Creating Original Historicals for Fun and Frivolity: The Right Doll for the Job

Charlotte had her look picked before she was bought.

You're still working on your Original Historical Character Creation. and, if you've been following my pattern, you've got a time period you like and a name that doesn't suck. So now another step: The doll herself.¹

Not every Historical Character created is going to have a doll, granted. But chances are, if you're into AG and you're creating an American Girl Historical, you probably want to actually bring your character out of the theoretical and into the actual. That's where dolls come into play. Some people buy the doll first and then create the character--especially if they get a doll secondhand or have one they own already they're turning to a Historical--but many times, a lot of things can be laid out before you actually pay for a doll. So some things to think about before you drop the cash on a character.

I'm just saying, if you're looking at a hundred and so dollars new, you might want to think more about it than "oh, why not her?"

Creating Original Historicals for Fun and Frivolity: Naming Tips

Edith May Anderson and Dorothy Gale McNeil. I researched hard.

So you've picked a time period to put your created historical in. Congrats! One of the hardest steps is done. You've picked the decade you want to set this all in. Now on to another hard step: naming your character. Names make the doll--and the character in this case. The name you pick can either cause you to crash and burn or soar and fly.

The main thing is that authenticity will get you. Every damn time. It is the major way people fuck up making a historical character and it's where I find myself face palming every time. If you want to name your character McKayla Piper Wallace, that's all well and good for your modern girl¹, but they didn't name girls that back in the 19th century, and it's really going to jar your authenticity to do that mess.

Let's stop you from naming historical your girl a name that makes us go "Eugh, that's...nice." and get you to to a name that makes us go "Oooo, that's nice!"

Creating Original Historicals for Fun and Frivolity: Time Periods

Charlotte Tinsley, my 1840s Republic of Texas Doll

If there is one thing AG started out good with, it was Historical Characters. However, I really can't say that's true now, what with the retirement of Samantha (eh), Kirsten (boo) and Felicity (WHYYYYYY~) and some half assing of newer dolls (looking dead at you, illustrations for Cécile and Marie Grace).

However, there is more to making an unique Realistic Historical Character than slapping Felicity's dresses on a modern doll and calling her a pilgrim or putting a star of David on your white doll and sticking her in the 1940s. (Yes I actually saw some of that shit on my tenure as an AG message board member). If you want your character to stand out from the crowd, you are going to need to do a lot more work than that.

Let's start with the easiest and hardest part of any Historical: The Time Period.