okay this wasn’t addressed on the wiki page, but is aunt cornelia’s friend mrs. vandergeld meant to be a reference to the vanderbilts???

"Van der" is a part of Dutch surnames. Literally it means "from the." It's signaling that her husband's family is old New York money. So old it's New Amsterdam money. (The Dutch settled in what was now New York City and called it New Amsterdam. When the English took over they renamed it New York.)

But it looks like Vandergeld might be a totally made up name. In Dutch it literally means "from the money" which makes it a great name for a wealthy character.

Tiny Baking

Received this cute set for Mother’s Day! It has 17 pieces and can really be used for baking.

Last night Grace and I made tiny pizzas. One has pepperoni and the other has green pepper, onion, and green olive. (We also made two 10” round pizzas.)

a comparison between julie's journal and her books! ;)

bonus:

Rebecca's Directors Set Moving Picture Magazine

"A mini movie magazine modeled on those from Rebecca’s day"

american girl adult costumes!!!!

this is what i get for not being on tumblr for a few days. i miss all the cool shit!

https://www.fastcompany.com/91119349/american-girl-brand-refresh-pentagram

“Pleasant Serif” and “Pleasant Berry” in case you were wondering ♥️

doll customization Q:

can you put an our generation doll's head on an american girl doll body?

answer:

yes!

how it works:

kirsten larson and marta who did not die of cholera, thanks.

While I'm on a Samantha Parkington kick, I am once again thinking about this one piece of dialogue from the movie:

Mr. O'Malley: I want to thank you, Samantha, for your kindness towards Nellie and the girls.

Samantha: No thanks needed, sir. Nellie and the girls are my friends.

The thing that gets me most about this is the fact that he calls her by her first name and she calls him "sir". This is the norm in the hierarchy of age, but not in the hierarchy of class. Normally, he would be calling her "miss", as Nellie does at the beginning of both the books and the movie, while she might even call him by his first name, as she does Jessie's husband, Lincoln (although race may also play into that; I would need to do more reading on how all that worked); even if she referred to him by last name, like Hawkins, there would still be a usual understanding that he is considered her inferior.

But that's not what happens here. Samantha addresses Mr. O'Malley with the same respect and dignity as she would any of her wealthy friends' parents, and she doesn't expect him to address her any differently than his own daughters, who she sees as no different than her; they're her friends, no more, no less. Even though by this point Samantha's character is already pretty well-established, I feel like this just adds something extra to it.

This reminds me of Addy's short story, "Addy Studies Freedom", in which a similar exchange happens:

This sticks with Addy through the end of the story and gives her hope that things will change for the better.

i think my summer project this year or at least next ag sewing project is going to be this nicki prototype outfit. this is from the agplaythings discussion boards (which i rec joining!!)

shouldnt be too hard, her meet boots, a faux leather bracelet, a red and pink small print floral fabric and white lace like cotton fabric. should be fun!

Rebecca's Directors Set Title Cards

Scanned and edited (mostly) for your enjoyment!

"Title cards, which were used before movies had sound so audiences could read the dialogue on-screen"

What I was taught growing up: Wild edible plants and animals were just so naturally abundant that the indigenous people of my area, namely western Washington state, didn't have to develop agriculture and could just easily forage/hunt for all their needs.

The first pebble in what would become a landslide: Native peoples practiced intentional fire, which kept the trees from growing over the camas praire.

The next: PNW native peoples intentionally planted and cultivated forest gardens, and we can still see the increase in biodiversity where these gardens were today.

The next: We have an oak prairie savanna ecosystem that was intentionally maintained via intentional fire (which they were banned from doing for like, 100 years and we're just now starting to do again), and this ecosystem is disappearing as Douglas firs spread, invasive species take over, and land is turned into European-style agricultural systems.

The Land Slide: Actually, the native peoples had a complex agricultural and food processing system that allowed them to meet all their needs throughout the year, including storing food for the long, wet, dark winter. They collected a wide variety of plant foods (along with the salmon, deer, and other animals they hunted), from seaweeds to roots to berries, and they also managed these food systems via not only burning, but pruning, weeding, planting, digging/tilling, selectively harvesting root crops so that smaller ones were left behind to grow and the biggest were left to reseed, and careful harvesting at particular times for each species that both ensured their perennial (!) crops would continue thriving and that harvest occurred at the best time for the best quality food. American settlers were willfully ignorant of the complex agricultural system, because being thus allowed them to claim the land wasn't being used. Native peoples were actively managing the ecosystem to produce their food, in a sustainable manner that increased biodiversity, thus benefiting not only themselves but other species as well.

So that's cool. If you want to read more, I suggest "Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America" by Nancy J. Turner

My dad scared me half to death when he set Gwynn up to take these pictures but luckily everything turned out great! We are skiing in Colorado this weekend and I knew I had to take one of the Tan sisters!

Molly McIntire fans rise up