Your AG Dream Doll

[CasualAGFan]

I'm not really into the AGT, so here are some historicals I wouldn't mind seeing(some of these aren't that original, I know):
-for an antebellum doll, how 'bout the biracial daughter of a "Southern gentleman". The whole "mulatto" plantation thing is something that needs to be talked about more. I just visited a fantabulous site about African-American history and stuff and it talked about how most plantation owners had, um, intimate relationships with female slaves(as in, usually, rape), and the biracial daughters led really hard lives. I'd like to see this issue dealt with in a way that's realistic and historically accurate as well as age-appropriate and not all the usual "Imitation Of Life" cliches.
-a Creole girl growing up in New Orleans during The War of 1812
-an African-American girl in the 1960s(as a fashion doll addict, I'd like to see a miniature repro of either Black Tammy or one of the African-American Barbie clone dolls as her Christmas doll)
-A Jewish immigrant circa 1894 or 1914, a la the Dear America book "Dreams in the Golden Country"(?)
-An Asian doll living in California in the late 19th century, her father could like live on the railroad.
-A Puritan girl

RE the Scarlett O'Hara-type antebellum doll-yes, it's touchy and controversial, but I think it would do us some good to have a non-glamourized portrait of what it was like growing up white and wealthy in the South in the mid-19th century. I don't know a lot about the period, but I think it isn't all hoop skirts and ringlet curls. I think it would be nice to debunk the myths. It's funny you mention Scarlett, 'cause I just watched Gone With The Wind with my Grandma yesterday. I like it(mainly because of Clark Gable [img]wink.gif[/img] ), but I just knew it wasn't authentic.

[cebula_2000]

I thought a great doll would be the Scarlett O'Hara type doll. A Southern Belle from the Old South who learns slavery is wrong... What's wrong with that? I don't see how something so obviously wrong (slavery) could be so controversial. Nor do I see how it is being insensitive to introduce the topic. I would also like to point out that a nine-year-old girl could not be held responsible for her parent's holding slaves. I know I love those stories about southern children who hate their parent's ways of life and work to change them through abolitionist movements or somehting like that. But that's just my opinion.

I also like the idea of a pilgrim, Quaker, or Puritan.

Another good doll would be from WWI or the War of 1812. Maybe someone from the Alamo!

I think a great idea would be someone from Oklahoma. They would be there for Land Run Day (when the gov't opened up Oklahoma to settlers for free at a 1st come 1st serve basis) and their parents would claim a homestead.

Hehe...I could go on forever, but it's 3:00 a.m. so I should be sleeping... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[mum2dee]

I know I never really post, but I can't resist this topic! I would like to see...

A girl being raised by a single mother. SO many girls are being raised by single mothers these days (mine included) that I think this would be a good one. I suppose with Molly's dad being away in the war, her mom is single, but I'm thinking of a dad who is a little less...noble. Maybe one who moved west to seek his fortune and was never heard from again.

Some sort of immigrant in the early 1900's in an industrial city. My grandfather moved here when he was around ten or so. His mother was Hungarian and some sort of local aristocracy. His father was Czech and poor, so when my grandfather was quite young, his father moved here (Cleveland) and it was years before he made enough money to send for the rest of the family. Apparently my grandfather hated it here at first, and hated the swich from being upper class to lower-middle class. I guess I just really like that part of my family's history.

Also a girl who goes with her parents to California in the Gold Rush. This girl could very well be Asian or Hispanic or Caucasian, but I do think Asian would be best. Maybe her father could work on the railroad. I agree that they need to make a doll with a story (either historical or LE) of Asian descent. I'm sure the powers that be must realise this and will do so in the near future. That said, I'm really not crazy about the looks of the asian AGT. Maybe they need to change the face mold, or perhaps it's just the hair.

Sorry this is so long!!

~leah

[rachie421]

First, Welcome to the board Ann O. Nymous, I dont think Ive seen you post here before. You will like it, its a lot of fun. So I hate that the first thing Im going to do is respectfully disagree [img]confused.gif[/img]

Yes, slavery is something that was obviously wrong and in that sense you cant really say its still controversial, but a plantation girl would be. Just look at Felicity, their family cook, Rose, was certainly a slave being that they live in Virginia but AG shied away from that by calling her their servant and cook. Can you imagine if they attempted a girl whose parents own hundreds of 'servants'? And although its certainly not the girl's fault, its also HIGHLY unlikely that she is going to speak out against it and join an abolitionist movement. Not just because she's young, but also because of the EXTREME attitudes towards that group in the south. She would have been disowned if she had done that as an adult, let alone a 9/10 yrd old child. Finally, Im not from the south, but I understand that espcially at that time it was a totally differant culture and AG would quite honestly tick off a lot of people in attempting to portray that aspect of their past.

