Oh, I could set aside whole days. You know what I would actually love? If you and I could do this together/have a podcast. That way, we could trade stories/banter back and forth/share opinions.
@@babbity_kate Wrong! There's a Molly out there wearing Samantha's necklace, they are besties and traded their jewellery, no thievery in this doll house
Samantha Parkington’s corner of the American Girl franchise was like catnip for a very specific type of weird little girl. She is personally responsible for the Victorian/Edwardian era hyperfixation that defined my entire childhood.
Yoooo i didn’t even see “part 1” until i read your comment ~~ I’ve been having to keep coming back and scrub around because i fall asleep watching this… currently rewatching Christmas, even though i was awake for it, because I’m stressed about “almost running out of video left” and scrolling the comments …… holy smokes there’s more to come we are so blessed 🥹 (yes, i have been legitimately STRESSing because there is “ONLY one hour remaining” of this video 🤣)
Me, a 19 year old boy who has never had a doll or siblings with doll or any interest in America girl doll up until I stumbled upon your first video: seated 🙂↕️
33, didn't have siblings, I did have a couple of dolls but they were never as much my thing and I'd never even heard of the American Girl dolls until my roommate started talking about these videos. And here I am after almost six hours of Kirsten lore settling in for Samantha. >_> The power of Babbity Kate is strong.
I cannot believe I RECOGNIZE some of the covers you put on the screen for American Girl Magazine. That magazine was dope. I know someone who worked on it when it got shut down, real bummer. It filled a real need.
I remember so little about this series but Nellie’s speech about the girl getting scalped in the factory stuck with me forever 😭 that was some real horror movie shit to me
Omg yes. That part really effed me up for a really long time as well. Like my mother had to comfort me and let me know little girls in America don’t have to work in factories because my then 8 year old brain could NOT handle that fact at all. 😂🤣
That’s how I felt about a factory scene in the movie (I didn’t read the books). I only remember that clip from the movie and it’s made my stomach turn ever since. Even now watching any Victorian era media set in a factory I clench up
@@onarosebeam I did watch the movie as well! I couldn’t remember how graphic it was, but it must be why it was so visceral to me. The AG movies were hardcore though, I still remember Felicity helplessly watching her grandpa die from a heart attack in front of her
Last year I listened to the whole Kirsten video while driving myself and all of my belongings across the country to move to a new state. Now we're approaching the one year anniversary of moving and I have a 54,000 stitch cross stitch project to work on while watching this one, I simply could not be happier!!
@@stephanieok5365 It's a 2.5 ft wide by 1.5 ft tall full coverage piece of some gorgeous World of Warcraft fanart I've loved for years. I started playing when I was like 8 so the game is very special to me and I love combining it with the arts and crafts that I do.
That mental image of the girl in the factory getting half her scalp pulled off stuck with me since I first read it when I was 8 or 9. It was also my introduction to the concept of child labor in factories.
That image lodged itself in my 9 year old brain and never left. Also, the historical context blurb at the end of that book for sure jump started my obsession with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
If I had a nickel for every time I read a historical children's book where a girl gets scalped by factory machinery, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice
I really appreciate the child-centered angle you take when discussing these stories. “Samantha” in the books isn’t just the creation of a doll company - she thinks and behaves like an actual 9-year-old child! It’s rare to hear any character’s actions explained by these metrics, and it makes the video quite enjoyable.
Yeah, much as I love my girl Samantha, I can acknowledge that she got a little too much attention/screentime compared to some of the other girls in the lineup.
The TryGuys (why were they on my feed?) tried to call her a “mean Rich girl” threw the doll around the whole table, and said Samantha’s dad would buy her a train. AAAHHH!! Thank Goodness this just came out to soothe my soul. You are a balm, Kate!!
An underrated benefit of the Samantha books compared to the Kirsten ones is the way that Samantha’s designated best friend character is a more consistent presence in her life. Nellie doesn’t always get the spotlight, but she is around a lot and across multiple books. Compare this with Singing Bird who is in but a single book before leaving forever. Kirsten’s books are much more closely focused on her family for companionship, which can make her world feel smaller at times.
Also discussing the colorism in Addy’s book is important. I love these little Addy moments. As a Black woman who had the of books as a kid this answers a lot of questions and kind of makes me sad but grateful my parents and gram got me the og books that show the wide range of Black beauty as it is, not just one medium shade.
I had the OG books too, and as a white woman, Addy's book were my first exposure EVER to colorism as a concept. I think it was probably another decade before I had any more exposure, so I'm grateful to those books for teaching me something important long before I would have otherwise.
One of my cousins must have had the croquet set or something because I have such a clear memory of playing with it, but I've never owned an American Girl doll.
Nooo 😭 I’m just finding out now there was a croquet set?! My spoiled ass had the whole birthday collection but the croquet set must have come out later.
I love the idea that Gard was behind the book because not only does it fit his open-minded nature, especially with how supportive of Cornelia he is. But it’s made funnier by the fact that he is her maternal uncle, meaning that Grandmary is his mother. And he undoubtedly knows how set in her ways she is. He knew what he was doing 😂 39:59
This is far from the point of this video, but as a lifelong Princess Leia stan, I just really appreciate the recognition that Samantha probably would have loved that character combined with the “get in the coal chute, flyboy” reference nearly three hours later 😂.
I'm glad that my memory of Samantha being more of a go-getter holds up. Like, a bit sheltered, but can we appreciate how she is so willing to not only alter her world view when she learns but also then take action based off it? She encounters things injustice and she wants to take action. Like, gonna be honest, I can see her being a suffragette in a decade or so. Yes, she's a bit... weirdly naive about some things, but I chalk that up more to the writers/company not wanting to tackle it. I remember wanting to like Samantha more than I did back as a kid. I think now as an adult though, I think I like her more. Partly due to her being a Edwardian/Victorian girl (I'm weak to this time period), but partly because I love how she doesn't sit back when there's a problem/injustice/issue. She takes action.
I agree. I hated her as a kid but I think it’s because I’m so much like her but unlike her I was in a Nellie situation and didn’t have the privilege to be the go getter I wanted without being yelled at for it.
Yeah, I think her problem-solver attitude comes from her privilege, with good and bad results. Because Samantha's been shielded from bad things, she has optimism and stubborn determination that life might beat out of someone like Nellie, so it's so good for Nellie to have that energy brought into her life. But it also makes her naive and sometimes thoughtless.
I remember Samantha’s quality being “kindness.” At one point they were describing the characters in a Spice Girls type way with one or two words and Samantha was the nice one lol.
She's also a sheltered 9 year old child. I really wonder why college educated people expect child characters to have the world view that matches a college educated adult.
Life hack for mantaining a Samatha Doll's bangs: Cut her bangs yourself in a eighth-life crisis (its like a mid-life or quarter-life crisis only you're in elementery school) while momentarily forgetting her hair doesn't grow back like your's does. Make sure you make an absolute hash of it and voila! Your Samantha doll will look consistantly janky every day from here until eternity! To my own Samantha doll: To be loved is to be changed, dearheart, but also I am so sorry
This is my perspective as a Black women whose favorite AG girl was Samantha. I would argue that Samantha likely does understand that Jessie is “colored” since she doesn’t ask Nellie about what is a “colored neighborhood”. Rather, I think that Samantha would just perform the same cognitive dissonance that many children do when seeing/experiencing things that does not line up with what they have been told by the adults around them. Samantha may think: “Well Jessie is colored, but she is not one of THOSE colored people. Because Grandmary’s friends say that colored people are awful and Jessie isn’t awful so she doesn’t count.” Also it is possible that the “colored” neighborhood in Samantha’s town is close by and just runs parallel to the rich houses on the street with some trees between them to keep them out of sight. I’ve heard that some neighborhoods in the South were lined up that way so that commutes for Black domestic workers were short, and so that White people could monitor the Black residents.
