American Girl Magazine Was My First Best Friend

And I'm not (that) embarrassed to admit it.

There was a lot to be thankful for in my childhood. I had (and still have) a loving family, and my home was filled with snacks that I ate when I came home from school every day and watched Arthur. But if there’s one thing I didn’t have a lot of when I was young, it was close friends.

I don’t mean to make this a total sob story. I wasn’t a complete loner, but the types of friendships I saw on TV and read about in books felt like something I’d never have in real life. Another place where I saw these friendships? American Girl magazine. I would look at the quizzes that two best friends were supposed to use to test how well they knew each other, and I’d think about the answers in case I ever had a best friend to quiz. I would read the stories of friendship and think that maybe one day I could have a bond with someone like that.

I would read the little paragraphs about the girls on the cover. I now realize they probably had some kind of talent agents or something, but at the time they seemed to be regular girls just like me. Nowadays, I think this desire to see more non-celebrities as role models still exists, and that the modern-day replacement is influencers. I mean, think about it. Influencers do have an “I’m just like you (but really I’m not)” vibe.

Source: WorthPoint.com

What spoke to me most in American Girl was the section of each issue that shared ideas for a themed party. I used to dream of hosting the sleepovers that they suggested. The one that stood out to me the most was the “pop star party”, where you and your friends would emulate—nay, become—a group of pop stars and create your own music video. I remember the CD-themed decorations that the magazine suggested. I remember learning that if you mouth the word “watermelon” over and over, it looks like you know the lyrics to a song. The article actually suggested mouthing “watermelon, cantaloupe”, but since then, I’ve never heard of anyone else adding the “cantaloupe” part. I think they just wanted to put their own spin on it.

There were also instructions on choreographing a dance. According to these instructions, one person needed to be in charge of choreographing the arm motions, another person the leg motions, and a third person the head motions. In retrospect, I can’t think of a worse way to choreograph a dance. Even at the time, I wondered how many different head motions there could be. But the dream of being part of a three-person friend group with two other girls was enough to make me ignore this.

It’s anyone’s guess why the idea of the pop star party called to me. Maybe it was because of aesthetic that was popular in the early 2000s, with the sticky face gems and zig zag hair parts (the original Y2K style). Maybe it was because I used to love the reality star search show “Popstars” that created the short-lived pop group “Eden’s Crush”, which actually featured the later famous Nicole Scherzinger. (I remember that when I noticed her in the Pussycat Dolls, I found my old Eden’s Crush CD and said to myself, “Yeah, that’s definitely her.”) Maybe it was because I took hip hop dance classes. Maybe to some extent, I’m still hoping for that party. I’ve definitely thought that I’d love to film dance TikToks with my friends. Does that count?

Source: WorthPoint.com

Maybe American Girl magazine is why I love a themed event. Well, at least I love the concept. I’ve never put effort into throwing one, except when I was a young kid and that effort was very much on my parents’ part. (Side note: does anyone remember the Birthday Express catalogs? I had to Google them and found this Reddit post. What a throwback, and definitely another reason that themed events are exciting to me.)

I may be looking at American Girl Magazine with slightly rose-colored glasses. I can recall that the advice column sometimes gave some questionable answers. But as corny as it is, that magazine was there for me when my peers weren’t.

My other takeaway from all of this is that I miss the heyday of catalogs and print magazines. Of course they still exist, but it’s just not the same. Can we just get everyone who does AI and NFTs to stop and then we can print paper without feeling so bad about its impact on the environment? I’m not sure if that logic is logic-ing, but let’s do away with AI and NFTs anyway.

Thanks for reading this, even though it was on a screen and not in a glossy magazine filled with sleepover ideas!

XOXO,
Zola