Just in time for Christmas

I have mentioned here before that my girls have American Girl dolls.  I know I’ve also mentioned my disdain for the American Girl Company and the absurd amounts of money they charge for toys that are made in China.  It also makes me a bit crazy the way the company markets their wares to parents and their children — often creating a false sense of urgency in order to drive up sales.  For example, in addition to the historical dolls that so many people are familiar with, the company has a Doll Of The Year every year and you can only buy that doll and her various clothes and accessories for just that one year.  Buy now or you’ll miss out on Nikki!

I received a letter from the American Girl Company this week.  It took me a moment or two to understand what the letter was saying, as it was written in a completely vague, circular way.  See if you can get the gist of the letter from the first paragraph:

We’re writing with important news about an American Girl original, Samantha Parkington.  As one of her biggest fans, we wanted you to be among the first to know that soon, Samantha’s complete collection — including Nellie and her accessories — be moving into the American Girl Archives.

The letter goes on to say that Samantha has been thrilling little girls since 1986 and that they felt the “timing was right to preserve her place in American Girl’s history.”  Oh, and by the way, they’ll be introducing new characters and time periods for girls all over America to enjoy.

The letter concludes with “… don’t miss the opportunity to purchase items from Samantha’s collection before it’s too late.”

Hmmmm, call me cynical, but do you hear the sound of a cash registering going ka-ching in the background? Because now little girls all over America are begging mom and dad and the grandparents to buy up up Samantha’s stuff while they can.  “Please, please, please buy me Samantha’s outhouse for Christmas. Please?”

I haven’t told my girls about this yet, because they’re going to be upset.  Especially Elegant, whose first doll was Nellie (because she could so easily spell Nellie’s name) and her second doll was Samantha.  Really, it’s like the American Girl Company is giving my daughter the finger.  “We’re so sorry you’ll be upset little girl.  Maybe you should beg Mom and Dad to buy anything you don’t already have.”

By creating an artificial shortage, the American Girl Company has guaranteed themselves good sales through the rest of the year.  Pete and I weren’t planning to buy the girls any American Girl stuff for Christmas, but now we’ll have to reconsider, as Elegant is likely to ask for a couple of things.

And by promising to add new historical characters in the future, the American Girl corporate honchos are working on their long term sales.

Let’s talk about those characters for a moment, shall we? Right now, the historical dolls are:

• Kaya (1764)
• Felicity (1774)
• Josefina (1824)
• Kirstin (1854)
• Addy (1864)
• Samantha (1904)
• Kit (1934)
• Molly (1944)
• Julie (1974)

I’m curious as to what historical eras the American Girl people are going to cover next.  Here are some of my ideas:

• Jana (1834) — Another Native American doll.   Jana’s family emigrates on the Trail of Tears; Grandfather and Grandmother die along the way.  Jana learns about strength and courage in the face of unimaginable hardships.   I’d like to see how the American Girl Company whitewashes that one and makes it palatable for eight and nine year old girls.
• Rebecca (1874) — Rebecca’s family are carpetbaggers who relocate from the North to Florida.  Over the course of six books, Rebecca learns how to grow strawberries in Florida’s sandy soil, how to kill and cook a copperhead (a snake, for you non-Americans), and how to run faster than a charging alligator.
• Barbara (1954) — She lives in the post-war era.  Outfits will include poodle skirts and sweater sets.  She’ll definitely need a school desk that she crouch next to so that she can practice her Cold War atomic bomb drills.
• Deborah (1964) — Deborah learns first-hand about desegregation when she is the first African American child to attend an all-white school.  In Book 4, Deborah’s family is visited late at night by men wearing white sheets over their heads and carrying a burning cross.  I can actually imagine the American Girl people going this route.  They did a pretty decent job with Addy and her days as a slave, so I can imagine the American Girl people would go unflinchingly into desegregation and talking about the KKK.
• Jennifer (1984) — Since the American Girl people have already irritated me mightily by coming out with Julie (1974 — the year I was in kindergarten), why not move on to the 1980s and make my misery complete?  (Jennifer was the most popular name for girls from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s.)  Over the course of six books, you’ll learn that Jennifer’s favorite song is “Morning Train” by Sheena Easton, that she loves to watch “Fraggle Rock” on HBO, and she has four pairs of jelly shoes (turquoise, kelly green, fuschia, and white).

Getting back to my original point… I don’t understand why the American Girl people are retiring their most popular doll.  I really don’t.  Beyond driving up sales in the short term, what is the purpose?  I fully believe that in five or ten years, they’ll reintroduce Samantha and Nellie.  Probably with some tweaks, including revamped wardrobes — after all, several years ago, the company retired much of Felicity’s wardrobe and then reintroduced it a few years later in updated fabrics and colors.  I don’t believe that there’s anything to Samantha’s retirement other than plain old greed.

So now I’m waiting to see when the new American Girl catalog hits our mailbox.  Soon, I imagine.  And then we’ll see how Elegant and Grace react.  I’ll let you know.