Yes, residential segregation in the South actually increased by a lot post-Civil Rights Act. Not sure about New York but the living arrangements in some urban areas of the South were much closer together than one might think.
I love seeing college educated adults wonder why 9 year old children should think like they are in their 30s. They are nine year old children. Classism and other social exclusion is taught through actions not explanation.
I have an original Samantha doll. I was 12 years old and going through an INCREDIBLY traumatic period of life and desperately wanted her. However, my parents could not afford this doll. So, I saved my allowance and some other money I got for birthdays and Christmas for more than a year and ordered the doll myself. Seriously, sent $109 dollars in the mail, in cash! Ah, the early 90's were such a time of naïve joy. That was more than 30 years ago now, but I've still got her. Love that you did this vid on her.
I love that story. First, I'm so glad you were able to get Samantha and that she was there for you when you needed her. Second, the way you went about it? I think that encapsulates American Girl ingenuity and the spirit of AG. I think it's what Pleasant Rowland wanted AG to really be about...girls who know what they want and do their best to make it happen. Now, obviously, there is room for things like "wishes come true" and special surprises and such. That's where the holiday and birthday books, the magic of girlhood, come in. But the main focus of AG, I think, is about, "These girls may not be from your era, but they felt what you feel. They experienced versions of what you do. They desired and dreamed versions of what you do. And you can have your version of an 'American Dream' that works for you."
I am a 22 year old man, who is now obsessed with the fictional life's of dolls I never played with. Another multiple hour video is the highlight of my month
This was delightful!! My attempt to be non-cynical to "Samantha's Surprise" is like - gift-giving is a really strong "Love Language" for Samantha. So her giving really personalized gifts for her friends was a way of showing love, and Cornelia going from someone she disliked who didn't even merit a gift, to someone who merited a perfunctory obligation gift, to someone she really cared for who she wanted to give a special and personal gift to was kind of her arc? Not necessarily disagreeing with you about the overall comparative "shallowness" but that's how that part about what gifts to give Cornelia struck me. Thanks again for making this, can't wait for Part 2!!
I think this is a totally valid read! I think Samantha's surprise is a really lovely story unless/until you turn it the wrong way and get a gross angle, you know?
I SWEAR I'm psychic. I literally thought LAST NIGHT "huh, babbity kate hasn't posted anything in a while?? I wonder when she's gonna do another AG video???"
The key to getting crispy potato chips is soaking them longer! You need to sort of wash all the starch off of them. Starch is basically like sugar and it darkens quickly, so you get golden/brown potatoes but they haven't fried all the way yet. You rinse them enough, you get rid of most of the starch that comes out when you slice them, and it helps them fry without darkening. I leave them to soak for like at least an hour, and then pat them dry on a tea towel. I know this is extremely minor lol but good potato chips are important to me and I want you to experience the joy of a perfect homemade potato chip
"Rest in Peace Samantha Parkington, you would have loved Princess Leia." When I saw your video drop, I immediately grabbed my Samantha books to read actually for the first time, so I could have some context going in. (Your Kristen video kicked off an interest for me which caused me to thrift several American Girl series). No lie, during her moments specifically of helping Nellie and speaking up about labor issues in factories, I literally thought "How very Leia Organa of her."
Ma’am, i know no one else is gonna clock this, so can i take a sec to acknowledge how immaculate your notes and references doc is organized, I know that took so much wott et k and when i wantrd to peep the slate article mentioned it was so helpful. I’d die to have your organization skills xo
About half way through and so far: Omg the chaos energy of the first 30 seconds of this video, incredible. Also I am endlessly entertained by Samantha's reaction to problems of just "Oh boy a problem! Time to remove that singular obstacle!" and just how ready she is to throw hands at any given moment, restrained only be the conventions of femininity imposed on her by society. Were it not for that she would absolutely choose violence and I support her fully.
Kate, I hope you'll be happy to know I am watching this while sewing scraps of fabric together to make quilt squares because I was inspired by your Kirsten video
If you make a 16 hour video on the least popular American Girl doll I will make snacks and watch it eagerly while I really should be getting some sleep; I love this series. Edit: They CHANGED her LOCKET??? I can't handle this; her metal-bow locket was iconic in the truest sense. 1:33:33 "Nooo, don't congregate! Unlawful assembly!" is going to live rent free in my mind from now on 1:44:00 My fav lil' Alice Roosevelt quote is after they told her Calvin Coolidge (president during the 1920's who she thought was a really boring person) died, she said, "How can you tell?" 3:36:24 "We also have a tiny paper snowflake! For her to clutch sadly, as her dreams are shattered" is _also_ going in the mental rent free book The entire _Samantha's Surprise_ doll lecture is so good. I was even thinking as the story was being retold (I never read the Samantha stories, I don't think) there were all sorts of "the real meaning of Christmas doesn't come from a store"/Gift of the Magi/etc. lessons that could've been used instead. Samantha could've become aware that the only reason she has all this free time to make gingerbread houses and go shopping is because there are servants cooking and cleaning and helping her, giving her more awareness of her position of privilege in a kid-friendly way. She could've stopped by Nelly's on the way to Ida Dean's party and realized not everyone has fancy Christmas parties & just Trying Her Best(TM) to get ice skates and fashion dolls for Nelly won't give the entire O'Malley family a new house and winter coats. She could've received the same 'the homemade gift is the best' lesson and had Cornelia (or one of the servants, or Nelly, or someone else) give her a nice doll with a homemade Nutcracker ballet costume instead of the storebought one...or the use of 'Christmas' to be about family, with Samantha's family being 'nontraditional' in the sense she's being raised by her grandmother; IDR if she remembers her parents when they were alive but either way she could question what it means to be a family if she's not in a traditional nuclear household, miss her parents or miss that she will never have that sort of childhood, compare what she's got to the other girls in her school/Nelly/the servants, and ultimately come to the conclusion that what she's got is pretty good too: Cornelia can become part of her family and that doesn't make her family less, only more; her friends count as family; etc. etc. It would be a good link to the 1980's/90's when mixed families & nontraditional family structures became more commonly talked about.
@@LikesLimes They did! Originally it was kind of attached to her dress, and then became an actual locket. You can see the original situation at 1:17:50 and she talks about the new locket around 1:21:05
You mean the same Calvin Coolidge that supported women's suffrage, opposed Prohibition and signed into law the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 that granted US citizenship to Native Americans?
Fun fact: I have a "person-sized" (can we say that as a word?) stereoscope that I bought partially because I read about it in Samantha's books (specifically "Samantha's Surprise"). Getting to see the 3D images through it and get the feeling that I'm right there in these various moments in the past is honestly one of the best feelings ever (especially when you're a history nerd both for AG reasons and other reasons). Edit: I have the 1980s version of the Clara doll and (I don't know the exact edition it is) the music box. I agree with you that there is a lot of whimsy in having the doll accessories be fully functional. The first time I wound up the music box and watched it play "O Christmas Tree", I couldn't help but smile. That's what I love about the older AG. The details they added despite then being unnecessary gave the whole brand a sort of magic you couldn't find anywhere else.
I appreciate all the talk about the illustrations and the illustrators themselves! Especially the part where conflicts arose. Often times illustrators don’t get a lot of real autonomy on creative choices in commissioned works, and then the buck gets passed solely to the illustrator. It’s a collaborative failing. The OG illustrator for Addy’s books is honestly really bad ass, she stood up for her vision and diversity in her artwork she created for the work. It sucks but is not surprising that she got driven out because she didn’t want to compromise on what was right.
