2026 American Girl of the Year Doll Raquel Reyes

 Normally I don't post about the new American Girl - Girl of the Year dolls. However, I happened to see an ad for the 2026 doll, carrying a bag that said Piney Point. Hm, Piney Point, I said. That's the same place where Samantha Parkington spends her summer vacation in her book Samantha Saves the Day. Well, that's because... Raquel is Samantha's great-great-great-granddaughter!

You can tell that AG took some inspiration from Samantha's Meet Outfit, with the checked dress and bow, and the necklace with the locket. I wonder if that is supposed to be Samantha's original locket? I regret to inform MoonGirl that Raquel's clothes are mostly pink, with some purple. But then Samantha's favorite color was pink, so maybe that is in honor of Samantha too. Raquel's storyline seems to be that she attends a family reunion at Piney Point. In Samantha's book, Piney Point is where her grandmother owns a vacation cottage, and where her parents tragically lost their lives in an accident on the lake. Samantha is curious about a small island in the lake where she and her parents liked to go when Samantha was a baby. Unfortunately, Samantha's parents perished returning from the island, so Grandmary doesn't want to talk about it. Samantha and her Aunt Cornelia's younger twin sisters, who are staying with her, go to the island, but get stranded. When they are rescued, Samantha tells her grandmother how beautiful the island is, and how it would be nice to honor her parents' memories by visiting the island. Grandmary agrees that they should visit together.

I have mixed feelings about this doll. Samantha is my absolutely favorite American Girl doll, largely because she represents my favorite time period in fashion history. I completely disapproved of the changes that they made with the BeForever line. They even got rid of Samantha's original meet dress, which Raquel's outfit here is based on! However, it might be interesting to see when and how Samantha is referenced in the story. Since this is a family reunion, there will be many more descendants there, and we might get some stories about Samantha when she grew up. We may even get some stories about Samantha's friend Nellie and Nellie's sisters, since they are adopted by Samantha's Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia, when the girls are orphaned. I also hope that this doll will increase interest in Samantha, and we might get some of Samantha's older items re-released. I already saw that they have re-released Samantha's original birthday dress set, and now they have released a Samantha in her original dress, with accessories. However, the doll is $175! Also, I would like the accessories only, since I have an original Pleasant Company Sam, but not her hat, purse and locket. It would be especially nice since a locket seems to feature in Raquel's story. Here's Sam's page, if you want to check out some other new items I haven't seen before.

Is this the first time that American Girl has made a generational doll connection like this? I'm not really up on the dolls much since Mattel took over, but I think this is the case. I have to wonder why this is so. Maybe the whole Girl of the Year doll has been getting has been getting a little stale? When MoonGirl has revealed GOTY dolls before, she's also added how many fans have said, "Oh, we're getting another doll who is blond/dances/likes pink/etc." This is a fresh idea, and it might bring interest from old time Pleasant Company fans to Raquel. I mean, here I am posting about it, and I usually don't care about the GOTY releases. I will add that Raquel learns how to play pickleball at the reunion, which is a new activity I don't think we've seen before.

Kirsten and Addy have also gotten outfits re-released, and Addy also has a brand new accessories set. It seems like Mattel is trying to drive interest in the older historical dolls again.

What do you think about this new twist to an AG line? If you're a fan of the historical dolls, which doll would you like to see get a descendant? Or would you rather not see it happen again? Do you hope the historical dolls get some more attention?

Ch-ch-changes

Today in the United States, it's the Labor Day holiday, and Mr. BTEG and the Dancer are doing some serious laboring today. As I write this, most of the Dancer's furniture is being unloaded at her new apartment! Pretty soon, Mr. BTEG and I will have a truly empty nest, which means we're going to be doing a lot of re-arranging and moving things around. In the meantime, posting might be a little light (not that it hasn't been for a while anyway.) Things have been pretty crowded and stressful here, but it's going to be great to spread out and have space to do things that I have wanted to for a long time.

To that end, Mr. BTEG and I took the two hour and fourteen minute drive to our nearest IKEA, to pick up some furniture for the new work spaces we're planning on. When we arrived, the power was out, and only backup generators were in use. The lights were on, the cash registers worked, but there was no air conditioning, and not only was the restaurant closed, but all the freezer sections too. So we wandered for almost three hours through a warm building, with only a lukewarm soda to sustain me. I'm excited about the new tables and storage that I bought, but I also picked up the IKEA Huset.

