The American Girl company is canceling Princess' favorite doll, Felicity, the girl from the American Revolution.Hey, American Girl company! How can you cancel the American Revolution girl? That's the most important historical period of American history because it created American History! She has a great story!
I'm not going to suggest some other girl be canceled instead, reeling as I am from the end last year of Kirsten, a blond Swedish girl who lives in the pioneer days of Minnesota. (Have I mentioned we're a Scandinavian family in Minnesota?) I know that each character has fans who choose her as a favorite. One of Princess' friends was very sad to see Samantha go.
American Girl is just trying to sell more dolls; I get that. Really, though, getting rid of the girls of the American Revolution (Felicity's friend, Elizabeth, is going, too) is a surprise.
Since two paragraphs ago, I'm changing my mind about picking a girl to cancel. Julie, the 1970s girl, isn't very exciting. I realize that her big problem, parents who are recently divorced, is a good thing for girls in similar circumstances to read about. She also has to fight the school to play basketball, which is hard for girls nowadays to understand would be a problem.
But compare that with the other stories (spoiler alert): Kaya is kidnapped by a neighboring tribe and held as a slave; Addy escapes slavery with her mother, unsure whether she'll see the rest of her family again; Kit's family is struggling through the depression, and Kit actually goes to jail at one point; and in the biggest tear-jerker moment for me, Molly gets sick and won't be able to attend her tap-dance recital, resulting in her being the only one home when her dad returns from World War II. I'm tearing up just thinking about it! Gah!
I haven't read the Rebecca books, though Princess got the whole set for Christmas (ironic, seeing at Rebecca is Jewish). I'm glad they added a Jewish girl to the mix, but don't like they canceled Samantha to do it. Princess makes a good point that Samantha's story is really driven more by her neighbor, Nelly, who used to work in a child-labor factory in the city. Long story.
Anyway, I think I'd better snatch up some Felicity merchandise before it's gone. I'm playing right into their evil plan! Princess has the Felicity and Elizabeth dolls, a few outfits, and even her horse and pony (Santa can get a little crazy!) Her birthday's coming up, so I'll probably do a little shopping. But I won't like it.
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5 comments:
oh boo :( I grew up with all the classics - Felicity, Samantha, Molly, and Kirsten!!
My sister had Felicity, Kristin, Samantha and, I think, Molly. Aren't they kind of the originals? A 1970s doll does not sound very exciting.
Mach 1 & Beatriz: I think those were the original four dolls. Now only Molly remains, which I find surprising because she's the most recent, and therefore the one whose dresses, etc., are most modern. Maybe girls like the more modern stuff? I don't get it.
I feel this way every time they discontinue one of the old dolls! We have five AG dolls and ours are so old they have "Pleasant Company" stamped into the back of the neck, before they were made by Mattel. My girls don't like the new ones as much because they are about eras that aren't as inspirig (the sixties? A hippie doll? Does she take LSD and live in Golden Gate Park? Did she go to Woodstock? Did she ever meet Forrest Gump?) They love pioneers, colonists, and Victorian rich girls, though. I guess they sell, just not to my family!
I was really into those books & dolls when I was a kid--they came on the scene right around the time I was in elementary school, and I remember rushing into the library to try to get the books before they were all picked-over...my friends and I read them religiously.
It makes me sad to discover that most of the originals have gone the way of the dodo...although at least Molly's still there, I guess. She was my favorite back then (after months of earnest begging, my parents got me a Molly doll one Christmas and it was pretty much the best Christmas ever, haha). Maybe it's like you said and girls nowadays are more drawn to the modern stuff...
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