American Girl

[Richard Wasserman]

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Terrifying. My daughter wants one.

[austin granger]

American Girls
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6146/6005756234_fd592f24a7_z.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/austingranger/

In the spirit of full disclosure, I feel like I should add that my daughter has one of these. Her name (the doll's) is Rebecca Rubin. She's a Russian Jewish girl growing up in New York in 1910. :)

[Mark Sawyer]

At least it's not adults playing with dolls... that would be terrifying! :rolleyes:

Interesting series, really. Those dolls weren't on my radar screen, and it's somehow reassuring to see something universal through so many lifestyles and social classes. Mixed feelings about it being a commercial venture, but that's the world we live in.

Going to go listen to Tom Petty, I think...

[Pete Watkins]

Richard,
Those are horrible.
Mark, As someone who's into pixies, what's your problem with dolls (blow up or otherwise) could be your next project. OMG the probabilities have driven me to drink, I;m off for some more apple wine.
Pete.

[John Kasaian]

Been there.
Done that.
Claire had an American Girl day at the AG store in LA a few years back.
It was.
Memorable.

[John Kasaian]

Terrifying. My daughter wants one.

I feel your pain.

[John Kasaian]

American Girls
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6146/6005756234_fd592f24a7_z.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/austingranger/

In the spirit of full disclosure, I feel like I should add that my daughter has one of these. Her name (the doll's) is Rebecca Rubin. She's a Russian Jewish girl growing up in New York in 1910. :)

I'm surprised! I found The American Girls to be annoyingly secular.

[Jay DeFehr]

When my daughter was interested in dolls they were Cabbage Patch, and I still remember the names of some of them. These dolls occupy a place in my family history, much like a pet. A name makes all the difference in the world.

[Richard Wasserman]

We had sons....

[cdholden]

American Girls

In the spirit of full disclosure, I feel like I should add that my daughter has one of these. Her name (the doll's) is Rebecca Rubin. She's a Russian Jewish girl growing up in New York in 1910. :)


Austin,
It's my understanding that the doll the girl has is supposed to be her little "twin", hence the large variety of ethnic choices. I must confess that we bought into this cult also. OK, my daughter and her mother did. I was just guilty by association and decided that while I must pick my battles, this was one I was going to lose anyway.
We recently went to Atlanta to support a family member in the national cheerleading competition. There was a conspiracy in the works. Little did I know that they had been planning for weeks to visit the American Girl store on the way back home. Nothing there is cheap. A visit to one of these stores is a great day for a little girl with one of these dolls. For some activities in the store, advance reservations may be required.
You have been warned.

[Vaughn]

I am soooo happy my triplets ended up being all boys...

[jp]

I've got girls, and they've got girl cousins, and American Girl is big in our big family. I didn't know how popular it was in greater society. The news article focused on the vanity aspect of it, but that's avoiding a big part of their success story, a part that is hard to show with photos.

To the parents at least, it's better than normal vain dolls, as it's part of a system of education regarding different periods of American History from different young people's perspectives. It's not just a pretty doll, it's part of a complex and elaborate hands-on educational tool. There's an immense amount of well written books written with several for each doll. There are even wholesome movies that are based on the books. You don't get that with barbies or bratz. We borrow "American Girl" books from the school library and my daughter gets the books to own for $1 each at goodwill. The amount of history and diversity it can bring to girls who would otherwise have no interest is very unique and effective.

My 6yo has the "Kit" American Girl, who grew up in the depression and wants to be a journalist and has a folding-bellows camera complete with miniature roll of Kodak film, notepad, & pencil. Of course they share a resemblance. My daughter gets to play with real cameras with bellows and real Kodak film. Kit has an optional fruit crate scooter that a friend made for her in one of her stories. I made a life size one with my daughter using a crate, a pine board, and a $10 skateboard.

All the clothes and accessories are way over priced, but you don't have to get them.

[Jay DeFehr]

For me, the most interesting aspect of the phenomenon is the genetic menu. It seems an eerie correlate to the fertility industry, and the promise (increasingly delivered) of the opportunity for prospective parents to choose the genetic traits of their potential offspring. Will the memories of their American Girls dolls resonate with their former owners when, in 20 years, or so, they're given similar "options" by their fertility doctors?

[cdholden]

I'm interested in hearing more about this camera with bellows and film. Is it like a folder that fits in one's pocket, or is it a view camera? My daughter has used both and she would probably be excited about this. She's already proud of the fact that none of the kids in her class had a clue when she told them about her darkroom experience. She's probably been exposed to more creative/artistic work than anyone in her class.

[bob carnie]

I have been shooting little brats (attached) as well as rubber ducky's with my new series.7180671807

[jp]

http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/html/item/id/140467/uid/258

It's a folder, like an old 6x9cm kodak medium format camera. The way it folds up and goes into it's case is quite realistic.

