The characters American Girl created were made to represent different eras of American history. I got three of their historical dolls: Kit Kittredge from 1934 (The Great Depression), Molly McIntire from 1944 (World War II), and Felicity Merriman from 1774 (not long after the Boston Tea Party and just before the start of the Revolutionary War)
Each one was around the age of 10, which is an important and pivotal age, which made these characters become like role models for little girls. These dolls were created to teach young children about history and give them a way to relate to historical characters, while also giving them characters with good values to look up to. Their books were very well written and hard to put down, at least, for me when I was 10.
One of my favorites was Felicity. She was headstrong, brave, and was not afraid to be herself and stand up for what she believed in, even when it was against the norm. She liked riding horses (not side-saddle) and she always wanted to help out her father in his shop, even though those things weren't considered appropriate for females to do at the time.
I always enjoyed reading about the shenanigans she got into, her acts of kindness and bravery, and her passion for horses. I think I wanted to be like her.
Then, Felicity became personified in the movie Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, which came out in 2005. Felicity was played by a young Shailene Woodley, who is now widely known for her more recent roles in the movie adaptations of The Fault in Our Stars and the Divergent series.
Needless to say, I loved the character and I loved Shailene's performance in the movie. She was perfectly spunky and ambitious.
Her dresses were flawless, the horse scenes were so heartwarming, and I loved the tea party scene when she put her cup upside down, delicately placed her spoon on top and said, "I shall take no tea." If you've seen the movie recently, you probably know what I'm talking about. If not, you should watch it, no matter how old you are.
In fact, I liked Felicity so much, that I not only briefly wrote about the movie in my diary, but I also wrote a little acrostic poem about the character. I don't know how old I was when I wrote it because there is no date written on it. I ran across it awhile back in an old keepsake box and I thought it might be interesting to share it with you all. While it is a random and somewhat cheesy poem, I think it's cute.
F is for Follow, she follows her heart
E is for Exciting, she is very exciting
L is for Love, she loves many people
I is for Interesting, she is interesting
C is for Crazy, she has many crazy ideas
I is for Impatient
T is for Teacher, she teaches a horse to let her ride it
Y is for Young
Sadly, in 2011 the Felicity doll was discontinued, along with others, such as Molly and Kirsten, according to American Girl's website.
That said, my memories of playing with Felicity and the other dolls and what their stories meant to me still hold a special place in my heart, despite the fact that I am now in my 20's.
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| My friend Marie and I used to play with American Girl dolls together. We would sometimes dress them up and do little photo-shoots. |
Did you have an American Girl doll? Did you read the books? Did you see the movies? Which character was your favorite and why? How did you feel about the older dolls being discontinued?
For the younger readers, which doll is your favorite right now and why?
If you have your own experiences you'd like to share, I'd love to read about them in the comments. :)
