About six years ago my now 14-year-old daughter couldn’t get enough of American Girl dolls. She spent countless hours playing with her dolls, and making crafts for them. I loved reading the books to her, and I loved finding and buying dolls and accessories. But those days are long over. They’ve been replaced by long video phone calls with friends, and trying out new makeup and hairstyles. But I still find myself wistfully looking back.
In the beginning
Although I’d nudged my daughter toward liking the dolls ever since she was born, I was still thrilled when she was older and did like them. When the dolls originally came out, in the late 80s, I was too old to play with them. But I watched as my younger sister played with her doll and a few items. The American Girl catalog would come in the mail for my sister, and I looked through it too. On the one hand, I thought the prices were obscene, and it was a huge waste of money. There were doll dresses that cost more than I spent on a dress for myself, crazy-priced little food items, and more.
But on the other hand, I saw that each doll had a story and I thought that was awesome. So, shortly after my daughter was born, I ordered a Molly American Girl doll for her. I also bought a cheaper doll and a horse from Target. Then I waited for my girl to grow old enough to play with them. For several years she loved her twin little Fisher Price baby dolls. She played with those dolls constantly. When she was six I started reading AG books to her, and I signed us up to receive the AG catalogs. When they arrived, she and I would both look through them eagerly.
Her first doll
The AG store in St. Louis opened in spring 2012, and we visited for the first time a couple of months later. It was fun for both of us. She brought one of her beloved Fisher Price baby dolls, and loved looking at and playing with the American Girl doll items. She loved gymnastics and the girl of the year doll was a gymnast, so I bought her the doll’s leotard set. It fit a little loosely on her Fisher Price dolls, but she didn’t mind.
In Christmas 2013, she was almost eight years old, so I decided it was time to give her an AG doll. I wasn’t sure how well she’d take care of it though, so I bought an already-loved doll off ebay. The doll’s hair was a little dirty, and her limbs were loose, so I learned from Youtube videos how to remedy that. I washed her hair, tightened her limbs, and bought her an outfit. Lindsay was excited to open the doll on Christmas morning. I’d also bought the Target-brand salon chair, and the RV. She was also excited to receive another AG doll, Nellie, from my mother. Nellie had been a gift from me to my mom before Lindsay was born. Now that there was a little girl to play with her, my mom wanted Lindsay to have her. Dolls Emma and Nellie had great adventures, and in February on Lindsay’s birthday were joined by Molly – who’d been waiting to be taken out of her box for so many years.
Eventually her entire room became the dolls’ home, and various corners of our house became hang outs for the dolls.
The store visits
During this time, we visited the St. Louis American Girl store every few months. But she wanted to visit one of the larger “Place” locations, so we took a mini vacation to Chicago to visit the flagship store there. We ate lunch in the American Girl café, and I gave her a set amount of money to spend in the store. She picked out several items, including the doll of the year Grace, a couple of Grace’s items, a doll outfit she’d been wanting for a while, and a beach accessory set. We even bought the soundtrack to Grace’s movie, which had just come out a couple of weeks before. We listened to that soundtrack as we left Chicago the next day, headed toward the next stop.
The end of an era
Before the Christmas that she was almost 10 years old, I noticed that she wasn’t playing with the dolls nearly as much as she used to. But – I think out of habit – she did ask for the AG historical doll Rebecca, and Santa delivered. But it was obvious her interest in the dolls was waning. She played with them less and less, and before she was 11 years old, we packed away the dolls and all their items. She remains adamant that we must keep all of the dolls – I wouldn’t get rid of them even if she told me to.
I’m in several American Girl fan groups on social media, so I keep up with what’s new in the AG world. Daughter is a teenager now, but she (pretends?) to be interested when I point any new items out. I’m pretty sure she looks back on her AG years fondly. It was a special and fun time for both of us.
Gina Parsons - Writer 