, the trolley driver referred to American Girl Place as "the place where little girls learn how to shop."

― pullapartgirl (pullapartgirl), Thursday, 31 March 2005 03:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I really wanted Kirsten because of the crazy crown of flames thing Ally mentioned, and she had that blue trunk and ice skates. They were what, $40 in 1988? But my parents couldn't afford one so they bought me the Fisher Price knock-off and my mom sewed prairie girl outfits for it. Now I would totally get Kit the FDR supportin' 1930s girl.

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 31 March 2005 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Jenny -- did the driver say that with a straight face?!

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 31 March 2005 06:18 (twenty-one years ago)

(Also, can I say I like the threads where over half the posts are by women?)

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 31 March 2005 06:20 (twenty-one years ago)

(I know, I'm ruining it.)

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 31 March 2005 06:42 (twenty-one years ago)

What the hell are these?!? Are they just posh cabbage-patch kids?

― Johnney B (Johnney B), Thursday, 31 March 2005 09:13 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, with more backstory. They were like 60-80 dollars when they first came out, they were never cheap. For some reason I get really cranky with regards to kids' toys, I refuse to belive kids need them. Or clothes, wtf is up with buying kids clothes.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:31 (twenty-one years ago)

jaymc: YES! Not only did he say that with a straight face, but after regaling us with questionable Chicago history trivia and saying things like "There is the Sears Tower, it's massive size intimidating everything in it's path" (as if the Sears Tower were ON THE MOVE! RUN!!!) he turned down Michigan Avenue and said "I'm sure all the ladies are distracted because they are thinking about shopping."

Needless to say, he got no tip from any of us.

Johnney B: They are like Cabbage Patch kids in that part of the marketing is their "personality" and "individuality." They are kind of like Beanie Babies in that the entirety of their supposed value is the result of a brilliant marketing idea. And they are pretty evil in that you can't just buy a doll and be done with it. There's furniture and clothes and home decor items and magazines and personal services and books (which serve as little catalogs of the American Girl products available). They encourage people to not just buy a product, but buy into a whole "brand-based lifestyle."

So actually, John, I guess that guy was absolutely right. American Girl does teach little girls how to shop. However, judging from his other comments, I don't think he was making any sly commentaries on commercialism and children; he was just being a manhole.

xpost: teeny, baby clothes always drive me a little nuts. I could make perfectly serviceable onseies out of old pillow cases and bath towels. But there is a certain appeal to putting ear hats on little babies.

― pullapartgirl (pullapartgirl), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:33 (twenty-one years ago)

c'mon, baby clothes are the best part of having a baby!

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

That's what babies are for! To put little animal hats on!

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:36 (twenty-one years ago)

also cribs! a pillow in a bureau drawer is a perfectly fine place to sleep!

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:38 (twenty-one years ago)

And diapers! Saran Wrap around the ass is attractive and easy to clean!

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Strollers? Just put a blanket in that stolen shopping cart!

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

No way, just roll the baby around on its side like a log.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Though you have to be careful not to snag the Saran Wrap on anything or else...ewww.

― n/a (Nick A.), Thursday, 31 March 2005 14:49 (twenty-one years ago)

haha, you guys

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 31 March 2005 15:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I took really good care of my Samantha doll, too. My sister and I had these nasty ratty dolls that were like maybe the same size that we colored on with sharpies to make them "sluts" (i.e. tattoos and nose rings), and they would taunt our Samantha and Molly dolls for being so special and virginal and clean and stuff. I remember my sister lost a piece of plastic celery in her american girls' lunch and she was devastated. My American Girl stuff is stuffed in my old bedroom closet at my parents house and its kind of depressing how everything has yellowed and sort of become crappy looking.

― jill schoelen is the queen of my dreams! (Homosexual II), Thursday, 31 March 2005 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

i remember liking the dolls, and the stories, and buying into the brand... but what i can't remember is asking for any of it in the first place. my mom and my aunt and my grandmother, they fell in love with it and wanted to buy it for me, my sis, my cousin. anyway, now i kind of feel like i had this strain of consumerism foisted upon me. don't get me wrong, i love me some consumerism. but it's kind of weird that the adult females in my life would choose to indulge in what does feel kind of cultish, buy the doll so then we could accessorize it, dress like it, etc. the thing that's weird about childrens' toys is how much parents pick them, at least at younger ages. is it the parents competing against each other to be the best, buy the best presents? or are they just reimagining what they would have liked and bestowing such upon their kids?