I bought the bedroom set several years back, but I never owned this iconic set until now. It's going to stay packed until we get my doll area in its final set-up.

This Saturday, I went to a few garage sales and an estate sale. At the estate sale, I found several American Girl sets, including Samantha Parkington's nightstand.

Long time readers may remember that I already owned the nightstand, but the drawer knobs weren't complete, and the towel rack was missing. This time, all the parts were there, and it came in its original box, too. For $15, it was a fantastic find. I also picked up a few other AG sets, which I'll share with you soon. Some of it I am keeping, and some of it I will try to sell. I will also sell the old nightstand that I own.

I hope my Northern Hemisphere readers are enjoying the weather as we move into autumn. To be honest, it's been quite hot here the past couple of days, but that will change soon enough. And to you guys down under, spring is coming!

Cleveland Asian Festival 2022

This past weekend was the annual Asian Festival, that was held in the part of Cleveland known as Asian Town. Mr. BTEG, the Dancer and I all visited it on Sunday. Mr. BTEG has been to Asian Town often before, as he used to go lunch there with some of his co-workers of Asian descent. The Dancer and I had never been before.

Of course, I always look for doll things. I was afraid that I wouldn't see anything this time, until we checked out the stores in the small Asian mall, that also had the restaurant where we ate lunch.

There was a store that carried Chinese style dresses for American Girl and Wellie Wishers dolls. They also had a variety of little porcelain Chinese style tea sets. I didn't buy anything, but of course, the shop will be there while the Festival booths won't.

I did buy a pair of Hello Kitty earrings.

There were some performances from local organizations. We only managed to catch several acts from Hawaiian dancers

and some dancers from a school that teaches "Bollywood style."

I'm glad that I caught the girl dressed in Chinese style clothes in the picture. I saw her around the festival all day. Very few other people were dressed in traditional Asian styles, but I did see one woman wearing tabi (Japanese split-toe socks) with geta (wooden shoes with two wooden supports underneath.) I had to wonder how uncomfortable she was, because it had poured rain the night before, and had rained a little that morning, so there were puddles, and also some muddy spots. Sure, the geta kept her feet off the ground, but I don't know if the tabi got wet.

There was an enormous outdoor food court set up for the festival, but the lines for food stretched all the way down the food court, so we went into the mall to have lunch in the permanent restaurant there. We had to wait for a table there, but it was probably actually less time than the food court, with the advantage of sitting down! Mr. BTEG has eaten there before, although he prefers a little hole-in-the-wall dim sum restaurant in the area, but that was too far for tired people to walk.

Unlike a lot of American restaurants that have coffee carafes and coffee cups on the table, this restaurant of course had a tea pot full of hot tea, and traditional tea cups. Mr. BTEG and the Dancer drank some.

I had sweet and sour chicken, which I was just able to pick up using chopsticks. Meanwhile, the Dancer easily ate rice with her chopsticks. I was jealous, but she's been to Chinese restaurants a lot more often than I have. (Admission: I don't like Asian food. I like sweet and sour chicken without the sweet and sour sauce, though; it's just chicken fried in tempura batter.)

Spring ushers in a long season of fairs and festivals here, which doesn't end until after Halloween. Maybe we'll get out to more this year, now that they're back. And of course, I'll always be on the hunt for doll things! Do you like to go to festivals like these?

My Collection Part Sixteen: American Girl Felicity

Yes, Felicity finally arrived. I'm not going to do a thorough review, just some remarks.

I saw complaints online about re-created Felicity's hair and her pin curls. She certainly does look... odd. Her hair should should not be pulled so far back; it should be covering her ears. I'm afraid her hair is done the way it is because she does not have as much hair as original Felicity did, but I'm going to try to adjust her hair anyway.

Her shoes are single-lasted, which means they are made to fit either foot. This enabled the shoes to be traded off between feet so the shoes wore more evenly and could be worn for longer. She also wears a shift and the thick stockings that you see. In real life, they would be wool. They do feel soft and woolly.

