Last week, at a cabinet meeting,
while answering a question about tariffs, President Donald Trump mentioned dolls.
Now, this wasn't any deep social commentary, just an offhand statement.
But it did get me thinking about how kids today, including my own, Do you have a million dolls?
Versus, say, when I was a kid.
Do you remember your first doll?
Oh, of course.
My first doll was Ada.
I took Ada with me everywhere, like to the park, to dim sum.
I tried to bring her to school.
But I also remember she was beautiful in a way that I felt I never could be.
This is Eleanor Mack.
She had these...
Beautiful blonde curl.
She had big blue eyes.
She had that porcelain skin.
And even then, you know, I think I was, you know,
somewhere five or six years old, remember thinking, like, I wish I looked like Ada.
When Eleanor was a kid, like when I was a kid, what she didn't have was that much choice.
But even after Eleanor grew up and had her own kids, the options were still pretty meh.