I’m only 7 minutes into this video but the way you talk about how these characters could’ve experienced other pivotal events in history ties into something I’ve been thinking about lately. American Girl should release a line of books targeted towards teens and adults that flashes forward and shows these characters at another point in their lives when they’re older, experiencing other historical events but from a teenaged/adult perspective. Think about if they wrote a book where Kit’s an adult working as a reporter for a major newspaper and having to cover the events of World War II. Or maybe a book where Samantha’s married and then learns her husband has been drafted to serve in World War I. There are endless possibilities here, and there’s definitely a market for it.
oh my goddd I’d kill for this! I’m going to have to go look for fanfiction now that you’ve put this idea into my head 😂 the characters all have such full personalities and identities giving them continuity beyond this snapshot of time when they’re 8-10 makes perfect sense-it’s like they’re made for it! Ever since Pleasant Company was bought by Mattel I feel like they’ve been less about books and more about toys, but I think they could make some big big money putting out books like that. I think there’s a huge demographic of women who’d go for it.
A Gorgug Thistlespring reference A GORGUG THISTLESPRING REFERENCE I am dead and deceased. I am enjoying this so much already. Tell me all about this doll, queen, I'm listening.
Yes yes yes!!! I haven’t started it yet, but I hope that I’m about to see some Samantha defense. I saw a try guys video where they were dunking on her for being rich and spoiled, but like, she is an orphan who takes time out of her day to teach her friend how to do math and read when she didn’t have to. Like, she is so compassionate, like, and such a good character. I can’t handle Samantha slander. Idk, I think that try guys just don’t have good American girl takes in general, like they dissed addy for being a “nerd” (in their defense Addy’s character profile is about her winning the big spelling test or something? So they didn’t know her backstory). I’m not trying to gatekeep, but I think they didn’t really grow up with it the same way some people did, and this was very obviously an off the cuff video so they didn’t get super into it or do any sort of research but still. Bad takes, generally.
When I tell you I have been WAITING for this one! The Kirsten video is one of my favorite videos of all time (I've watched its entirety more times I would like to admit), and I am SO excited to sit here and listen to you yap about our girl Sam for hours and hours.
Me, too. After watching the Kirsten video, I stalked RUclips for a bit, until I realized, "Yeah, she probably needs a lot more time to make a new one." Then I checked back in periodically, and I was SO THRILLED when this finally dropped.
I love and appreciate all the work you put in for this. I enjoyed the book discussions, seeing the old magazines and catalogs, the facts and history of the doll line, the CRAFTS AND SNACKS DUDE? all of it. Great video, loved the Kirsten one too. Totally living vicariously through you and re-living parts of my childhood. 💜💜💜
the way you called me out for multitasking (that was such a funny bit) can't wait to work my way through this video over the next couple days!!! I love your attention to detail and in depth analysis, I live for it. Exhaustive recaps of fiction from my childhood are my favorite thing.
I have to share in joy that since your Kirsten video I finally got a Kirsten doll. I took my daughter to the American Girl Place and my mom koined us. She gifted me with the doll of my dreams. I am very happy. Now to actually watch your Samantha video.
@@babbity_kate it's awesome. Bonus, my mother in law bought my six year old an American Girl Truly Me doll. We play together now with both our AG dolls. It's wonderful 😊
I had her full school collection and you could really use her pen if you had some ink. I was obsessed with boarding school, so I played that with Samantha all the time I think it was inspired by the movie, the Little Princess.
I have been waiting for this. My daughter is named Samantha (partially after this doll and partially from Bewitched) and we loved watching your Kirsten video.
I have been waiting for this day for long enough to move house and have a baby. I watched the Kirsten video bedridden in my first trimester of pregnancy, and now I get to watch the Samantha one with my five month old baby American girl nursing in my arms. Thank you for making this QUALITY content!!
Hey, some of us ARE making dinner but DID notice you swapping out the book with the old art because the different art has haunted us for 20+ years!!! (love this content thank u for my life)
When you called out the viewer for not paying attention, I was on my phone looking up where I could get the Pleasant Company shirt you were wearing 😂 These books AND these dolls ARE historical fiction. The American Girls, the Royal Diaries, the Dear America series - all of these and more did such invaluable work to let little girls know that history was accessible to them because history was theirs, too. That girls were part of history, and that the things that mattered to them were important. That’s left an incalculable impact on me. Thank you for this video. I was so comforted and delighted by it.
I cannot wait to listen to this four hour journey with you. And listen again for the next Samantha portion. And again and again for the rest of the dolls. This is my favorite thing on the internet
BOY i cannot wait for Molly's four hours next year!! shoot i could wait two years if that's what it takes. I'm about to have the best day ever watching this, thank you so much
As an older millennial (born 1987) who grew up with these books and dolls as a young girl, your AG videos are absolute gems! They somehow manage to include absolutely everything I could hope for in a deep-dive on this topic-plus much, much more. I adore your passion for this franchise and the impact it had on our generation when we were children, and I so appreciate the INSANE amount of research and detail you put into your videos. Addy’s book series was my first experience with AG, was my favorite from the very beginning, and thus was the first AG doll I ever owned. Samantha was my second favorite for a while, but only until Josephina came along… she usurped Samantha in my ranking and thus became the second AG doll I owned. Anyway, yes-I was fortunate enough to receive three different AG dolls as Christmas/birthday gifts over the course of my childhood: Addy, Josephina, and Samantha. I remember being asked by a few different people (mostly adults) why I prioritized asking for the black doll and the Hispanic doll… which I remember finding to be a super strange question at the time. I was a blonde-haired, white-as-can-be child, yet I couldn’t have cared less about the skin-tones or hair colors of my dolls… it was their individual stories and struggles that sparked my imagination and made me fall in love with them.. To my mind, my reasoning for wanting the Addy and Josephina dolls the most was so obvious and simplistic-it was simply that these characters were my favorite protagonists, and that they featured in my favorite books among the AG series-they had the stories I found to be the most intriguing and emotionally moving. They lived such incredibly different lives than I did as a child in the 1990’s (and often with the kind of hardships I couldn’t possibly imagine), yet they all somehow seemed incredibly relatable to me in certain ways. I think you used a very apt term in this video that succinctly describes what I mean: the experience of girlhood. So… essentially, “girls and their dolls.” Lol
My favorite part of the video is that after discovering that she has Molly’s necklace you confiscated it for her crimes and she’s locketless for the rest of the video
“No, those aren’t paper snowflakes; that’s my childhood.” Omgggg so true. I remember the crushing feeling I had reading Elsa’s comments as a child and how harsh I thought it was they didn’t let her help when she’d worked hard.
what is wrong with this algorithm, this came out SIX DAYS AGO, and RUclips DAREN'T TELL ME??? I'm working on my dp right now thank you for your service
The materialism of Christmas in the book is so REAL though. I felt it in my soul all of Samantha’s disappointments related to her careful and dear plans being wrecked. I felt her anger at being set aside for someone else. I felt how hard it is to buy gifts for people I’m required to give gifts but don’t know well or even don’t particularly like. And I relate to wanting things simply because they are beautiful and then not really knowing what to do with them.
I'm not from America and I know literally nothing about AG dolls let alone that there is lore to them but youtube recommended me this so I watched the whole thing (it took me 3 days). I'm invested now.
True, but the girls and their dolls thing? It's 100% spot on (at least, it was. My little niece seems to be more a plushie girl, which might be more the trend these days). Anyway, I was very much a doll girl, and it is my belief, even if a particular girl is not, most if not all girls do have at least one doll that is theirs, their "Lydia," their special friend.
part 1 on a four hour video is ominious (positive) so WAHOO! once again excited to get insight on a girl i didn't have! i actually desperately wanted nellie as a child, but my mom refused bc it would have been too expensive to get two full size dolls, so i had a mini nellie and samantha instead. i think i still have nellie, although my samantha might have gotten mauled by my dog :( but you're right. nellie is the best and she deserves everything
You are singlehandedly responsible for me going from 0 to 78 American girl books in the last 11 months since your Kirsten video. (Also I have Samantha's cookbook, some of those were quite questionable 😂)
Going over the Christmas book reminds me of how my mom surprised me one year with a matching Christmas dress to my Kit doll. she even found a button shaped like a scottie to match Kit's dress. Girls and their dolls indeed 😭
@Aster_Risk I always loved the matching outfits and wanted one so badly, but they were expensive. But my mom is a great seamstress! She's made me all sorts of clothes over the years, but that one always stands out as really special.
