LaxMom Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I guess my mother (and her siblings) were way ahead of their time; they LOVED the stories/songs my grandmother would tell/sing: The Baggage Coach Ahead, The Little Match Girl... :001_huh: Thank goodness AM wasn't making dolls in the 40s. Frankly, my kids aren't really into dolls, but there is something about creative play and "harsh reality" that I'm having trouble reconciling. (And, yes, the price irony) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I find it difficult to comprehend how it is called American Girl and made in China. I've never liked that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I can't quite figure out where that article came from. AG is not advertising Gwen as a "homeless girl", she is sold as "Chrissa's friend". Yes in the story she happens to be living in a shelter but if you look at the catalog you wouldn't even know that. My 8yo bought Gwen last January because her sister was buying Chrissa and she wanted one of the friend so they could play together. I am not even sure if she was aware of Gwen's background (she is my struggling reader so while big sis has read the books, my youngest one hasn't) until she watched the movie a couple weeks ago (and I haven't watched the movie so I am not sure how much it comes up in it). However, I read the book and while Gwen homelessness comes up it is not a big part of the book at all. The story is about Chrissa not Gwen. Anyway just wait till December 31st and she won't be sold anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 There is always the Little Match Girl. Not only is she homesless, but she dies. http://collectdolls.about.com/od/moderndolls1980snow/ig/2007-Helen-Kish-Dolls/kishLittleMatchGirl.htm. I hate that book. My kids asked me to read it to them and I did, not knowing what it was about. Not the best bedtime story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginevra Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I hate that book. My kids asked me to read it to them and I did, not knowing what it was about. Not the best bedtime story. Yes, that story was in a collection I had on audiobook by William Bennett...it might have been called Stories of Character or something like that. I thought the Little Match Girl was horrifying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 do your daughters actually play with them - like carry them around and send them down the slide and pretend they are riding the stuffed horse? Just curious. No daughters here, and sort of wondering if I could stomach spending $95 for a doll .... and whether I would be okay with her ever leaving the house again. Of course, I always was cutting off the hair of my dolls and pulling their limbs off to see how they were made. Maybe if I had a daughter, she would be a less destructive one than I was! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Yes, that story was in a collection I had on audiobook by William Bennett...it might have been called Stories of Character or something like that. I thought the Little Match Girl was horrifying! it was my mother's 'favorite' story when she was little. When her grandmother died, she cried in her closet for weeks. Her g'mother didn't freeze to death out on the streets , she died of cancer, but it was the only story my mother could relate to for a long time. My youngest ds is named for her. Her life and death had a profound impact on my mother, forever and for always. Maybe some little girls whose daddies have lost jobs might be able to relate to a little girl who loses her home for a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 do your daughters actually play with them - like carry them around and send them down the slide and pretend they are riding the stuffed horse? Just curious. No daughters here, and sort of wondering if I could stomach spending $95 for a doll .... and whether I would be okay with her ever leaving the house again. Of course, I always was cutting off the hair of my dolls and pulling their limbs off to see how they were made. Maybe if I had a daughter, she would be a less destructive one than I was! My daughter plays with hers, but doesn't send it down the slide or pull off her arms. She paid for half of it, so that treatment is reserved for the lesser dolls :lol:. To me, the doll is not worth a hundred bucks. But dd loves it and definitely thought it was worth her $50 and getting little else for her birthday. She loves the 'details' - - the pierced ears with different earrings, the tiny fan that opens and closes, etc. I will say that dolls we have paid a lesser but still pretty good amount for, like $40, are definitely of lesser quality. Why do the open-and-close eyes on dolls always deteriorate, leaving the poor things looking like they are winking or perpetually sleepy? And you can really brush and fix the hair on AG dolls; it's actually a little freaky, it feels so real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 This isn't exactly new. Here is a picture of the doll my father brought me when he was in training in Chicago in the late 60s. She was called Little Miss No Name and sold by Hasbro in 1965, not sure when she was discontinued. The tear is removable. I was about 3 or 4 years old at the time. I have been told I kept crying because I couldn't make the doll be happy. She was around the house long enough for me to have very distinct memories of her. Oh, dear, that is truly horrible! Just think, not only did someone have the idea, someone else approved it and put it into production. The removeable tear is pure evil genius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EthiopianFood Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I'm guessing you specifically want a first generation immigrant German doll? Kit and Ruthie are in Cincinnati, wouldn't be surprising if one or both of them was of German heritage. Agreed it's not a Palatine German doll :), which would interest me, but who knows, that might also come down the pike eventually like the Russian Jewish one. It would also be interesting to see Japanese (I'm already drooling over the possible accessories), Italian, Greek, etc. I'm so disappointed that they actually have an Indian doll, but she is just the friend