Molly was different. Molly wore glasses. And plaid. In the book’s illustrations, Molly was relentlessly ordinary-looking. Her hair wouldn’t curl. Her socks were slouchy. Her pajamas were plain, striped button-fronts, unlike the frilly nightgowns worn by the other dolls.
Molly built bomb shelters under her kitchen table. Molly led her team to victory in Capture the Flag. Molly helped the war effort.
Cast Your Vote
“Molly might have been my first act of rebellion, inasmuch as having a doll can be an act of rebellion,” says Jones, who got a Molly for Christmas one year. “There was an overabundance of girl toys in my life” — the Polly Pockets, the Barbies, the dolls with their own miniature makeup compacts and plastic boyfriends.
Traditional Barbie, she says, “is what I was acculturated to like as a little girl.”
Choosing Molly was stepping out of that paradigm. Choosing Molly was declaring that you would carry a purse only if it were big enough to hold books.
Whichever doll a girl chose said something about her but, more important, said something about her ability to choose — about the fact that she was developing a sense of what she valued and whom she wanted to be. The choice of one’s American Girl doll was a step toward independence, even if it happened in a doll-size shoe.
Changing American Girls
In 2008, the Samantha doll was retired, followed by Kirsten in 2009 and Felicity in 2010 (because Felicity was from Williamsburg, the Tysons Corner store carries some of her things). Girls can buy the books, but the dolls and their vast accessories emporiums have been archived, potentially forever. Molly remains, for now.
Instead of just historical dolls, girls now have the option to buy a My American Girl — a personalized creation assembled from various hair, eye and skin colors.
One could argue that this represents a me-focused generation of current American girls. They don’t want to learn history. They don’t want a doll that represents a ready-made personality. It’s either selfish, or it’s a sign of girls’ liberation.
At the Tysons Corner store, during a quiet moment the day before the grand opening, a store employee leads a wide-eyed early arriver through the store. The girl looks to be about 8 or 9. She is new to the American Girl line, and she has stopped by with her grandmother. They are carrying a box from Build-a-Bear, another experiential store in this mall.
The store worker leads the girl around, explaining all of her options. Perhaps she would like Kaya? Or Julie?
They arrive at a glass display case, featuring Molly in her striped pajamas.
“Molly is very adventurous and stubborn,” the employee says, confidentially. “She gets into lots of trouble with her best friend, Emily. Emily is English.”
The girl solemnly nods.
Sold.
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