I haven’t even started the video yet, but I just need to leave a comment saying THANK YOU!! I’m so excited to watch!!! Samantha was my favorite doll as a kid, I was hoping you would do a video on her and I know you’ll do her justice
Thank you for making this. The variety of the stories, fashion, history, and activities is delightful. Everything about this video is so cozy. I haven't enjoyed something this much in a long time. Your kitchen area color reminds me of something out of one of Kit's books.
Yes! I LOVED this, we need one for all of the girls!!! Also, I love that you covered race and the ideologies of the time and perceptions. There used to be signs that said "no blacks, no Jews, no Irish" back then and the bigotry was so baked in to the times so as a kid it always seemed weird to me how "out of touch" / ignorant Samantha seemed since some of this is not addressed in the books much. It's really important context that you included and I can't wait for part 2!
I didn’t catch the cover switch, but when u brought it up I did remember being a kid and being really confused when I saw the Molly book and thinking I was just crazy and had misremembered it, and now I just know they changed the art on it 😂
GIRL IM CRYING OVER A DOLL 😂Christmas of 1993, I was 5 years old and my family was stationed in Keflavik, Iceland on the naval base and under the tree was Miss Parkington. My mom would read the books to me before bed and listening to you retell the stories was incredible ❤ Over the years we (my mother and I) collected her entire collection and would bust out her Scenes & Settings in the living room and play. I may have taken a few snips from her hair, but I loved that girl. Thank you ❤❤❤
Speaking of time and overlapping girls, I was doing the mental math and at the time of the Samantha books, Kirsten Larsen would be in her 60s, making Kirsten and Grandmary of the same generation???
@@babbity_kate Good lord really? Dang... It's staggering to think about how little time has actually passed since America was founded. Like from Kirsten to now two centuries FEELS and sounds like a long time but that's really only what, maybe 3 decent lifetimes? ._. And from 1776 to now that's not even 4 70 year lifespans. ... These AmericanGirls are going to give me an existential crisis.
@@HiddenDarkHMFelicity could have overlapped with Kirstin (this might be the craziest one to me), Kirstin with Samantha, Samantha with Julie, and Julie wouldn’t even be 50 yet!
@@supersyncspaz7 I support this fan theory. The age matches up, The French pronunciation of Marie is very close to Mary. And women would give their maiden as a first name. Gardner.
possibly extremely niche thing that only applies to me, but as a big Lady Gaga fan, every time you say "Meet dress" I'm severely thrown off for half a second lmao
The time is a weird soup reference (presumably?) has not gone unnoticed and it is appreciated 😂 EDIT: Not a minute later and Gorgug Thistlespring 10/10
I'm absolutely loving these deep dives, your enthusiasm is infectious! The bridge between 80's and 90's kids and their grandparents/great grandparents with the dolls rings so true for me. My parents got me Samantha as a kid in the 90's because she was born in the same year as my great grandmother, who was still living and we visited often. They saw the value in me being able to connect Samantha's stories to the way my great grandmother grew up. Funnily enough, her childhood was in many ways much more similar to Kirsten's, as her parents were Swedish immigrants who came to the US and became farmers.
Not you saying “You’re folding your laundry!” as I was folding my laundry. (So happy for this. I’m waiting for your Felicity video like a maiden awaiting her lover going off on a sea journey.)
Oh man. My Samantha book collection is held together with masking tape and love. I loved her when I was little and I love this video. I cant wait for part two!!! Thank you so much for the level of detail you put into this video
![Lethal Company Music Video 🎵 "Follow The Orders" [VERSION A]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QeooZB4Z7RA/mqdefault.jpg)
"Yes, Babbity Kate, we do have several hours to talk about Samantha Parkington" We all say in unison.
Oh, I could set aside whole days. You know what I would actually love? If you and I could do this together/have a podcast. That way, we could trade stories/banter back and forth/share opinions.
Nothing i have ever learned in the history of my life is as important to me as "Samantha Parkington could have seen Star Wars".
I get a burst of happiness whenever someone is excited to see Gorgug
I have been holding my breath for eleven months this is everything to me
couldn't have said it better myself
Me too I’ve been rewatching the Kirsten vid for too lobg
IM SO HAPPY
ME TOO
Same! 😂
sorry the 'you're wearing molly mcintire's necklace' as if the samantha doll literally mugged molly sent me
ok but what if she did??? there's a Molly out there somewhere with no necklace!
@@babbity_kate Wrong! There's a Molly out there wearing Samantha's necklace, they are besties and traded their jewellery, no thievery in this doll house
"She could have played Pong" absolutely sledgehammered me sideways
Oh my gosh. I am so happy to see you on this. I loved your doll video and it reminded me how much I couldn’t wait for the Samantha video
A JDraper comment on a Babbity Kate video?!
Wow!
(I also saw your video about childhood during Shakespeare's time.)
what a crossover
Star Wars did that for me
"I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both."
Samantha Parkington’s corner of the American Girl franchise was like catnip for a very specific type of weird little girl. She is personally responsible for the Victorian/Edwardian era hyperfixation that defined my entire childhood.
I didn’t realize how true this was of me until someone actually said it oh my god. ur so real for that
Oh me too I still am so interested in that era
exactly. frilly dresses and confections, all the time everywhere
ME TOO x1000
Some of us never grew out of it and now are into EGL fashion which is essentially just Samantha’s clothes 😅
I freaked out in joy when I saw the length of this video.... then I freaked out in even more joy when I saw "Part 1" in the title.
Same!!!
Yoooo i didn’t even see “part 1” until i read your comment ~~ I’ve been having to keep coming back and scrub around because i fall asleep watching this… currently rewatching Christmas, even though i was awake for it, because I’m stressed about “almost running out of video left” and scrolling the comments …… holy smokes there’s more to come we are so blessed 🥹 (yes, i have been legitimately STRESSing because there is “ONLY one hour remaining” of this video 🤣)
Me, a 19 year old boy who has never had a doll or siblings with doll or any interest in America girl doll up until I stumbled upon your first video: seated 🙂↕️
I’m 39 and my sister is four years older and never had any of the dolls either yet I also enjoy viewing videos on the brand.
33, didn't have siblings, I did have a couple of dolls but they were never as much my thing and I'd never even heard of the American Girl dolls until my roommate started talking about these videos. And here I am after almost six hours of Kirsten lore settling in for Samantha. >_> The power of Babbity Kate is strong.
40. And not really interested in dolls as a kid. But this has got me ao hard
Don't worry a lot of us are in similar boats 😂 I've never owned one or knew anyone who did but I'm in love with these videos anyway
I cannot believe I RECOGNIZE some of the covers you put on the screen for American Girl Magazine. That magazine was dope. I know someone who worked on it when it got shut down, real bummer. It filled a real need.
I remember so little about this series but Nellie’s speech about the girl getting scalped in the factory stuck with me forever 😭 that was some real horror movie shit to me
Omg yes. That part really effed me up for a really long time as well. Like my mother had to comfort me and let me know little girls in America don’t have to work in factories because my then 8 year old brain could NOT handle that fact at all. 😂🤣
Everyone I talk to about Samantha will bring up that scene unprompted. It is DEEP in the psyche
@@Bobailyin the past though there were no child labor laws or as many regulations for worker safety standards
That’s how I felt about a factory scene in the movie (I didn’t read the books). I only remember that clip from the movie and it’s made my stomach turn ever since. Even now watching any Victorian era media set in a factory I clench up
@@onarosebeam I did watch the movie as well! I couldn’t remember how graphic it was, but it must be why it was so visceral to me. The AG movies were hardcore though, I still remember Felicity helplessly watching her grandpa die from a heart attack in front of her
this is the moment i've waited for for MONTHS
i am ready to listen to hours about samantha parkington
I’ve been so excited for this video too! Samantha is my favorite out of the first six Historical dolls based on her collection.
