This Jersey girl is the first South Asian American Girl doll (2024)
She's a Jersey girl. And she's South Asian.
Meet the American Girl 2023 Girl of the Year doll, Kavi Sharma. Kavi has made history as the first South Asian girl to join the annual lineup. And that's making New Jersey Asian Americans beam with pride.
"It shows we're American," said Leonia resident Manu Singh, 50. She is thrilled about the new doll, as she had difficulty finding dolls for her 13-year-old daughter, Ameesha, that resembled her.
The backstory on Kavi is that she is an 11-year-old Indian American girl who lives in Metuchen, with her Hindu family. Her town is a train ride away from New York City, where she loves watching Broadway shows. She has a passion for singing, dancing and playing the piano.
It's fitting that Kavi should hail from the Garden State, because it is home to the largest Indian population in the United States, according to the U.S. census. Nearly 1 million Asian Americans live in New Jersey, with Indians being the largest group, accounting for about half of the Asian population. Asian Americans are the fastest-growing ethnic group in New Jersey and the United States.
But inclusivity happened only within the past five to six years, Singh said, noting that her own daughter was never into dolls because they were all blond and blue-eyed. Though her daughter doesn't play with dolls anymore, Singh plans to buy Kavi for friends. The $115 retail price tag is justifiable to celebrate Indian pride, she said.
In addition to Kavi, the world of this 18-inch doll is filled with play sets that bring her story of performing on stage to life — from Kavi’s songwriting accessories to Kavi’s backstage set to Kavi’s Bollywood dance costume. The collection is now available onAmericanGirl.comand will be sold at select retail locales.
Last year, the toy brand unveiled Corinne Tan, itsfirst Chinese American“Girl of the Year” doll.
Mary Chao covers Asian American issues and real estate.
The first dolls were Samantha Parkington, Kirsten Larson, and Molly Mclntire. These dolls shared the same face mold, but with different eyes and hair. The first dolls were created with white musline bodies. In 1991, these dolls were changed to a matching tone.
The world was recently introduced to Kavi Sharma, American Girl doll's 2023 Girl of the Year! Sharma made history as the first South Asian, specifically, Indian, Girl of the Year. The doll is a limited-edition, annually-released doll which focuses on cultural diversity and representation.
The brand has introduced Kavi Sharma, a young Indian-American girl from New Jersey who's got a show tune in her heart and Broadway in her sights. American Girl made history this week when it awarded its 2023 Girl of the Year title to a South Asian doll.
New American Girl doll for 2022 is a Chinese-American, the first since Ivy Ling was discontinued in 2014 and 1 of 6 of Asian descent. Meet the newest American Girl: her name is Corinne, she likes to ski, and she's the only Chinese-American doll in the beloved doll brand's roster.
Sept. 26, 2009— -- She might never live in Barbie's dream-house, but Gwen Thompson is the talk of toy town. She's the world's first "homeless" doll.
According to American Girl spokeswoman Stephanie Spanos, the archiving of Samantha, Kirsten and others was simply an inventory decision, to make room for new product lines. Spanos says American Girl “still considers the historical characters to be the heart of the brand.” But the marketing spotlights suggest otherwise.
American Girl Dolls were created with the goal of educating young children on history, morals, and life lessons through the stories accompanied with each doll. The classic American Girl Doll books follow the journey of one of their historical characters and each series follows a standard structure through six books.
If you happen to have one, you can probably expect a fantastic resale value. That said, a mint-condition Felicity doll can earn upwards of $2000. Others generally sell for between $300 and $345. (If you have multiple outfits and furniture items, however, you can expect to get more cash.)
Official Description. "This Collector Edition Barbie doll wears a traditional costume from far away India. Her modern, Indian sari is a rich, fuchsia color, accented with a beautiful shawl.
The Historical Characters line of 18-inch dolls, which were derived from the 18-inch dolls made by Götz in West Germany (known as Germany from October 1990) during the late 1980s to the 1990s, were initially the main focus of Pleasant Company, founded by Pleasant Rowland in 1986.
Introduction: My name is Kimberely Baumbach CPA, I am a gorgeous, bright, charming, encouraging, zealous, lively, good person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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