The problem with the antebellum doll is that all the beautiful dresses and accessories we want to see would not have been possible for that character without the institution of slavery. That is why people have a problem with that era. Some people glorify it as this romantic and beautiful time when really it was entirely dependant upon the enslavement of an entire race of people. Its a bug sham and personally I find none of it romantic at all. Of course, I'm just refering to the plantation owners of the south, not the entire region. And one thing we have to remember is that those rich guys were less than 5% of the entire population. Most of the south were poor farmers as the society down there at that time was almost aristocratic. But anyway, thats just my two cents.

BTW Ann O. Nymous, I was not directing that whole speal to you! We've had many debates on here about an antebellum doll and I'm just giving my side to it...yet again LOL

[heidiabigail]

Now that I think about it, Abbie is probably too close to Addy, which they already have . . .I will try to think of a different name. Unless they just called her Abigail, and in the books they called her Abbie. I have been thinking about "making" her myself anyway. I think it is really different than the other dolls.

[Pat B]

Your Maine girl could have an L L Bran wardrobe and a Maine Coon cat.

[heidiabigail]

I would also be interested in a colonist from before Felicity's time, like Roanoke, or Jamestown. Roanoke was in the 15oo's. I would like a pilgrim, but people have such misconceptions about them, that I am not sure they would get it right. If they don't get it right, I would rather they never even try.

A Quaker girl would be neat, or a Shaker or Amish girl . . .there are lots of options. How about an Eskimo girl in a whaling village (historical) or something like that? They wouldn't have to make her just like Kaya though. I know there is a lot of buzz here about wanting another Asian American girl.

I was thinking that maybe she could be a historical doll that had to escape Vietnem during the war, because that is what happened to my aunt and her family. or a chinese girl whose parents are involved inthe gold rush or railroads.

I am still hoping for an island girl off the coast of Maine!!!!! 1800's, blue eyes, Strawberry blond hair(no bangs) freckles, light skin, Kirsten-like face mold, Parents run a lighthouse, have fishing, lobstering or clamming involved in the story . . .Abigail, or Abbie for short!!!

[heidiabigail]

The L.L. Bean route is an okay idea, but not where I was headed, because I want her to be a historical doll. L.L. Bean stuff is very expensive, and so it is really an upper-class Maine kind of store, not for the majority of Maine. Here in Maine there are a few different historical lifestyles that were common.

There were the Irish and French immigrants trying to settled here, which would be an interesting story, whether they were farming or working and living in tenants in Lewiston.

There were the Native Nations, like Penobscot, Micmac, and Pasamaquody (sp?). The Penobscot language is completely lost now, I believe. My great-great grandmother was Penobscot.

There were the loggers, that worked in the backwoods of Maine. Baked beans and meat were the staple foods, from my understanding. My Dad was a forester, and works in a Papermill here now, so he knows a lot about our family's history in logging.

My ancestors who were irish Immigrants travelled by ox-cart to settle a mountain in Maine that was passed down through the family, and is in the family still. They were poor, and grew/hunted their own food. LIke Kirsten, but more Eastern, and more living off the land.

There are also the fishing villages on the coast. perhaps Maine is most known for the Coastal aspects. If you were to stretch out the Maine coast into a straight line, it is longer than any other state's coast. We also have a lot of Islands. The environment of the Maine Coast is far different from that of Kailey's, so I wanted to dig into the lightouse-lobster-oldfashioned-homeschooled-clamming- etc. part of Maine. That is where I was going.

[bgeurtz]

Send this story to AG! Quick!

[cebula_2000]

[img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] All these great ideas...if AG made them all...is it possible to have too many AG girls???.........NAH!
What if they started making boys?? I just wondered if anyone would actually be interested in buying a boy doll... I mean, I could just picture him now...Kirsten's face mold, freckles,short brown hair, and overalls. A summer outfit of fishing poles and stuff.... They could make a brother/sister twin team. Kind of like the bitty twins only for the AG Historicals... Whaddya think?