Her accessories included:  her garter ribbons to tie to the tops of her stockings

a brocade purse, handkerchief and coin called a bit

and her round cap and coral necklace. Felicity looks a bit better wearing her cap. Her coral necklace was supposed to be for "good luck." I remember reading about children all the way into the 1860s wearing bead necklaces whose stones were supposed to afford certain gifts to the wearer. Unfortunately, I can't find anything specific right now. I'm guessing the practice was at least due in part to a much higher rate of child mortality.

A little card was also included to explain the origin of Felicity's coin and why it was called a bit. I think I recall bits coming from Spanish doubloons, but maybe dollares were also called doubloons?

I was in grade school in 1976, the year that America celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of its founding. That year, our school picture had us holding a small replica of the Liberty Bell, and sometime around 1976, my class at school also made horn books, used by children for centuries to learn to write their alphabet, among other things. Felicity learns from a horn book in her second story, and Pleasant Company had one for sale for her doll. That interest in the Colonial Era from my childhood may be why I have always found history in Colonial America interesting, although not my favorite era. I'm glad to add Felicity to my collection, and wearing what I think is the most historically accurate "meet" outfit.

While looking up photos of vintage Felicity's hairstyle, I read something interesting. Apparently, Felicity was the first doll that Pleasant Rowland got the inspiration to create, after a visit to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. However, Goetz, the company she went to for her doll making, was only making dolls with bangs at the time, and Felicity would absolutely have not worn bangs. So Rowland created some other dolls first, including Samantha. Bangs were not popular anymore during Samantha's era, but it was conceivable that she would have had them, at least.

I have a big project that I'm working on little by little, which is where my time has been going. I'll only tell you that it involves a trip to IKEA. :)

Total dolls: 70

My Caboodles Collection (Doll and Human Sized!)

Has anyone outside of the US (and Canada) ever heard of Caboodles? The origin story varies, but someone was inspired by seeing a woman using a fishing tackle box to hold her makeup, and the Caboodles case was born. Caboodles are made by the Plano Molding Company, which started out in 1952 making tackle boxes. I still use my vintage Caboodles box, and when I saw that the American Girl 1980s doll Courtney has a Caboodles box as an accessory, I had to buy it. I got it with my Kirsten doll order, and now I have a vintage Caboodles, a modern Caboodles, an American Girl Caboodles, and a Barbie Caboodles. Caboodles Barbie was the very first doll that I acquired as a collector, given to me by Mr. BTEG in 1993 or 1994. She of course came with her own Caboodles case.

 

We'll start with the Barbie case, as that is the least interesting. The plastic handle stays straight up, and there is nothing on the inside. Still, I like having it in my Caboodles collection. I never knew that I would get another one in a doll size!

 

The modern Caboodles case is the least like the other three. I saw it for a good deal on Amazon Prime Days and picked it up. I use it to hold a lot of my eye shadow products. It's the only one that I own that has a mirror.

My American Girl case is very much like my vintage one, fittingly. Of course, Courtney's year is 1986, and Caboodles didn't appear on the market until 1987. It also seems that the very first Caboodles cases looked different, standing up taller and having two drawers that pulled out in the front. Still, I'm pretty sure I had my personal case by 1991, and possibly earlier, so they're not that far apart in age. Courtney just couldn't have had one in 1986.

As you can see, the cases look extremely alike from the outside. Courtney's even has the small rectangle indentation, where you could stick a plate ordered from Caboodles with your name on it.

The insides also look very much alike, down to the drawer compartments.

Here's what Courtney's case came with. I don't want to open up the pack of nail stickers, but they contain 4 sheets of stickers in different colors. When I saw the can of hairspray, my first thought was "LA Looks!" so I think they got the style right. Rave hairspray also apparently used something like this color scheme.

The outside of the eyeshadow case. I remember CoverGirl being the go-to eyeshadow for the younger crowd back then.

I haven't measured every dimension, but the American Girl case seems quite close to scale. My main problem is with the banana clip. It should be worn laying against the entire back of the head (I've worn them!) The entire length of this one only covers about three-quarters of the back of an American Girl head. I also feel like the hair pick is a bit small. I still needed to get this set for my Caboodles collection!

