Molly, Although I think that your comments are very understandable, I have to take another side in opposition to your thoughts.
For myself, I never had an American girl doll or even a Madame Alexander character doll -- even though it is impossible since the American girl dolls were made well after my childhood, my parents would have probably thought such a doll was way too pricey to purchase.
However, I did have dolls that I absolutely loved playing with. I now have a bright and creative seven year-old granddaughter who loves to play with dolls and play act in general. I just purchased a retired "Rebecca Rubin" doll for her birthday/Chanukah gift.
I am delighted that such a doll even exists! With this gift I can open up a whole discussion with her about immigration and our own family's personal immigration from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s (almost identical to Rebecca's story).
I am pretty sure that there are few others in the entire family (only possibly her other grandmother) who would ever even think to approach the story since they are all way too busy and too taken up with being modern and up to date and also, not really interested in history.
But for me, I have gone over and over in my head what we will talk about and how I will show her family pictures, etc. However, that also doesn't mean that I will succumb to purchasing all the other commercial accessories that (I agree) are way overpriced!
In general, I have found in my own lifetime that most things in life have more than one side--ranges of gray instead of just black and white--even when it comes to American Girl Dolls!
Molly, Although I think that your comments are very understandable, I have to take another side in opposition to your thoughts.
For myself, I never had an American girl doll or even a Madame Alexander character doll -- even though it is impossible since the American girl dolls were made well after my childhood, my parents would have probably thought such a doll was way too pricey to purchase.
However, I did have dolls that I absolutely loved playing with. I now have a bright and creative seven year-old granddaughter who loves to play with dolls and play act in general. I just purchased a retired "Rebecca Rubin" doll for her birthday/Chanukah gift.
I am delighted that such a doll even exists! With this gift I can open up a whole discussion with her about immigration and our own family's personal immigration from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s (almost identical to Rebecca's story).
I am pretty sure that there are few others in the entire family (only possibly her other grandmother) who would ever even think to approach the story since they are all way too busy and too taken up with being modern and up to date and also, not really interested in history.
But for me, I have gone over and over in my head what we will talk about and how I will show her family pictures, etc. However, that also doesn't mean that I will succumb to purchasing all the other commercial accessories that (I agree) are way overpriced!
In general, I have found in my own lifetime that most things in life have more than one side--ranges of gray instead of just black and white--even when it comes to American Girl Dolls!
Sincerely Yours,
Helaine Davis