of the doll of the year. Those are the accessories I would have drooled over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixie Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 do your daughters actually play with them - like carry them around and send them down the slide and pretend they are riding the stuffed horse? Just curious. No daughters here, and sort of wondering if I could stomach spending $95 for a doll .... and whether I would be okay with her ever leaving the house again. Of course, I always was cutting off the hair of my dolls and pulling their limbs off to see how they were made. Maybe if I had a daughter, she would be a less destructive one than I was! My daughters play a lot with their AG dolls but no they don't go down the slide or get hair cuts :-) They know they are expensive (they paid for Chrissa and Gwen themselves, others were brought by Santa because "there is now way mommy and daddy would ever spend that much on a doll" :lol:) and to be treated nicely. Honestly, for me it is priceless to have my soon to be 12yo still playing with dolls rather than some other things she could be into at her age (she actually never played with baby dolls when she was younger but she loved the AG dolls). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I want Molly. I have always wanted Molly. Before I had daughters I wanted Molly. When I had daughters, neither of them wanted Molly, nor any doll. (Horse people). My daughters tell me I should buy her for myself, but what the heck would I do with her? lol I wanted to watch someone paly with Molly and have reason to buy a doll tap dance outfits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Wow, I can't believe how upset people are about this! How can this doll possibly affect your life in a negative way?:001_huh: AG gives millions of dollars to charity - all types of charities. They're a for-profit company... I would think all the conservative free market types that hang out here would appreciate that and let them sell what they want. If you don't like it, don't buy it. I could think of lots of toys I'd like to complain about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I want Molly. I have always wanted Molly. Before I had daughters I wanted Molly. When I had daughters, neither of them wanted Molly, nor any doll. (Horse people). My daughters tell me I should buy her for myself, but what the heck would I do with her? lol I wanted to watch someone paly with Molly and have reason to buy a doll tap dance outfits. :iagree: The rick rack alone....:w00t: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I want Molly. I have always wanted Molly. Before I had daughters I wanted Molly. When I had daughters, neither of them wanted Molly, nor any doll. (Horse people). My daughters tell me I should buy her for myself, but what the heck would I do with her? lol I wanted to watch someone paly with Molly and have reason to buy a doll tap dance outfits. Hey, moms are allowed to have AG dolls. I have Julie - you can have Molly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 No daughters here, and sort of wondering if I could stomach spending $95 for a doll .... and whether I would be okay with her ever leaving the house again. We have three of them (Kirsten, Kaya, Molly) and the most I have paid for any of them was Molly at $35 in a thrift store--she's the only one with the pre-Mattel body. I won Kaya in a drawing at a Barnes and Noble when she first came out and we found Kirsten for $2 at a yard sale. Her hair was really wrecked, but my friend who is a doll collector rescued it to a playable point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrina Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Unless it's for charity I think they've crossed the line. Maybe next year they can come out with a new doll molested by her step-father. :lol::lol: That shouldn't be so funny! But they are crap as a company. They've done some really bogus things. We have an AG too and as time goes on I wish more and more we didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Maybe that's why Waldorf and Amish dolls often don't have faces :D Rosie Amish dolls don't have faces because the Amish believe a doll with a face is a graven image and is a sin. I don't know why Waldorf dolls are faceless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Waldorf dolls have faces (at least most I've seen). They just keep their faces sort of pleasantly neutral to facilitate imagination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 My girls each have one (Felicity and Kit)---that was pretty much all they got for Christmas last year. They do play quite a lot with them--I've sewn a lot of clothes, and we got some hand-me-down beds and a horse, and they act out stories and have them watch movies with them, etc. We haven't bought any accessories. I also got a used Molly doll and cleaned her up, sewed new clothes, etc. for my little niece. I've never had any interest in dolls, but I sure learned a lot about doll restoration last year. The other day they had a friend over and spent the entire afternoon making a doll movie, called the Adventures of Meena and Katerina. It was pretty hilarious. Quill, if you look at the AG catalog, Gwen doesn't have any specific accessories to buy. Sonali doesn't either, though Chrissa has enough for all of them. I expect that for the short-term 'friend' dolls, they don't bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 I don't have girls, but I find this over the top. Why in this last decade or so do the "powers that be" think that little children should be exposed to all the worlds ills? I don't understand it. Let the children be children. A lot of children already have some sort of chaos or stress that just comes with life in general or an unhealthy/unstable home life. Why add to it with things like this? It is craziness in my view. The craziness started with the Sesame Street puppet that was HIV positive. Seriously? Come on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Curious--So do you also object to, say, Kit's story? Growing up in the Depression, worried about her family, has hobo friends? I've found Kit to be a great inspiration for my older girl--she loves Kit's stories and several times when she was feeling discouraged and scared about something she thought she couldn't do, I've asked her what she thought Kit would think about it. Kit is a very spunky girl who never gives up, so that's been a helpful motivator for her. Addy is another favorite and also someone to aspire to be like. Also they named my mom's chickens after their dolls. There were 6 chickens, 2 of 3 different breeds, so we named them Beezus and Ramona, Kit and Felicity, and Ivy and Bean. