When I got my first American Girl doll, I was eight years old. Kirsten was a Christmas present, and I was wild about her. She wore soft leather booties and a homespun apron over her calico dress. When I dressed Kirsten in her birthday outfit, I brushed out her thick, blond braids — just like she appeared in the catalog.

The American Girl collection began in 1986 with three dolls, each representing a distinct era in American history. Today, there are 14 characters. The much-beloved Victorian, Samantha, is teetering on retirement, and a new doll, Rebecca Rubin, will make her debut on May 31. Each doll comes with a story, and Rebecca’s is summarized by The New York Times as “a 9-year-old girl living on the Lower East Side in 1914 with her Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, siblings and a grandmother known only as Bubbie.”

So what distinguishes American Girl’s Rebecca from GaliGirls: Jewish Dolls for Jewish Girls? The classic American Girl doll mold, I suppose. And in the classic American Girl storyline, Rebecca’s narrative illustrates, in part, the difficulty of maintaining cultural traditions and adopting new, uniquely American ideals. 

Already, Rebecca is winning nods of approval. Meredith Jacobs of The Jewish Channel says, “I don’t think people who aren’t Jewish think about how big a deal it is for a mainstream doll company to make something Jewish.” The director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Fox, calls Rebecca’s story “sensitive.” Even if there are two historical mistakes in the series (which you can read about in the Times), the doll calls attention to an American experience in a way that’s enticing for young readers and doll-lovers.

Who else got hooked on history when they got their first American Girl doll? Which doll was your favorite?

Some background on the dolls’ narratives:
Victoria
Slavery
Colonial Life Library
World War II
Christmas Traditions Around the World