For a little fun, I'm posting two pictures of myself in all my 80s big haired glory, from 1987. I was going out for the night and had just gotten my hair done. :)

American Girl Kirsten

I decided I wanted to buy American Girl Kirsten too, as well as American Girl Felicity. Unlike Felicity, Kirsten was available now, and so she has already come home. There isn't too much to say about American Girls that everyone doesn't know already. The 35th anniversary re-releases have ties at the back of their neck like the older dolls. I guess new dolls don't have these? If I remember right, the ties are to allow for getting inside the doll's body and adjusting her stuffing. The 35th anniversary dolls come with their accessories automatically (at a higher price,) which the original dolls didn't do. Each 35th anniversary doll also comes with a paperback version of her "meet" book. Original Pleasant Company historical dolls came with a hardcover version, but I'm grateful that the paperback is an exact copy of the original books.

Kirsten is the daughter of a Swedish family that immigrates to Minnesota for better farming opportunities. Her year is 1854. Kirsten's accessories are her sunbonnet, an amber heart necklace that was a going-away gift from her grandmother, and what Pleasant Company called a "spoon sack," holding a handkerchief and a wooden spoon. Pleasant Company wrote that since Swedish pioneers didn't have whole sets of eating utensils, people would bring their own forks, spoons and knives when they went visiting. Pockets worn at the waist, like Kirsten's, were common in Sweden, and other parts of Europe. In Sweden, Kirsten's pocket would have been known as a kjolsäck. Extant examples from Sweden are far more detailed, but some do include the year made, and the initials of the maker.

Kirsten's sunbonnet doesn't sit well on her braids.

I had to include a picture of Kirsten with mini Kirsten.

As soon as I got back from vacation, I was on jury duty. In the US, if you are a registered voter, you can be ordered to be available for a two-week period to be able to serve on a jury trial. In this instance, I was called to serve on a jury, and although the case only took six days or so, they were spread out over three weeks, for various reasons that normally would not happen. It messed up my sleep schedule and life schedule, and being bipolar, trying to keep a very routine schedule is important to my overall health. Therefore, my doll blogging and a lot of other things went to the wayside temporarily. Fortunately, each twelve member jury has a thirteenth member as an alternate. This particular judge doesn't choose the alternate until after closing arguments and jury instruction, and I was chosen as the alternate, so I got to leave early on the next to last day, and didn't have to come in the next morning for deliberation. (The alternate choice was completely random.)

I Bought American Girl Felicity

but she is backordered until at least September! I don't know if demand exceeded expectations by Mattel, or if they all take this long, although originally, I was told I would get the doll sometime in June. Anyway, I know that the quality will not be as good as the old dolls, but the original Felicity is as expensive as all get out. I want this original style Felicity because of her dress, which is much closer to authentic colonial prints than the purple striped dress that replaced it, or the blue and yellow monstrosity Mattel produced after that. These new "original" American Girl dolls also come with their accessories, which I wish I had for my Samantha.

I would also like original Kirsten and possibly original Josefina, but Felicity is the one that I wanted the most. Since I won't be charged for Felicity until September, at least one more of the other two might make its way into an online shopping cart.

Since I don't like putting posts up without pictures, here is a picture from 2005 of my daughters and I at American Girl Place in Chicago. Mr. BTEG did an eight month consulting gig in Chicago from 2004-2005, and the girls and I went out to stay with him several times. I was homeschooling then, so it was nothing to drive out there for a week or so. The Dancer's Bitty Baby is sitting at the table behind her. She could have spent hours in the Bitty Baby section of AG Place. The Eldest brought her Bitty Baby and her Like Me doll.

My Collection Part Two: American Girls

I plan to intersperse collection photos with other blog posts, but these photos were easy to take, so I decided they would come next. I have a human-sized photography light on order, but it's being held up due to current virus issues.

Samantha is an original Pleasant Company doll, but she wasn't made in Germany, like the very earliest AG dolls were. Caroline is a Mattel doll. I have taken some detailed comparison pictures for people like Farrah, who were interested in the little differences between the Pleasant Company and Mattel dolls, but I'll put those at the end. If you're not interested in the minutiae, you don't need to read that far.