Last year I listened to the whole Kirsten video while driving myself and all of my belongings across the country to move to a new state. Now we're approaching the one year anniversary of moving and I have a 54,000 stitch cross stitch project to work on while watching this one, I simply could not be happier!!
Daaaamn, what's the project? 😮
Just like Samantha with her sampler!
@@stephanieok5365 It's a 2.5 ft wide by 1.5 ft tall full coverage piece of some gorgeous World of Warcraft fanart I've loved for years. I started playing when I was like 8 so the game is very special to me and I love combining it with the arts and crafts that I do.
@@magicalgirlmel3289 I know!! It's so fitting 😍
love that journey for you
There’s something so comforting of this video being uploaded an hour ago, so we’re all actively watching it together and no one is done yet
That mental image of the girl in the factory getting half her scalp pulled off stuck with me since I first read it when I was 8 or 9. It was also my introduction to the concept of child labor in factories.
That image lodged itself in my 9 year old brain and never left. Also, the historical context blurb at the end of that book for sure jump started my obsession with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.
@@Bdixon9158so relatable . that fire was terrible & being that we lived thru 9/11 .. it probably felt like that but on a smaller scale
SAME.
If I had a nickel for every time I read a historical children's book where a girl gets scalped by factory machinery, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird it happened twice
@@standard-ang3l So you also read that Dear America book? Or is there a third one out there?
I really appreciate the child-centered angle you take when discussing these stories.
“Samantha” in the books isn’t just the creation of a doll company - she thinks and behaves like an actual 9-year-old child!
It’s rare to hear any character’s actions explained by these metrics, and it makes the video quite enjoyable.
“Samantha could have seen Star Wars!”
Samantha has always been my favorite, and that put me on the floor
The pure fear and chaos in your eyes as you enter going "There is no time to waste" is the exact energy I want and expect from this video
Yeah, much as I love my girl Samantha, I can acknowledge that she got a little too much attention/screentime compared to some of the other girls in the lineup.
It's the same manic fan energy that sustains me through Quinton Reviews' videos
The TryGuys (why were they on my feed?) tried to call her a “mean Rich girl” threw the doll around the whole table, and said Samantha’s dad would buy her a train. AAAHHH!!
Thank Goodness this just came out to soothe my soul. You are a balm, Kate!!
I tried watching that video and I had to stop bc I was so annoyed that they did not have their facts straight 💀💀💀
People think that just because Samantha was rich she was a snob. NO. SAMANTHA CAME OF AGE DURING THE PROGRESSIVE ERA!!!
also Sam didn't even HAVE a dad, they need to get their facts SO straightened out, jesus
Right and as discussed in the video Samantha would feel too guilty to even ask for a train. Good grief.
Come on, have some fun, they don't know her backstory, and it was a joke
An underrated benefit of the Samantha books compared to the Kirsten ones is the way that Samantha’s designated best friend character is a more consistent presence in her life.
Nellie doesn’t always get the spotlight, but she is around a lot and across multiple books.
Compare this with Singing Bird who is in but a single book before leaving forever. Kirsten’s books are much more closely focused on her family for companionship, which can make her world feel smaller at times.
Also discussing the colorism in Addy’s book is important. I love these little Addy moments. As a Black woman who had the of books as a kid this answers a lot of questions and kind of makes me sad but grateful my parents and gram got me the og books that show the wide range of Black beauty as it is, not just one medium shade.
I had the OG books too, and as a white woman, Addy's book were my first exposure EVER to colorism as a concept. I think it was probably another decade before I had any more exposure, so I'm grateful to those books for teaching me something important long before I would have otherwise.
I can't wait for you to talk about the lawn party outfit, which comes with a tiny croquet set and a hat that looks like a half-baked cake.
I'd give anything to wear the lawn party outfit
Cake hats are peak fashion
One of my cousins must have had the croquet set or something because I have such a clear memory of playing with it, but I've never owned an American Girl doll.
Nooo 😭 I’m just finding out now there was a croquet set?! My spoiled ass had the whole birthday collection but the croquet set must have come out later.
I love the idea that Gard was behind the book because not only does it fit his open-minded nature, especially with how supportive of Cornelia he is. But it’s made funnier by the fact that he is her maternal uncle, meaning that Grandmary is his mother. And he undoubtedly knows how set in her ways she is. He knew what he was doing 😂 39:59
This is far from the point of this video, but as a lifelong Princess Leia stan, I just really appreciate the recognition that Samantha probably would have loved that character combined with the “get in the coal chute, flyboy” reference nearly three hours later 😂.
I feel so appreciated
I'm glad that my memory of Samantha being more of a go-getter holds up. Like, a bit sheltered, but can we appreciate how she is so willing to not only alter her world view when she learns but also then take action based off it? She encounters things injustice and she wants to take action. Like, gonna be honest, I can see her being a suffragette in a decade or so. Yes, she's a bit... weirdly naive about some things, but I chalk that up more to the writers/company not wanting to tackle it. I remember wanting to like Samantha more than I did back as a kid. I think now as an adult though, I think I like her more. Partly due to her being a Edwardian/Victorian girl (I'm weak to this time period), but partly because I love how she doesn't sit back when there's a problem/injustice/issue. She takes action.
I agree. I hated her as a kid but I think it’s because I’m so much like her but unlike her I was in a Nellie situation and didn’t have the privilege to be the go getter I wanted without being yelled at for it.
Yeah, I think her problem-solver attitude comes from her privilege, with good and bad results. Because Samantha's been shielded from bad things, she has optimism and stubborn determination that life might beat out of someone like Nellie, so it's so good for Nellie to have that energy brought into her life. But it also makes her naive and sometimes thoughtless.
I remember Samantha’s quality being “kindness.” At one point they were describing the characters in a Spice Girls type way with one or two words and Samantha was the nice one lol.
She's also a sheltered 9 year old child.
I really wonder why college educated people expect child characters to have the world view that matches a college educated adult.
Life hack for mantaining a Samatha Doll's bangs: Cut her bangs yourself in a eighth-life crisis (its like a mid-life or quarter-life crisis only you're in elementery school) while momentarily forgetting her hair doesn't grow back like your's does. Make sure you make an absolute hash of it and voila! Your Samantha doll will look consistantly janky every day from here until eternity!
To my own Samantha doll: To be loved is to be changed, dearheart, but also I am so sorry
lol never heard of an eighth life crisis but yea I guess that’s a thing lol
She tells your story!
This is my perspective as a Black women whose favorite AG girl was Samantha. I would argue that Samantha likely does understand that Jessie is “colored” since she doesn’t ask Nellie about what is a “colored neighborhood”. Rather, I think that Samantha would just perform the same cognitive dissonance that many children do when seeing/experiencing things that does not line up with what they have been told by the adults around them. Samantha may think: “Well Jessie is colored, but she is not one of THOSE colored people. Because Grandmary’s friends say that colored people are awful and Jessie isn’t awful so she doesn’t count.”
Also it is possible that the “colored” neighborhood in Samantha’s town is close by and just runs parallel to the rich houses on the street with some trees between them to keep them out of sight. I’ve heard that some neighborhoods in the South were lined up that way so that commutes for Black domestic workers were short, and so that White people could monitor the Black residents.
I think your explanation makes more sense.
Yes, residential segregation in the South actually increased by a lot post-Civil Rights Act. Not sure about New York but the living arrangements in some urban areas of the South were much closer together than one might think.
I love seeing college educated adults wonder why 9 year old children should think like they are in their 30s. They are nine year old children.
