Comments on: American Girl

By: August 26, 1920: Women’s Vote | Well-Heeled, with a mission

August 26, 1920: Women’s Vote | Well-Heeled, with a mission — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:43:32 +0000

[...] have changed. As an aside, I first became interested in the suffrage movement after I read American Girl Samantha’s story. Her aunt Cordelia was a suffragette who eventually won over Samantha’s grandmother, who [...]

By: Lelah

Lelah — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:23:26 +0000

I wanted one very badly, but my parents said there was no way in hell they would spend that much money on a doll. Now I get my fix on Blythe dolls. They’re an acquired taste. Plus I like supporting Etsy crafters in buying their clothes.

By: changejar

changejar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:50:33 +0000

When I was in 4th grade, my best friend had a Molly doll, and I wanted Samantha sooooo badly, but there was no way my parents could afford such an expensive doll.

Later, for my 15th birthday 9 of my friends all chipped in and got me the Samantha doll. It was the coolest thing. Though I was too old to play with dolls at that age, I was still fascinated with collecting them. To this day, I still have my Samantha doll, (packed away in a box) and I still want to one day collect her outfits and fellow dolls. I did buy her accessory package, but I’ve never bought any other outfits for the doll — somehow they never seem to be a big priority in the budget.

I don’t know if the American dolls are worth that much as collectors items, since there are so many of them in existence. I did notice, upon visiting the AG store in Chicago a few years back, that the quality of the clothing/accessories has gone down quite a bit since the 90s, so I’m guessing if you have one of the original Molly, Samantha or Kirsten dolls, it may be worth a decent amount.

By: asgreen

asgreen — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:58:09 +0000

I had Samantha!! My sister had Kirsten, we loved them. =)

By: caryn

caryn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:43:06 +0000

i loved the american girl series too! i remembered kirsten or maybe it was felicity? the pioneer girl, and then samantha and molly. they started adding on girls just as i was outgrowing the books. as much as i wanted a doll i too was well aware my mom would never pay that much for a doll so i indulged my american girls obsession by reading and re-reading all the books. my favorite was samantha! ahh…memories

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:54:14 +0000

I had Samantha and my sister had Kirsten. I got my doll the year my parents split up. It was guilt Christmas central. I got the doll, the matching dress for me, and god knows what else. After Christmas, my parents told us they were separating. We all know what happens after that!

I still have my doll. I had a decent amount of stuff for her, although nowhere near all of it. A few years ago I did have her head replaced due to too much love over the years. I have often thought about getting the complete collection, just to have it. But that seems silly.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:57:24 +0000

I used to love the American Girl dolls! My first one was Kirsten and my sister had Samantha, since the dolls resembled us physically (me with blonde hair and my sister with darker hair). And then a few years later I finally got Felicity for Christmas, for the historical aspect. While I loved Kirsten, I really loved Felicity’s time period.

I can’t believe how many dolls there are now, and it does seem, as someone said earlier, it’s not so much historical now. Dallas also has this huge American Girl store and cafe, and my Mom and I have chatted about checking it out for curiosity and nostalgia’s sake, but haven’t in the few times I’ve visited. I can only imagine it’s similar to the NYC store. I can’t imagine it’s gotten so huge like that.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:25:04 +0000

I actually had one of those when I was younger. My mom had bough me the Addy doll and I was so in love with her! I had her for a few months, then my mom’s car was stolen and my doll was in it! I hope I have a little girl one day so I can buy a new doll for me…err…her. Molly is my absolute favorite! And all of the books are so awesome.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:28:03 +0000

Here in NYC, we have the American Girl Cafe — a restaurant/store where little girls and their dolls can have (expensive) tea parties. It’s painfully cute — even the dolls get special chairs and tiny teacups. My favorite part: The cafe serves alcohol for harried moms. Just rosé, from what I remember, but still: awesome.

By: Revanche

Revanche — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:50:44 +0000

I read the books, but had no interest in the dolls when I was younger, dolls just creeped me out. Recently, though, my boss dragged me into an AG store to show me all their “cool stuff” …. that was kind of weird.

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:10:05 +0000

I was the same as you – never had the dolls, but I loved the catalogs and I also would get the books from the libraries. I did have the “put on a play” kits though, which came with scripts, directors’ notes, etc. Every time I got a gift certificate to a bookstore (for birthdays, Christmas, etc) I would get one of those.

By: Candace

Candace — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:31:57 +0000

I used to LOVE AG. I couldn’t wait for the catalogs to come in. I was so into the girl’s stories and the food that they ate. LOL. I had all of the Addy books. My best friend actually got an Addy doll. As a matter of fact she still has it…never removed from the box…wonder if it’s worth anything??? *Off to check ebay…lol*

By: StackingPennies

StackingPennies — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:56:10 +0000

I don’t remember ever asking for/wanting the dolls. We did have a lot of the books though, and I loved those. We also had some sort of script for a play by AG, set in some old fashioned time.

I don’t know why I never wanted the dolls though. I had a lot of dolls, but maybe by the time I discovered the books (4th grade?) I was “too old” to want dolls

By: Sarah Elizabeth

Sarah Elizabeth — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:51:56 +0000

I definitely loved the American dolls growing up. I had Samantha and some clothes, but I remember always being jealous of my friend who had like 3 of them along with all of their clothes, furniture and accessories. Now my 7 year old cousin is into them and got one that “looks like her” with blone hair and blue eyes. She also got matching outfits for her and her doll.

I considered giving her my old doll, but when I pulled it out of the attic, I remembered why it went in there in the first place – I cut her hair. Oops!

By: Britt

Britt — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:47:03 +0000

I had never even heard of American Girl until I watched Jon and Kate + 8 and they went to an American Girl store. Guess thats what happens when you’re Canadian!

By: ak

ak — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:05:18 +0000

Me too!!! I loved reading the books that went with the dolls. I read every one that the library had.

By: Amber

Amber — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:45:25 +0000

AG has a special place in my heart! I always wanted one, especially Molly, but my parents wouldn’t shell out that much for a doll. They told me that I was free to buy her if I saved up my allowance. So I saved my $2 every week for a year to buy Molly and the little starter set (the beret and a few other little things). She’s still one of my prized possessions!

I checked out all of the books for all of the dolls (the ones that were around when I was that age, at least), and loved every one. Hopefully I’ll have a little girl one day and can enjoy all that stuff again.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:39:29 +0000

I had Felicity. I got a decent amount of her outfits (and of course read all the books!), but I had a handmade bed and plenty of assorted clothes from craft fairs (those outfits were really popular at those sorts of sales back then).
I definitely liked the historical lessons…wasn’t a fan when someone died (as tends to happen in history), but it was cool!
And I recently found out that one of the brief events they include in Felicity’s life is actually based on something that Susan Boudinot, a young girl during the Revolutionary war, did.

Pretty cute!