― crly, Thursday, 31 March 2005 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

six months pass...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1213951

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 14 October 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

haha all my cranky posts about kids not needing clothes or toys were made THE DAY BEFORE I found out I was pregnant.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 14 October 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

not that that changes anything.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 14 October 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

Awesome. My mother wants to buy a bunch of that American Girl crap for my daughter and I thought it was creepy but that article makes me like them.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 14 October 2005 21:30 (twenty years ago)

Yeah. You can be lesbians, girls! You can be ANYTHING YOU WANT as long as you BUY BUY BUY!!!!!!! Consumerism is the great unifier.
Teeny, Aren't you having a boy? Boy toys are gross, too—dumb in a different way. But not as bad. They don't make you want to puke like the girl toys do.
You'll just have to worry about breaking your neck by stepping on toy trucks.
All my dolls ended up as bald amputees, and as karmic punishment my sons seem to be attracted exclusively to Baby Spice girly-girls.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Friday, 14 October 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)

Lesbianism is a hilarious word. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't hear anything anyone said after that, I'd be laughing too hard.

There was an article a while back (I think in Time Magazine) that suggested that one of the interesting things about the popularity of the AG products is that they keep girls playing with dolls longer than they do otherwise, dolls which are, in fact, the same age as the girls in question (unlike Barbies), and unsexualized, and who come with stories and accessories that set up age-appropriate "identities" and adventure plots for future play. And girls are eating it up, and for longer, instead of ASPIRING up and deciding at, like, age 9 that dolls are for babies. Which is...interesting. I'm not sure it's "good" or "bad" that girls do or don't like dolls unless they're disdaining dolls in favor of, say, methamphetamines, but anything to encourage imaginative play and childhood roles for a little longer, I guess.

Of course there's no telling what girls will DO with their dolls, my Barbie went around with her tits uncovered for MONTHS while she was being an Amazon because they don't WEAR shirts in the jungle, you know. But commercialism aside -- and seriously, kids are going to covet one thing or another and it might as well be a well-made product with a good backstory -- I think it's an very interesting phenomenon because the AG concept doesn't use the aspiration hook at all, it doesn't "age up" to get kids' attention and I like that.

― Laurel, Friday, 14 October 2005 21:59 (twenty years ago)

Actually in retrospect I think my Barbie might have been confused about whether she was an Amazon or a Minoan snake-clutching priestess figure (god only knows where I would have seen one...National Geographic??) but I couldn't find a way to fashion the weird, breast-baring vest out of the doll clothes available.

― Laurel, Friday, 14 October 2005 22:03 (twenty years ago)

So I was looking at the catalog and they seem like nice dolls but (I haven't read the whole thread so forgive me if this is already covered) is the doll supposed to look like the child or something? My girlfriend says you're supposed to get one that looks similar to your kid and then they wear matching outfits and stuff? That's just creepy.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 14 October 2005 22:11 (twenty years ago)

I dunno about "supposed to", I think in the beginning when there were only 3 different dolls it wasn't much of an issue (esp since they were all white as white could be). I suspect it's a) MARKETING, and b) the fact that some of the clothing styles aren't readily available for girls anymore (Victorian nightgowns, frontier-style long skirts, etc) so they offer a way for girls to identify with the characters, to try out what "getting dressed" meant for girls of the past.

My sister had Samantha, the Victorian-era doll, because that was closest to when our house was built and my mom constructed a fantasy of a girl just like Samantha being the original occupant, doing all the stuff that we did a hundred years later. Which was kind of cool and made 1903 not seem very distant at all.

― Laurel, Friday, 14 October 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

Why not just tell your mother to get a doll from the time-period or geographic/cultural setting that you think will be most interesting or relevant to your daughter?