Classism and other social exclusion is taught through actions not explanation.
I have an original Samantha doll. I was 12 years old and going through an INCREDIBLY traumatic period of life and desperately wanted her. However, my parents could not afford this doll. So, I saved my allowance and some other money I got for birthdays and Christmas for more than a year and ordered the doll myself. Seriously, sent $109 dollars in the mail, in cash! Ah, the early 90's were such a time of naïve joy. That was more than 30 years ago now, but I've still got her. Love that you did this vid on her.
I love that story. First, I'm so glad you were able to get Samantha and that she was there for you when you needed her. Second, the way you went about it? I think that encapsulates American Girl ingenuity and the spirit of AG. I think it's what Pleasant Rowland wanted AG to really be about...girls who know what they want and do their best to make it happen. Now, obviously, there is room for things like "wishes come true" and special surprises and such. That's where the holiday and birthday books, the magic of girlhood, come in. But the main focus of AG, I think, is about, "These girls may not be from your era, but they felt what you feel. They experienced versions of what you do. They desired and dreamed versions of what you do. And you can have your version of an 'American Dream' that works for you."
I am a 22 year old man, who is now obsessed with the fictional life's of dolls I never played with. Another multiple hour video is the highlight of my month
The fact that the second you showed the locket I shouted, "That's Molly's" and then you went on to verify I was correct is very satisfying.
This was delightful!! My attempt to be non-cynical to "Samantha's Surprise" is like - gift-giving is a really strong "Love Language" for Samantha. So her giving really personalized gifts for her friends was a way of showing love, and Cornelia going from someone she disliked who didn't even merit a gift, to someone who merited a perfunctory obligation gift, to someone she really cared for who she wanted to give a special and personal gift to was kind of her arc? Not necessarily disagreeing with you about the overall comparative "shallowness" but that's how that part about what gifts to give Cornelia struck me. Thanks again for making this, can't wait for Part 2!!
I think this is a totally valid read! I think Samantha's surprise is a really lovely story unless/until you turn it the wrong way and get a gross angle, you know?
“do you have several hours to talk about samantha parkington?”
ABSOLUTELY I DO I AM SO READYYYYY 😍
I SWEAR I'm psychic. I literally thought LAST NIGHT "huh, babbity kate hasn't posted anything in a while?? I wonder when she's gonna do another AG video???"
Me too!!
@@tfaithmomo8189 omg twin 🥺
The key to getting crispy potato chips is soaking them longer! You need to sort of wash all the starch off of them. Starch is basically like sugar and it darkens quickly, so you get golden/brown potatoes but they haven't fried all the way yet. You rinse them enough, you get rid of most of the starch that comes out when you slice them, and it helps them fry without darkening. I leave them to soak for like at least an hour, and then pat them dry on a tea towel. I know this is extremely minor lol but good potato chips are important to me and I want you to experience the joy of a perfect homemade potato chip
"Rest in Peace Samantha Parkington, you would have loved Princess Leia." When I saw your video drop, I immediately grabbed my Samantha books to read actually for the first time, so I could have some context going in. (Your Kristen video kicked off an interest for me which caused me to thrift several American Girl series). No lie, during her moments specifically of helping Nellie and speaking up about labor issues in factories, I literally thought "How very Leia Organa of her."
Also that Gorgug reference bowled me over😂
Ma’am, i know no one else is gonna clock this, so can i take a sec to acknowledge how immaculate your notes and references doc is organized, I know that took so much wott et k and when i wantrd to peep the slate article mentioned it was so helpful. I’d die to have your organization skills xo
Wait this is actually the hugest complement???? Thank you I will die now
About half way through and so far:
Omg the chaos energy of the first 30 seconds of this video, incredible.
Also I am endlessly entertained by Samantha's reaction to problems of just "Oh boy a problem! Time to remove that singular obstacle!" and just how ready she is to throw hands at any given moment, restrained only be the conventions of femininity imposed on her by society. Were it not for that she would absolutely choose violence and I support her fully.
People forget how ready Samantha is for violence at any moment and she's so right for that
Kate, I hope you'll be happy to know I am watching this while sewing scraps of fabric together to make quilt squares because I was inspired by your Kirsten video
Hand sewing is for SUCKERS go with blessings
If you make a 16 hour video on the least popular American Girl doll I will make snacks and watch it eagerly while I really should be getting some sleep; I love this series.
Edit: They CHANGED her LOCKET??? I can't handle this; her metal-bow locket was iconic in the truest sense.
1:33:33 "Nooo, don't congregate! Unlawful assembly!" is going to live rent free in my mind from now on
1:44:00 My fav lil' Alice Roosevelt quote is after they told her Calvin Coolidge (president during the 1920's who she thought was a really boring person) died, she said, "How can you tell?"
3:36:24 "We also have a tiny paper snowflake! For her to clutch sadly, as her dreams are shattered" is _also_ going in the mental rent free book
The entire _Samantha's Surprise_ doll lecture is so good. I was even thinking as the story was being retold (I never read the Samantha stories, I don't think) there were all sorts of "the real meaning of Christmas doesn't come from a store"/Gift of the Magi/etc. lessons that could've been used instead. Samantha could've become aware that the only reason she has all this free time to make gingerbread houses and go shopping is because there are servants cooking and cleaning and helping her, giving her more awareness of her position of privilege in a kid-friendly way. She could've stopped by Nelly's on the way to Ida Dean's party and realized not everyone has fancy Christmas parties & just Trying Her Best(TM) to get ice skates and fashion dolls for Nelly won't give the entire O'Malley family a new house and winter coats. She could've received the same 'the homemade gift is the best' lesson and had Cornelia (or one of the servants, or Nelly, or someone else) give her a nice doll with a homemade Nutcracker ballet costume instead of the storebought one...or the use of 'Christmas' to be about family, with Samantha's family being 'nontraditional' in the sense she's being raised by her grandmother; IDR if she remembers her parents when they were alive but either way she could question what it means to be a family if she's not in a traditional nuclear household, miss her parents or miss that she will never have that sort of childhood, compare what she's got to the other girls in her school/Nelly/the servants, and ultimately come to the conclusion that what she's got is pretty good too: Cornelia can become part of her family and that doesn't make her family less, only more; her friends count as family; etc. etc. It would be a good link to the 1980's/90's when mixed families & nontraditional family structures became more commonly talked about.
They didn’t change the locket though???
@@LikesLimes They did! Originally it was kind of attached to her dress, and then became an actual locket. You can see the original situation at 1:17:50 and she talks about the new locket around 1:21:05
You mean the same Calvin Coolidge that supported women's suffrage, opposed Prohibition and signed into law the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 that granted US citizenship to Native Americans?
Fun fact: I have a "person-sized" (can we say that as a word?) stereoscope that I bought partially because I read about it in Samantha's books (specifically "Samantha's Surprise"). Getting to see the 3D images through it and get the feeling that I'm right there in these various moments in the past is honestly one of the best feelings ever (especially when you're a history nerd both for AG reasons and other reasons).
Edit: I have the 1980s version of the Clara doll and (I don't know the exact edition it is) the music box. I agree with you that there is a lot of whimsy in having the doll accessories be fully functional. The first time I wound up the music box and watched it play "O Christmas Tree", I couldn't help but smile. That's what I love about the older AG. The details they added despite then being unnecessary gave the whole brand a sort of magic you couldn't find anywhere else.
I appreciate all the talk about the illustrations and the illustrators themselves! Especially the part where conflicts arose. Often times illustrators don’t get a lot of real autonomy on creative choices in commissioned works, and then the buck gets passed solely to the illustrator. It’s a collaborative failing. The OG illustrator for Addy’s books is honestly really bad ass, she stood up for her vision and diversity in her artwork she created for the work. It sucks but is not surprising that she got driven out because she didn’t want to compromise on what was right.
