American Girl Nostalgia

I'll never forget the birthday I pulled away the wrapping paper from a long white box and first met my Kirsten doll. It was the beginning of a long and wonderful friendship with the American Girl Company. Over the years I received four dolls, subscribed to the magazine, joined the girls club, bought most of the paperdolls, craft books and dramas, participated in one Kirsten play, and read all (and owned most) of the novels.

Yesterday a friend linked to a wonderful article that was full of wonderful memories and nostalgia. The comments below it in particular were eyeopening into just how widespread the love of American Girl was (and still is).

What Your American Girl Doll Says About the Rest of Your Life

By Chiara Atik

Samantha Parkington:
Did you know, when you picked her out, that Samantha was the cool one? Or were you simply drawn to her glossy brown hair, sophisticated accessories (she had a fur muff!) and rich demographic? Either way, every girl wanted a Samantha. If you owned her, you quickly learned the value of cachet.

By virtue of acquiring a status symbol early on (a Samantha doll was the designer jeans of third grade), you never quite had to worry about things the way other girls did. You therefore grew up to be confidant, capable, and nonplussed. You've always been well liked. You aren’t the funniest in your group, but you’ve never really noticed or cared. If you thought about it, you could probably recognize other women who had Samanthas. But that’s not that impressive: everybody can.

Molly McIntire:
If you had Molly, you probably wanted Samantha instead, but contented yourself with Molly because you too wore glasses, liked books, were bad at math, and would concoct various schemes to get attention. (Oh, Molly.) If you were a Molly, and had a Molly (as opposed to being a Molly and aspirationally owning a Felicity), you were imbued, then and now, with an immutable sense of self... (Continue Reading)