Quick historical note, Pleasant Company was started to help girls learn American history. I remember reading that the books were actually supposed to be the focus of the collection, and the dolls and accessories were additions, to help girls "act out" the scenes from the books. There were even girl-sized outfits that matched Pleasant Company doll clothes, for further immersion.

Samantha was released in the 80s, but I think I received Samantha for Christmas from Mr. BTEG in 1997. Eldest got her Bitty Baby (by Pleasant Company) for Christmas that year, though, so it's possible that I might have gotten mine the year before and started getting Pleasant Company catalogs then. I bought Caroline in 2015 when it was announced that she and her collection were going to be retired. Something about her had appealed to me ever since she was released, but her being retired made me finally buy her. Most of you are probably pretty familiar with this type of 18" doll, since there are so many other similar dolls that have been produced. American Girls have stuffed, cloth bodies, as you can see by looking at Caroline's neckline. In general, Pleasant Company dolls have more stuffing than more current releases.

A closeup of Samantha. I wish that if she had to have bangs, they wouldn't have been so long and thick. I've included a shot of her with her bangs somewhat pushed aside, so you can see part of her eyebrows.

And Caroline. She has slightly less of the whites of her eyes visible, which I think makes the biggest difference in their expressions?

I had to take a few pictures of the girls with their mini-versions, especially since I just featured the minis in my last post. Originally, Samantha did have a matching hair ribbon in her hair, but it was sewn in, and at one time I dressed Samantha in a different dress, so I had to remove the original ribbon. If I sewed the ribbon onto a bobby pin or narrow hair clip, Samantha could wear it again. Just one more thing on a long list. :)

As you can see, the two doll sizes are *very* similar in their outfits. My 18" Samantha came wearing drawers like I show on mini Samantha, but the elastic is shot in those, so 18" Samantha just wears her tights. Of course, the real Samantha wouldn't have been wearing tights, but I forgive Pleasant Company this, as knee stockings might have gotten loose at the top pretty quickly. Period garters would have added a lot of expense, and difficulty dressing the doll. Not to mention, the garters would have been attached to a stiffened sort of sleeveless undershirt with shoulder straps, like a corset, but unboned. That would make for more expense, plus American Girl dolls did not give completely accurate attention to undergarments, which is acceptable for me. The American Girl doll Felicity doll did have ribbon garters to tie her stockings around her knees, but those are far more simple.

I love having both of these dolls in my collection. I have some of Samantha's accessories and furniture, but nothing of Caroline's. Someday I would like to find Caroline's accessories second-hand. Her straw bonnet is the only thing I think that I would have a hard time making myself.

Now let's get to where these two dolls are the most different: their eyes and eyelashes. Honestly, they aren't even that different here, at least on my pair. People enjoy comparing dolls from different eras, though, so here are some pics.

Samantha's eyelashes are obviously sparser and rougher looking. Neither doll has ever been played with by a child, so I think that makes for a pretty even comparison. I'm not aware of my Samantha ever losing any eyelashes. The iris decal looks about the same for both girls, which was probably a wise choice by Mattel. No point in differentiating these dolls from earlier ones in more ways than necessary.

As you can see, Caroline's eyelashes curve up more at the ends. Samantha's look more realistic to me, though. As far as touch, however, neither doll's eyelashes feel softer than the others. Caroline's *eyebrows* are brush strokes, whereas Samantha's are a straight line. Caroline's are more realistic, but I don't think Samantha's are bad.

One last very small difference, and that is in their teeth.

Samantha's teeth are painted further up underneath her lip. Her eyes and teeth are not as white as Caroline's, but that could be partially due to aging. Samantha is over twenty years old!

Total dolls: 11

My Collection Part One: Mini American Girls

Since Chris and Rachael are both sharing pictorial records of their collections, I decided to jump in too. It's something that I ought to do anyway, and it will be an easy photography option when I am otherwise uninspired.