NOT ME LITERALLY FOLDING MY LAUNDRY😭😭 we love you Kate
I’m only 7 minutes into this video but the way you talk about how these characters could’ve experienced other pivotal events in history ties into something I’ve been thinking about lately. American Girl should release a line of books targeted towards teens and adults that flashes forward and shows these characters at another point in their lives when they’re older, experiencing other historical events but from a teenaged/adult perspective. Think about if they wrote a book where Kit’s an adult working as a reporter for a major newspaper and having to cover the events of World War II. Or maybe a book where Samantha’s married and then learns her husband has been drafted to serve in World War I. There are endless possibilities here, and there’s definitely a market for it.
oh my goddd I’d kill for this! I’m going to have to go look for fanfiction now that you’ve put this idea into my head 😂 the characters all have such full personalities and identities giving them continuity beyond this snapshot of time when they’re 8-10 makes perfect sense-it’s like they’re made for it!
Ever since Pleasant Company was bought by Mattel I feel like they’ve been less about books and more about toys, but I think they could make some big big money putting out books like that. I think there’s a huge demographic of women who’d go for it.
That would be awesome, my head canon says Caroline the 1812 girl is the old woman who helped Addy and mamma escape
A Gorgug Thistlespring reference A GORGUG THISTLESPRING REFERENCE
I am dead and deceased. I am enjoying this so much already. Tell me all about this doll, queen, I'm listening.
When I tell you my face LIT UP when I heard Zac Oyama’s voice
Yes yes yes!!! I haven’t started it yet, but I hope that I’m about to see some Samantha defense. I saw a try guys video where they were dunking on her for being rich and spoiled, but like, she is an orphan who takes time out of her day to teach her friend how to do math and read when she didn’t have to. Like, she is so compassionate, like, and such a good character. I can’t handle Samantha slander.
Idk, I think that try guys just don’t have good American girl takes in general, like they dissed addy for being a “nerd” (in their defense Addy’s character profile is about her winning the big spelling test or something? So they didn’t know her backstory). I’m not trying to gatekeep, but I think they didn’t really grow up with it the same way some people did, and this was very obviously an off the cuff video so they didn’t get super into it or do any sort of research but still. Bad takes, generally.
When I tell you I have been WAITING for this one! The Kirsten video is one of my favorite videos of all time (I've watched its entirety more times I would like to admit), and I am SO excited to sit here and listen to you yap about our girl Sam for hours and hours.
Me, too. After watching the Kirsten video, I stalked RUclips for a bit, until I realized, "Yeah, she probably needs a lot more time to make a new one." Then I checked back in periodically, and I was SO THRILLED when this finally dropped.
This Christmas with Samantha was so cozy. Gonna rewatch this every year.
Both you and @sarahserif posting Samantha Parkington videos in the same weekend? I am being FED BLESS!!!!
I thought the same thing!!!!
I was looking for this comment! I watched the sarahserif video last night!
We are eating well
I love and appreciate all the work you put in for this. I enjoyed the book discussions, seeing the old magazines and catalogs, the facts and history of the doll line, the CRAFTS AND SNACKS DUDE? all of it. Great video, loved the Kirsten one too. Totally living vicariously through you and re-living parts of my childhood. 💜💜💜
obsessed w you wearing the AGD cafe bow
OBSESSED WITH YOU RECOGNIZING THE AGD CAFE BOW???
@@babbity_kate i like AGD a normal amount for a full grown adult…
LOL I wore mine yesterday and my partner was like, "where'd that Disney princess bow come from?" 😆 I'll take it
After the try guys completely slandered her, i needed this 😭
the way you called me out for multitasking (that was such a funny bit) can't wait to work my way through this video over the next couple days!!! I love your attention to detail and in depth analysis, I live for it. Exhaustive recaps of fiction from my childhood are my favorite thing.
GIRLS AND THEIR DOLLS!!! 😭
I have to share in joy that since your Kirsten video I finally got a Kirsten doll. I took my daughter to the American Girl Place and my mom koined us. She gifted me with the doll of my dreams. I am very happy. Now to actually watch your Samantha video.
Oh this is so so wonderful! I hope she's EVERYTHING YOU DREAMED OF
@@babbity_kate it's awesome. Bonus, my mother in law bought my six year old an American Girl Truly Me doll. We play together now with both our AG dolls. It's wonderful 😊
Do you have theater training? Your presence is very natural and engaging. New to your channel, and I’m loving it here!
I wish I had a friend like you who also liked American Girl. You seem so fun to know, your enthusiasm radiates.
these videos strike the perfect mix of cherishing AG, history/context behind the materials, and making fun of the craziness
I had her full school collection and you could really use her pen if you had some ink. I was obsessed with boarding school, so I played that with Samantha all the time I think it was inspired by the movie, the Little Princess.
As soon as you showed the silver locket, I knew it was Molly's, and i CACKLED at your response.
Anybody who realized this gets extra brownie points
I have been waiting for this. My daughter is named Samantha (partially after this doll and partially from Bewitched) and we loved watching your Kirsten video.
I'm barely into this video and I'm already all about this. Your enthusiasm is bringing me such joy. Thank you
I have been waiting for this day for long enough to move house and have a baby. I watched the Kirsten video bedridden in my first trimester of pregnancy, and now I get to watch the Samantha one with my five month old baby American girl nursing in my arms. Thank you for making this QUALITY content!!
DEVOURED the Kirsten vid, and have been awaiting the next one. *vibrates* LET'S GO
Hey, some of us ARE making dinner but DID notice you swapping out the book with the old art because the different art has haunted us for 20+ years!!! (love this content thank u for my life)
LOL immediately vindicated by the followup. claiming my clout ❤️
When you called out the viewer for not paying attention, I was on my phone looking up where I could get the Pleasant Company shirt you were wearing 😂
These books AND these dolls ARE historical fiction. The American Girls, the Royal Diaries, the Dear America series - all of these and more did such invaluable work to let little girls know that history was accessible to them because history was theirs, too. That girls were part of history, and that the things that mattered to them were important. That’s left an incalculable impact on me.
Thank you for this video. I was so comforted and delighted by it.
I cannot wait to listen to this four hour journey with you. And listen again for the next Samantha portion. And again and again for the rest of the dolls. This is my favorite thing on the internet
I can't wait for Felicity, Josephina, and Kit!
How will I be spending my fall break? Cuddled up with my cats watching the Samantha AG special, naturally.
Also, knife skills on point. Kudos.
BOY i cannot wait for Molly's four hours next year!! shoot i could wait two years if that's what it takes. I'm about to have the best day ever watching this, thank you so much
As an older millennial (born 1987) who grew up with these books and dolls as a young girl, your AG videos are absolute gems! They somehow manage to include absolutely everything I could hope for in a deep-dive on this topic-plus much, much more. I adore your passion for this franchise and the impact it had on our generation when we were children, and I so appreciate the INSANE amount of research and detail you put into your videos.
Addy’s book series was my first experience with AG, was my favorite from the very beginning, and thus was the first AG doll I ever owned. Samantha was my second favorite for a while, but only until Josephina came along… she usurped Samantha in my ranking and thus became the second AG doll I owned.
Anyway, yes-I was fortunate enough to receive three different AG dolls as Christmas/birthday gifts over the course of my childhood: Addy, Josephina, and Samantha. I remember being asked by a few different people (mostly adults) why I prioritized asking for the black doll and the Hispanic doll… which I remember finding to be a super strange question at the time. I was a blonde-haired, white-as-can-be child, yet I couldn’t have cared less about the skin-tones or hair colors of my dolls… it was their individual stories and struggles that sparked my imagination and made me fall in love with them.. To my mind, my reasoning for wanting the Addy and Josephina dolls the most was so obvious and simplistic-it was simply that these characters were my favorite protagonists, and that they featured in my favorite books among the AG series-they had the stories I found to be the most intriguing and emotionally moving. They lived such incredibly different lives than I did as a child in the 1990’s (and often with the kind of hardships I couldn’t possibly imagine), yet they all somehow seemed incredibly relatable to me in certain ways. I think you used a very apt term in this video that succinctly describes what I mean: the experience of girlhood. So… essentially, “girls and their dolls.” Lol
I thought the AG dolls were soooo dumb….until I was gifted an anthology of Samantha stories. An icon, legend, and long underwear-shunning royalty.
