Fun Fact #42: I discovered a website with Jewish American Girl dolls and was reminded of a childhood obsession.

Being a history nerd and a girl, it should be of no surprise to anyone that I adored American Girl dolls when I was a child. I had Samantha, the rich (but still sensitive!) Victorian-era doll. I picked her because she looked the most like me, while my little sister got Kristen, the dull (in my opinion) Swedish immigrant doll, because she looked the most like her.

I grew up reading every American girl book and, much to my mother's horror, would sometimes announce how they incorrectly portrayed the conditions of sweatshops, immigrant conditions, food rationing, race relations, etc. Obviously, I've always just been full of "fun facts".

I soon got sick of Samantha though and promptly decided Molly was my new favorite. I asked my mom for a Molly doll and instead given the Molly glasses as if that would transformed Samantha into Molly. But Molly had blue eyes while Samantha had brown and it obviously wouldn't work out. I never did get a Molly doll but my obsession continued unabated.

I even wrote my own American Girl story for my second grade creative writing class. It was all about a lovely immigrant family heading toward Ellis Island (yet another weird obsession) on a boat to start a new life in America. I decide to add some tension by having the boat sink, but I wasn't quite old enough to cope with a death and made sure all of my characters lived. The book was basically a masterpiece and, if I could find it, would probably be eligible for a Pulitzer. At the very least it was far better than my biggest competitor's (aka my little sister) work at the time which featured the adventures of a squirrel named Plumpy.

The main character in my story was Jewish (to make her more like myself since I was quite the narcissist as a child), but, much to my disappointment, there never were any Jewish American Girl dolls. Well, that's now been fixed thanks the introduction of Gali Girls which, according the website, are "Jewish Dolls for Jewish Girls".

The dolls honestly look like the slightly touched cousins of the American Girl dolls. In fact, they're absolutely hideous. But, on the bright side, they all come with a little Star of David, a Jewish holiday playset, and a book. What could be more fun?! You can even buy dolls from the historical line and own Miriam, your own doll from the shtetl, or Shoshana, a Sephardic Jew! I believe that these dolls are a good idea but even myself at eight, both Jewish and a rabid American Girl fan, wouldn't have wanted these dolls since they're so awkward looking. They have giant heads and weird, little bodies.

I hope that they'll have better looking Jewish dolls by the time I have my little history nerd kids.