Hey, that Review of the AG Premiere Issue Nethillia mentioned is up! -
I wasn’t aware that there were sometimes actual text differences between the magazine version and the book version of the historical short stories….that’s something I’ll keep in mind if I ever get book versions of ‘Sam’s Blue Bicycle’ or ‘Molly Marches On’.
Anonymous asked: will they make american boy
because why i think that is because boy’s need something like we do with american girl to inspire them to do better things to be smart and strong and to make them better men when they grow up. We can have the books like the girl characters do.
How do you expect me to know that anon? I don’t think the AG company ever will, though, considering their target audience is and always was girls. There was an article I posted a couple of months ago stating that Valerie Tripp (the author for Molly, Kit, Josefina, Felicity and some of Sam’s books) was working with other writers to write a book series similar to the AG line except for boys. It seems the first book is coming out soon so you could check that out.
So I just realized that birthday-wise, the American Girl Rebecca Rubin has a problem.
What would be considered her birthday?
You would think it’s really simple but it actually isn’t.
According to the American Girl Wiki page for her here* her birthday on the Gregorian calendar is April 4 and she was born in 1905. Fine. But you see, the Jewish calendar works differently. And remember she’s the daughter and granddaughter of immigrants. Especially to her grandparents, knowing exactly what date you were born isn’t that important.
Also, she’s a first-generation American. Which means she has to try to find a balance between the Jewish traditions and the American ones.
Now, let’s get back to that date when she’s celebrating her 10th birthday: April 4, 1915. According to the Jewish calendar for that year, her birthday would be on the Saturday of Passover and therefore celebrated every year on the Saturday of Passover no matter what the Gregorian date is. But according to when she was born in 1905 (let’s just still say that it is April 4th to make it simple), according to the Jewish calendar, she was born about two weeks before the start of Passover!
Still confused? Let me use my own Jewish birthday as an example.
According to the Gregorian calendar, my birthday is at the end of September. Fine. That’s when I celebrate it anyway. But if I was going to celebrate it according to the Jewish calendar, my birthday would vary (perhaps wildly) from year to year.
Why? Because according to the Jewish calendar for the year I was born, I was born the day before Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). Which means that this upcoming September, my birthday would be on September 2nd. Or in a different year, it could be as late as early October. It really doesn’t matter what the date is as long as I know that it occurs the day before Rosh Hashanah.
And the reason why I’m discussing this is because a great-aunt of mine was born only eight years after the fictional character Rebecca Rubin was born. Like Rebecca, my great-aunt was part of the first American-born generation in my family. Scratch that. She was the first American-born in my family. And for many years in our family her birthday was listed as such in our genealogy program because that’s how everyone knew it as (and she probably grew up with that date too): Born the second Saturday of Pesach (Passover), 1913. That’s it. No Gregorian date. We just knew it based on the Jewish calendar.
So now my question is, If Rebecca’s Gregorian birthdate is April 4th, what’s her Jewish birthdate?
* Yes, waywardrogue, there is an American Girl Wiki
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nethilia asked: Regarding the Premiere Mag: There is no reason to pay 34 bucks for that copy. There were no free floating prototypes, I paid 2:50--below cover cost--for mine, and the other issues I have. Granted, mine does not have the paper dolls or the mini-mag that the original had, but I am sure the magazine is still good. As for historical data, the issue has a short story for Molly and Kirsten. I'm likely going to start reviewing the mags on my AG blog (away from tumblr) and will start with this one.
Ah, someone actually sent in more information about that premiere issue! Thank you! c:
I’ve read and enjoyed what you posted in your blog so far, and I’m looking forward to your review of the premiere issue already. Would you mind if I posted a link to it when you have it up?
- A girl coming to the “New World” dealing with America’s early days as colonies, perhaps settling in the Appalachian mountains and exploring the origins of Mountain culture. For real, “Mountain Folk”, in spite of dire poverty and environmental hardship, have amazingly rich culture, especially with music. It’d be really awesome to show how music traditions are passed from generation to generation and form cultural identity.
- A Chinese immigrant girl growing up during the settling of the West. Chinese immigrants played a hugely important role in the development of the west, but they are often under-represented or just forgotten.
- A Native American girl struggling to maintain her cultural identity while attending an Indian school. Granted, it’s a very dark subject matter, but it’s a part of American history that often gets ignored and needs to be explored. I think that you can show the resilience of Native American culture and how it survived in the face of forced assimilation.
- A Black girl living in Alabama during the 1960s, dealing with the Civil Rights Movement. I mean for real, civil rights, Motown music, great 60s fashion, why is this not a doll already? Seriously I thought that would make a great doll when I was eight.
- A Latina coming of age in a major city during the 80s. She should be a girl facing “urban” problems, as well as dealing with the issues of immigration/integration explored by previous dolls but made worse by racism. If you really really want to go radical, she can also deal with the beginnings of the gay rights movement and the emergence of LGBT culture by having a queer older sibling. It’s actually really sad that would be a dangerous, controversial move on behalf of the company, but hey, it needs to be done.
I think this sorta post would fit better in the FY AG blog, but I am open to fan stuff like crafts/pics/art/etc., so I should probably make a fandom tag…(would certainly make tagging fan art easier)
(via omgthatdress)
Yours Truly in 2nd grade.
(via omgthatdress)
“By contrast, the original dolls confronted some of the most heated issues of their respective times. In the book ‘A Lesson for Samantha,’ she wins an essay contest at her elite academy with a pro-manufacturing message, but after conversations with Nellie, her best friend from a destitute background who has younger siblings working in brutal factory jobs, Samantha reverses course and ends us giving a speech against child labor in factories at the award ceremony. Given the class divide, Samantha’s speech presumably takes place in front of the very industrial barons responsible for those factory conditions. The book is a bravura effort at teaching young girls about class privilege, speaking truth to power, and engaging with controversial social policy, all based on empathetic encounters with people whose life experiences differ from her own.” — Amy Schiller’s (depressing) Atlantic article about how American Girl has moved away from its radical beginnings is really making me realize how much my consumption of American Girl media as a child has to do with my engagement with politics today. Also my fear of boating accidents! (via katiecoyle)
(via puffy333)
So I was looking around seeing what issues of the magazine people were selling since I really would like to own more of the 90s issues some day, and I’ve ran across at least two people selling the premiere issue of the magazine.
According to the two sellers, it’s dated around 1992 and came with a paper doll (Courtney Price). I’ve never heard anything about a premiere issue for AG magazine, so this is a pretty interesting find. Shame that the ebay seller is selling it for 35 bucks and I lost the link to the other seller (I think it was on etsy? I’m not sure).
By any chance do any of the followers of this blog have this issue and are willing to share info about the magazine’s content? I’m curious to see if there was any changes from the premiere to the official release or if there was anything relating to the historical character line in it.