Yup. I'm not as familiar with the "newer" generations (from Kit forward), but the original 5-6 are QUEENS and we should respect that.
Me waiting to eventually get to my favorite doll Rebecca when we aren’t even through the first three. LOVE these videos!!
My favorite part of the video is that after discovering that she has Molly’s necklace you confiscated it for her crimes and she’s locketless for the rest of the video
I don’t know how to describe this other than a pure sensory delight of storytelling and nostalgia. I can’t wait for part 2.
“No, those aren’t paper snowflakes; that’s my childhood.” Omgggg so true. I remember the crushing feeling I had reading Elsa’s comments as a child and how harsh I thought it was they didn’t let her help when she’d worked hard.
The Christmas sections of this video were so comforting and perfect for the holiday season right now ❤
"You're multi-tasking, aren't you?"
Busted, I'm finishing a baby sweater I knitted for a friend who had her baby today!
I would cry tears of joy if you did a video about every single historical American girl!! I LOVE THESE SO MUCH
what is wrong with this algorithm, this came out SIX DAYS AGO, and RUclips DAREN'T TELL ME??? I'm working on my dp right now thank you for your service
The materialism of Christmas in the book is so REAL though. I felt it in my soul all of Samantha’s disappointments related to her careful and dear plans being wrecked. I felt her anger at being set aside for someone else. I felt how hard it is to buy gifts for people I’m required to give gifts but don’t know well or even don’t particularly like. And I relate to wanting things simply because they are beautiful and then not really knowing what to do with them.
I'm not from America and I know literally nothing about AG dolls let alone that there is lore to them but youtube recommended me this so I watched the whole thing (it took me 3 days). I'm invested now.
Samantha was my doll growing up & I loved reliving her world through your video! Great job!
2:01:48 roughly talking about the Lydia doll just is perfect. "Girls and their DOLLS!" The thesis of the video. I love it.
True, but the girls and their dolls thing? It's 100% spot on (at least, it was. My little niece seems to be more a plushie girl, which might be more the trend these days). Anyway, I was very much a doll girl, and it is my belief, even if a particular girl is not, most if not all girls do have at least one doll that is theirs, their "Lydia," their special friend.
part 1 on a four hour video is ominious (positive) so WAHOO! once again excited to get insight on a girl i didn't have! i actually desperately wanted nellie as a child, but my mom refused bc it would have been too expensive to get two full size dolls, so i had a mini nellie and samantha instead. i think i still have nellie, although my samantha might have gotten mauled by my dog :( but you're right. nellie is the best and she deserves everything
You are singlehandedly responsible for me going from 0 to 78 American girl books in the last 11 months since your Kirsten video. (Also I have Samantha's cookbook, some of those were quite questionable 😂)
Going over the Christmas book reminds me of how my mom surprised me one year with a matching Christmas dress to my Kit doll. she even found a button shaped like a scottie to match Kit's dress. Girls and their dolls indeed 😭
That is so cute!!
@Aster_Risk I always loved the matching outfits and wanted one so badly, but they were expensive. But my mom is a great seamstress! She's made me all sorts of clothes over the years, but that one always stands out as really special.
I haven’t even started the video yet, but I just need to leave a comment saying THANK YOU!! I’m so excited to watch!!! Samantha was my favorite doll as a kid, I was hoping you would do a video on her and I know you’ll do her justice
Thank you for making this. The variety of the stories, fashion, history, and activities is delightful. Everything about this video is so cozy. I haven't enjoyed something this much in a long time. Your kitchen area color reminds me of something out of one of Kit's books.
Yes! I LOVED this, we need one for all of the girls!!!
Also, I love that you covered race and the ideologies of the time and perceptions. There used to be signs that said "no blacks, no Jews, no Irish" back then and the bigotry was so baked in to the times so as a kid it always seemed weird to me how "out of touch" / ignorant Samantha seemed since some of this is not addressed in the books much. It's really important context that you included and I can't wait for part 2!
I didn’t catch the cover switch, but when u brought it up I did remember being a kid and being really confused when I saw the Molly book and thinking I was just crazy and had misremembered it, and now I just know they changed the art on it 😂
I'm slowly watching this over breaks--I remember every single word and picture of that recipe book what a treat to see this!
GIRL IM CRYING OVER A DOLL 😂Christmas of 1993, I was 5 years old and my family was stationed in Keflavik, Iceland on the naval base and under the tree was Miss Parkington. My mom would read the books to me before bed and listening to you retell the stories was incredible ❤ Over the years we (my mother and I) collected her entire collection and would bust out her Scenes & Settings in the living room and play. I may have taken a few snips from her hair, but I loved that girl.
Thank you ❤❤❤
Speaking of time and overlapping girls, I was doing the mental math and at the time of the Samantha books, Kirsten Larsen would be in her 60s, making Kirsten and Grandmary of the same generation???
Yes! Kirsten is most likely still kicking at this point!
@@babbity_kate Good lord really? Dang... It's staggering to think about how little time has actually passed since America was founded. Like from Kirsten to now two centuries FEELS and sounds like a long time but that's really only what, maybe 3 decent lifetimes? ._. And from 1776 to now that's not even 4 70 year lifespans. ... These AmericanGirls are going to give me an existential crisis.
My favorite American Girl time overlap theory is that Marie Grace could be Grandmary!
@@HiddenDarkHMFelicity could have overlapped with Kirstin (this might be the craziest one to me), Kirstin with Samantha, Samantha with Julie, and Julie wouldn’t even be 50 yet!
@@supersyncspaz7 I support this fan theory.
The age matches up,
The French pronunciation of Marie is very close to Mary.
And women would give their maiden as a first name. Gardner.
possibly extremely niche thing that only applies to me, but as a big Lady Gaga fan, every time you say "Meet dress" I'm severely thrown off for half a second lmao
just got to the school collection part where you also specifically say "meet purse" lmao
nooo Samantha don’t go to the 2010 VMAs in a meat dress your torso is made of cloth
The time is a weird soup reference (presumably?) has not gone unnoticed and it is appreciated 😂 EDIT: Not a minute later and Gorgug Thistlespring 10/10
I'm absolutely loving these deep dives, your enthusiasm is infectious! The bridge between 80's and 90's kids and their grandparents/great grandparents with the dolls rings so true for me. My parents got me Samantha as a kid in the 90's because she was born in the same year as my great grandmother, who was still living and we visited often. They saw the value in me being able to connect Samantha's stories to the way my great grandmother grew up. Funnily enough, her childhood was in many ways much more similar to Kirsten's, as her parents were Swedish immigrants who came to the US and became farmers.
Not you saying “You’re folding your laundry!” as I was folding my laundry.
(So happy for this. I’m waiting for your Felicity video like a maiden awaiting her lover going off on a sea journey.)
I was making kimchi
I am SO excited for this, I missed this in my notifications and only realized another one came out after I watched the Kirsten on again.
I was literally thinking this morning it's been too long since I spent hours thinking about an American Girl doll. Bless you for this!
I actually started thinking we’d never get a video on Samantha. I’ve been waiting for her specifically.
Oh man. My Samantha book collection is held together with masking tape and love. I loved her when I was little and I love this video. I cant wait for part two!!! Thank you so much for the level of detail you put into this video
Did you know that there were also two different publishers in the early 90s? There are the Pleasant Company editions and the Scholastic editions.
never seen an American girl doll irl but god have I been wanting for this video