When I was in aboriginal grade, I didn't appetite to be Cinderella or Strawberry Shortcake. Instead I badly capital to be a assuming Revolutionary War-era tomboy, accurately Felicity Merriman, one of the aboriginal American Babe book characters and dolls.
My American Babe dolls (I had Felicity and Kirsten) are some of the few toys that I'm still emotionally absorbed to. And from an actionable poll of my coworkers, I've aggregate that for abounding women who grew up in the '90s, the American Girls played an important role in their childhood. That's why account Amy Schiller's April 23rd allotment for The Atlantic on how these dolls accept become added bartering and absent their somewhat destructive bend fabricated me abnormally sad.
The American Babe cast was founded by the Pleasant Company in 1986, according to AmericanGirl.com, with three actual dolls. Each was appear with a set of six books that alien readers to a specific time aeon through the eyes of a adolescent girl. When I aboriginal became absorbed in the dolls in the aboriginal '90s, the American Babe characters included Felicity as able-bodied as able bondservant Addy Walker, Swedish immigrant Kirsten Larson, aloof drop Samantha Parkington and Apple War II-era Molly McIntire.
Me and my acquaintance at my first-grade American Girl-themed altogether party.
Schiller argues that afterwards Mattel acquired the Pleasant Company in 1998 and archived the actual characters to accomplish allowance for the "My American Girl" line, the toys drifted abroad from ambidextrous with era-specific issues of politics, gender and class. "With a greater focus on appearance, added balmy appearance development, and banal political topics, a above character-building toy has become added like a admirable accessory," she wrote.
The storylines that I bethink best from the American Babe books are the ones area the characters interacted with the big issues of their times. Samantha marches for women's capitalism and demands bigger adolescent activity laws, Molly knits socks with her classmates for the war effort, Felicity eschews gender norms in Colonial America and Addy grapples with racism and segregation. The admirable apparel and fun (overpriced) accessories featured in the catalogs were acceptable allotment of what drew abounding of us to these dolls. But it's the belief and the courage of the characters that backward with us afterwards we chock-full absent to dress up like them.
It's not generally that adolescent girls accept the befalling to see themselves in belief of U.S. history. Growing up, American Girls gave us a acumen to apprentice about and chronicle to capacity that ability be adamantine for an elementary academy adolescent to affix with otherwise. As a white 6-year-old account about Addy Walker's adventure on the underground railroad, I was able to affix with the animality of bullwork in a way that I wasn't in my classrooms.
The American Babe books didn't shy abroad from abhorrent time periods in U.S. history -- they affected adolescent girls to accost them and anticipate alarmingly about the world. Somehow I agnosticism that a baby who is ancient alone to "look like me" has absolutely the aforementioned impact.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST WOMEN: 'American Girls' Pose With Their American Babe Dolls
PHOTO GALLERY
Ilona Szwarc's 'American Girls'
PHOTO GALLERY
Ilona Szwarc's 'American Girls'
Ilona Szwarc's 'American Girls'
Ilona Szwarc's 'American Girls'
Ilona Szwarc
