American Girl Dolls

When my daughter was growing up, she liked playing with her American Girl dolls.

For those who don't know what an American Girl doll is, you must not have a daughter! Based on the American Girl books, each of these dolls have some historical significance because they come from various eras in American history. For instance, Kaya is an Native American Indian and Samantha is an early 20th century American doll. Others include Addy, Felicity, Josefina, Julie, Kristen, Kit and Molly.

In Chicago, there is a huge American Girl store downtown. I recall going with my wife and daugther to visit the store. Of course we'd walk out with over a hundred dollars worth of dolls or accessories on each visit! Yeah, these dolls aren't cheap. But they are well made.

For a guy, you wouldn't think I'd be so interested in these dolls, but you can get caught up in it. The displays at the store are top notch and you would not believe how many moms and daughters (and yes, dads too) are always at the store! Inside the store is a theater for a live action play that is put on about the dolls. There's also a small restaurant in there as well. And let's not forget the doll "grooming" section... dolls are placed on little barbershop chairs and hairstylists are there to fix up the dolls! Amazing!

My favorite doll is probably Samantha. You can see her on the left in the photo above. To the right is an Asian doll from the "Just Like You" collection. Back when my daughter got hers, I believe these dolls were called the Today dolls... but I may be mistaken.

We had always wondered why there wasn't an American Girl doll and story about a Chinese girl. We had figured out a story line for it... An American Girl whose family helped build the railroads in America. We weren't the only ones who thought of this because my cousin told us about the same idea she had.

Well, today, there's a "friend" of a doll from the 1970's, and she's a Chinese doll. Well, she's not the main character and she's not from the era of building the railroads, but I guess she'll have to do. The 70's doll's name is Julie and her Chinese friend is Ivy.

If you ever get a chance to check out the American Girls store, do it. I'll guarantee you'll be amazed at the displays there even if you might not be into dolls. It's done up right! :)