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pqr Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.-Lenin Fortunately he was wrong, but the "It takes a village" mentality seems determined to educate our children for us, to show them all the ugliness of the world and refuses to let them be children. I always wondered why. Little girls should be allowed to be innocent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 (edited) Curious--So do you also object to, say, Kit's story? Growing up in the Depression, worried about her family, has hobo friends? I've found Kit to be a great inspiration for my older girl--she loves Kit's stories and several times when she was feeling discouraged and scared about something she thought she couldn't do, I've asked her what she thought Kit would think about it. Kit is a very spunky girl who never gives up, so that's been a helpful motivator for her. Addy is another favorite and also someone to aspire to be like. Also they named my mom's chickens after their dolls. There were 6 chickens, 2 of 3 different breeds, so we named them Beezus and Ramona, Kit and Felicity, and Ivy and Bean. :001_smile: And doesn't Samanatha rescue orphans? Addy is a slave. That's pretty sad stuff... Edited October 1, 2009 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 You know what AG needs? An Indian and an Asian doll. I don't think they have either of those. Any others? They're getting there. Ivy is Julie's best friend (San Fransisco, 1970's). Sonali is Chrissa's other friend. And the Just Like You dolls come in every race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 They're getting there. Ivy is Julie's best friend (San Fransisco, 1970's). Sonali is Chrissa's other friend. And the Just Like You dolls come in every race. They also did the brief "Girls of Many Lands" book and doll series, but they were not for play, just for display. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_of_Many_Lands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunrose Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 They have 2 indian dolls Kaya and Josefina http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/static/kayadoll.jsf/title/Kaya/saleGroupId/0/uniqueId/5/nodeId/11/webMenuId/5/LeftMenu/TRUE and http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/static/josefinadoll.jsf/title/Josefina/saleGroupId/0/uniqueId/32/nodeId/11/webMenuId/5/LeftMenu/TRUE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Am I a werido for thinking this doll is absolutely adorable?! Her big round eyes are so cute! I haven't read all of this thread (I'll do that later when the littles are OFF MY computer!!). Anyway, my 3 yo dd saw that picture of the begging little doll and said, "I like her. She's beautiful!!" How cute and innocent is that???! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunrose Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 Josefina is Mexican, and Kaya is Native American. Ah...I hadn't looked that closely actually. Thanks for setting me straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace'smom Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I think that is a bit much.....if you ask me, LOL. Here is the article: American Girl released an addition to its collection of sociologically accurate dolls this year -- and she's homeless. The Wisconsin-based company, whose Web site declares that it celebrates girls and all they can be, is well-known for its tasteful, well-researched dolls reflecting certain periods in American history. Now, Gwen Thompson joins the company's line. Gwen's story is told through another doll's biography, which, according to The New York Post, is decidedly modern: Her father ran out on the family and her mother lost her job. By winter, the fatherless family is living in their car. The doll sells for $95 and is available online or at American Girl retail locations. We took a pause when we heard about a homeless doll. OK, so this is how it would go at our house. Grace: Mommy, what if we lose all our money? Me: Don't worry Grace, we'll be OK. Grace: Mommy, will we ever have to live in our car? Me: Don't worry Grace, we're not going to have to live in our car (to myself: they'd take it b/c it's not paid for, LOL) Grace: Mommy, is Daddy going to leave us? Me: Don't worry Grace, Daddy's not going to leave us. Grace that night: Mommy, I had a bad dream that Daddy was gone. The next day at Target in hearing shot of everyone: Mommy, you can't buy too much or we might get homeless. There's no way for me to explain that around here. I'm still too scared to tell her what divorce is... And this might just be my particular daughter. She can't even watch Disney movies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 They also did the brief "Girls of Many Lands" book and doll series, but they were not for play, just for display. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls_of_Many_Lands My dd has 5 of these dolls... and plays with them. (When she was little they basically sat on the shelf, though.) We got them just before they went out of production. Ebay -- $16 a doll (with the book). Now I see them as collectibles for $100 a doll. Amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Amish dolls don't have faces because the Amish believe a doll with a face is a graven image and is a sin. I don't know why Waldorf dolls are faceless. Waldorf dolls for younger kids are faceless so the kids can project their own ideas onto it. It's a bit hard to imagine you're taking your doll for her chicken pox injection if she's beaming from ear to ear. Dolls for older kids do have faces, but are not usually very detailed for the aforementioned reason. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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