My nephew observed me re-loading my TLR after easter dinner. He didn't understand what film was when he saw me open a new roll of 120 film. The girls told him it was like a battery and you have to change it to keep taking photos.

[W K Longcor]

Three of my four grandchildren are girls. They all have American girl dolls. I think they are great. They teach a bit about history and good values -- unlike those awful Bratz and boobie Barbies. And - playing with them does NOT involve sitting at a computer!

[cdholden]

http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/html/item/id/140467/uid/258

It's a folder, like an old 6x9cm kodak medium format camera. The way it folds up and goes into it's case is quite realistic.

My nephew observed me re-loading my TLR after easter dinner. He didn't understand what film was when he saw me open a new roll of 120 film. The girls told him it was like a battery and you have to change it to keep taking photos.

Thanks for the link!
I'll give you bonus points if you can correctly identify it by model number. I just realized that of all the folders I've used over the years, I have never had a Kodak. Mostly Zeiss, Voigtlander and Agfa... no Kodak.

[jayabbas]

Mine like Hotwheels - no dolls in my sphere of life - whew !!

[BrianShaw]

We had sons....

I still have sons.

[Richard Wasserman]

I still have sons.

Funny! Good point though, so do we.

[Frank Petronio]

It could be worse. This is my wife's obsession: http://dollstown.com/mydoll.htm The dolls are custom, Leica prices. She makes perfect costumes, stages, photos of them doing strange things. I'm oddly tempted to start photographing them myself, they are interesting and scary at times.

[Jay DeFehr]

It could be worse. This is my wife's obsession: http://dollstown.com/mydoll.htm The dolls are custom, Leica prices. She makes perfect costumes, stages, photos of them doing strange things. I'm oddly tempted to start photographing them myself, they are interesting and scary at times.

Yes, those are much different. Julia likes them, too. They're very photogenic, I think, in an uncanny way. I've seen videos that are disturbing, in a good way (if you like being disturbed, like I do)

[Andrew O'Neill]

Frank, those are very popular dolls amongst some males in Japan... they are creapily real. I remember watching a tv program over there where full grown men treated them as a companion. Dressed them, ate dinner with them, bathed together, (censored) together. I'll stick with my blow-up doll.;)

[John Kasaian]

I've got girls, and they've got girl cousins, and American Girl is big in our big family. I didn't know how popular it was in greater society. The news article focused on the vanity aspect of it, but that's avoiding a big part of their success story, a part that is hard to show with photos.

To the parents at least, it's better than normal vain dolls, as it's part of a system of education regarding different periods of American History from different young people's perspectives. It's not just a pretty doll, it's part of a complex and elaborate hands-on educational tool. There's an immense amount of well written books written with several for each doll. There are even wholesome movies that are based on the books. You don't get that with barbies or bratz. We borrow "American Girl" books from the school library and my daughter gets the books to own for $1 each at goodwill. The amount of history and diversity it can bring to girls who would otherwise have no interest is very unique and effective.

My 6yo has the "Kit" American Girl, who grew up in the depression and wants to be a journalist and has a folding-bellows camera complete with miniature roll of Kodak film, notepad, & pencil. Of course they share a resemblance. My daughter gets to play with real cameras with bellows and real Kodak film. Kit has an optional fruit crate scooter that a friend made for her in one of her stories. I made a life size one with my daughter using a crate, a pine board, and a $10 skateboard.

All the clothes and accessories are way over priced, but you don't have to get them.
Just wait until they discover Madame Alexander dolls!:o

[cdholden]

Frank,
Think "Trilogy of Terror", circa 1975.

[James515]

Our granddaughter has three and the wheel chair doll is one of them. I see them as mostly positive as they serve the same purpose our boy's superman and batman did, and our cowboys and Indians and soldiers did when I grew up, they create a kind of fantasy in which we grow up and in which we play various parts that hopefully lead to maturity. And as someone noted above they provide another space than cyberspace. All things can be carried to extremes but that is not a reason to abandon them.

[John Kasaian]

FWIW, my daughter graduated fro dolls to jockeys.We a spent last friday at Santa Anita---it's actually cheaper than collecting American Girls! .

[cdholden]

FWIW, my daughter graduated fro dolls to jockeys.We a spent last friday at Santa Anita---it's actually cheaper than collecting American Girls! .

For the sake of clarification, can you please elaborate?
Disc jockeys, lawn jockeys, riding jockeys or other?

[Vaughn]

Santa Anita = horse racing

[Mike Anderson]

It could be worse. This is my wife's obsession: http://dollstown.com/mydoll.htm The dolls are custom, Leica prices. She makes perfect costumes, stages, photos of them doing strange things. I'm oddly tempted to start photographing them myself, they are interesting and scary at times.

Those are weird. If I had access to those I'd use them to make reenactments of Cindy Sherman's Untitled Film Stills. Super conceptual.