I decided to start with the mini American Girl dolls. They are 6 inches tall, and are tiny versions of the regular 18" American Girl dolls, and their friends, who also had dolls for a short period of time. I think I'm in the minority, but I prefer the soft bodies that my mini dolls have, like the 18" dolls. At some point, Mattel changed the minis so that bodies are all vinyl. Most of the American Girls' stories start with them being nine years old, and later on show them celebrating when they turn ten. There are several more mini dolls out there; these are the ones that I own.

This is Felicity, and her friend Elizabeth. Their story starts in 1774. Although they are friends, Felicity's parents are Patriots, while Elizabeth's are Loyalists, which leads to some tension in their friendship.

Felicity's dress changed when Mattel re-introduced Felicity to the doll line. I think the original dress was much more period accurate in its print choice. Elizabeth is wearing a dress from Felicity's Christmas story. She and Felicity are invited to the governor's mansion for a dance lesson along with other well-born girls. Mini Felicity in her Christmas dress was also released, along with several of the other mini AG dolls. You'll see an example two dolls down.  

This is Caroline. She lives in New York state, on the coast of Lake Ontario. Her father runs a shipyard, until he is kidnapped by the British, during the lead up to the War of 1812.

Caroline's dress is pretty accurate to her time, with the high waist and simple trims. The dress on my mini Caroline is a little strained in the bodice, though.

Meet Josefina. Her story starts in 1824, where she lives in New Mexico. She has recently lost her mother, and her aunt comes to live with them, bringing new ideas.

This is the dress from Josefina's Christmas story. Josefina's meet outfit is Hispanic style, with a loose blouse, gathered print skirt and woven belt. Her Christmas dress is more in line with European fashion of the time, although she also wears her black headscarf, or mantilla, to Mass. The 18" doll also came with a hair comb, and Josefina wears one in the pictures in the book. If you look at this extant 1820s girl's dress, you can see how accurate Josefina's dress is.

At one time, this dress could be seen at Vintage Textile. The image survives on Pinterest, and although all the images link back to Vintage Textile, I couldn't find the dress anymore on the website.

Here are Cecile and Marie-Grace, from 1853. They were unusual in that both were main characters in their stories, and also friends interacting in the other's life. Each girl had her own Meet book, and then two other books of her own, making for six books total. Both girls have to help their family and others around them when a yellow fever epidemic hits their home city of New Orleans. Cecile also faces challenges as a member of a well off, "free people of color" family, when most black people in the United States at that time are slaves. Marie-Grace has lost her mother and recently moved to New Orleans with her father, feeling overwhelmed in the big city.

Many collectors agreed that mini Marie-Grace's face is... unfortunate. The solid pink straps on Marie-Grace's dress are called bretelles, and they come off much better on the 18" doll than here. Cecile's dress is also pretty accurate, although in real life, the white center of her dress could have been tightly pleated in "fan front" style, and she probably would have had at least one more velvet bar across the bodice.

This is Kirsten. We meet her in 1854, when she is moving to Minnesota as a pioneer from her home in Sweden.

Kirsten's uncle, aunt and cousins have settled in Minnesota before Kirsten's family. Kirsten receives this "American dress" from her cousins pretty early on, to replace the traditional dress Kirsten wore from Sweden. Since Kirsten's family is not well off, her dress is simpler than those of Cecile and Marie-Grace. The 18" doll's dress is more accurate, having a slight gather in the bodice at the waist. Kirsten's looped braids don't translate to the mini doll very well.

Here is Samantha. She lives in New York state in 1904, with her grandmother, who is wealthy. Through Samantha's eyes, we see all the new things that are changing the way people live, such as automobiles and the telephone, and new ideas about things such as votes for women and child labor.

This outfit is Samantha's meet dress from her original story. Bangs weren't in fashion for girls in 1904, but the rest of her outfit is perfect. Don't get me started on the clothes the re-released Samantha doll wears.

This is Ruthie. She is the friend of Kit, who is the main character of the stories. They are facing the Great Depression together in 1934. Kit's dad has lost his job, while Ruthie's father is still employed.

The cut and print of Ruthie's dress is just right for the 1930s. My Ruthie's hair is unruly.

So here's an introduction to my collection. I hope you don't mind that it also turned into a mini-lesson on historical fashion, but that's right in my wheelhouse. My interest in historical fashion is what attracted me to American Girl dolls in the first place.

Total dolls: 9