― Laurel, Friday, 14 October 2005 22:28 (twenty years ago)

I can't imagine what that would be. Is there a total California valley girl doll?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 14 October 2005 22:33 (twenty years ago)

I dunno, is there a Mexican-American one? Because that would be geographically relevant. I'd check but the site ties up my poor old browser.

What period does your family identify with in their own history, are there stories about a mother or grandmother or great-aunt that are rooted in a certain era that will have meaning for your daughter? Was she ever into Laura Ingalls Wilder books or frontier stories or etc? Does your family have any national/cultural ties? Lots of the characters are from immigrant families of one kind or another so there's some choice there. Use one imagination!

― Laurel, Friday, 14 October 2005 22:44 (twenty years ago)

walter, your girlfriend may be thinking of the my twinn dolls:
http://www.mytwinn.com/index.html

the only reason I know of them is that I picked up a catalog that had been left behind in an airport, it freaked my shit out.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 14 October 2005 23:00 (twenty years ago)

Oh I see. I looks like there is a line of historical dolls who each have a backstory but then there's a collection that you choose from based on looks. It's all so confusing to me but I kind of like the native american one.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 14 October 2005 23:03 (twenty years ago)

ohhh now that I look at the american girl site I see they do have a line of 'just like you' dolls. We've all been talking about the character dolls, much more educational. xpost yeah.

― teeny (teeny), Friday, 14 October 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

Those my Twinns are creepy but American Girl has those matching outfits as well.
xpost

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 14 October 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

yeah, the historical dolls look much more interesting

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 14 October 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

Oy geVALT, Teeny. My shit: officially freaked out by the SPELLING. Not a good start, people.

At least the AG outfits are historically accurate and don't have names like "Sparkly Kitten!".

― Laurel, Friday, 14 October 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

I want to know how Alex in NYC feels about American Girl.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 14 October 2005 23:11 (twenty years ago)

Molly McIntyre is a idiot. I like Samantha Parkington.

― Roxymuzak, Mrs. Carbohydrate (roxymuzak), Saturday, 15 October 2005 13:11 (twenty years ago)

I have never even seen these dolls before. Maybe my mother shielded me from them.

― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Saturday, 15 October 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

haha all my cranky posts about kids not needing clothes or toys were made THE DAY BEFORE I found out I was pregnant. not that that changes anything.

Teeny is raising a nudist baby wot has no toys.

― Je4nn3 ƒur¥ (Je4nne Fury), Saturday, 15 October 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)

For some reason I have had meals at the American Girl Place Cafe three times. Never with a child present. They lend you dolls who sit at your table in special doll seats. The food is okay.

― Paul Eater (eater), Saturday, 15 October 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)

Now you can segue right from having a doll to being a doll—Mattel is marketing Barbie clothes for women.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051015/bs_nm/manufacturing_mattel_dc

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Sunday, 16 October 2005 00:22 (twenty years ago)

I would die before wearing Barbie clothes.

Nostalgia drove me into the American Girl store in midtown a while back, and I was very disappointed, because the entire first floor was devoted to the look-like-me-dress-like-me dolls, and the cool historical dolls were on another floor or in another wing or something. I wasn't feeling invested enough to ride an elevator or deal with the crowds.

I'm kind of sad that they now seem to be focusing more of their energy into the Just Like Me dolls instead of developing a wider variety of historical ones.

― nory (nory), Sunday, 16 October 2005 03:00 (twenty years ago)

http://www.afa.net/activism/

― lal, Friday, 21 October 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

lol otm omg

― jw (ex machina), Friday, 21 October 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

And they are pretty evil in that you can't just buy a doll and be done with it. There's furniture and clothes and home decor items and magazines and personal services and books (which serve as little catalogs of the American Girl products available). They encourage people to not just buy a product, but buy into a whole "brand-based lifestyle." Aw come on! They were fun and did generate some interest in history, however superficial. I don't think anyone was seriously freaking out if they couldn't get all the accessories. After two years of pining for Kirsten, I was happy to just have the doll when I got her. And how is it different from musical completism anyway?

― emilys. (emilys.), Friday, 21 October 2005 17:49 (twenty years ago)

I got their catalog in the mail today. I did not request it. Their marketing department must be spying on ILX.

― youn, Wednesday, 26 October 2005 01:50 (twenty years ago)

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