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Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Tea with Valerie Tripp at Mount Vernon

With a talk that revealed some fun behind the scenes looks at the creation of our favorite colonial girl: Felicity!

Longtime readers might remember that I was lucky enough to attend Tea with Valerie Tripp and Friends at Historic Huguenot Street back in 2016. I was even luckier when I saw that Mount Vernon would be hosting a similar event as their last in a series of teas with Martha Washington! Of course, I leapt at the chance to get tickets, even though Mount Vernon is kind of horrible to get to if you don’t have a car. 

Last weekend, Jessi, Felicity, Elizabeth and I set off on a very long metro ride and a bus trip to visit, armed with a book to get signed and a camera to document the event for posterity. Read on to find out what we did!


Mount Vernon was already decked out for Christmas, with a gigantic Christmas tree covered in ornaments on sale in the gift shop right out front of the auditorium where Valerie Tripp and Mary Wiseman would be discussing the creation of Felicity. The program was billed as “Bringing History to Life,” and we were all encouraged to submit questions to the moderator before the talk for Ms. Tripp and Ms. Wiseman about the creation of Felicity, their other work, or pretty much anything else. 

Check in was located right across from the tree. There were two seatings for the tea, with the talk sandwiched in the middle of them. Jessi and I had decided to go for the 1:30 tea rather than the 3:00 tea, as we had a long trek back to our apartment and the metro tends to be even more uncooperative later in the evening.


We got there with a little bit of time to kill, so we loitered around in the gift shop window shopping for treats to pick up on the way home (I finally broke down and purchased a No Stamp Act tea pot for myself after coveting it every time I’m in the gift shop) and then in the lobby waiting to be directed to tea. 

It’s always fun at AG events seeing what dolls both kids and adults bring in, and what sort of outfits they dressed them in. We saw a Samantha dressed in Caroline’s winter jacket, a very well loved Luciana, and of course many, many Felicities of varying ages. I always think it’s fun to see Felicities at events because they’re often easier to guesstimate the age of than other dolls, so it’s fun to think about a kid cherishing a brand new BeForever Felicity the same way I loved mine or to see an early Pleasant Company doll who’s clearly been super well loved by a mom who’s since passed her on to her kid. 

Although there were a lot of kids, for possibly the first time since getting back into this hobby, I wasn’t the only person there without a kid of my own. There were a couple adults who came either by themselves or in small groups, and it was fun to see adult collectors out and about. I’ve gotten to meet a couple other adult fans in person, but they’re rarer to see in the stores or at events unless you’ve planned beforehand to meet them there. We didn’t really have a chance to chat with anyone one on one, but one woman asked us if we were members of a Pleasant Company collectors Facebook group because we looked like other adult collectors. I’m not a member of the group, but I think I know which one she’s talking about and told her so, which was kind of fun. 

When the tea was ready to start, we were led into one of the smaller rooms that’s a part of the Mount Vernon Inn restaurant, where I’ve eaten before. Two of our friends actually just got married at Mount Vernon, and the tea was held in the space they had their cocktail hour. 

We were given small brochures with Valerie Tripp’s biography, similar to the ones we were given at Historic Huguenot Street, but updated to include Maryellen’s books on the back. They also had word searches with words for things that would have been sold in the Merriman’s general store and American Girl books of postcards with inspiring messages for girls.


I feel really bad saying this because I want to be clear – I had a really great time at this event and would definitely go again if they had something similar! But the tea part of the day was really badly organized in a way that really surprised me. I’m not sure if Mount Vernon’s staff hadn’t done a program that involved kids and adults, or if the book signing just really threw them off, but the space was extremely, extremely cramped. People had a really difficult time getting themselves and their stuff into a seat at the tightly packed tables and chairs, and the book signing line immediately clogged up most of the center of the narrow room. It made it difficult to get up and get your tea treats, or to get in line to get your books signed. 

We decided to get in line to get our book signed first. At the back of the room, they had decorated with artwork from the original Meet Felicity book cover and a poster from the Theater Kit, where kids could act out scenes from Felicity Learns a Lesson. A version of that play was performed at Colonial Williamsburg as part of an exclusive preview event in 1991 when Felicity was first introduced.


I was really excited to see Valerie Tripp again. She was so friendly at the other book signing event I attended, and she was exactly the same at this one, always being really kind and gracious when people told her how much they loved her work and asking lots of questions about her fans. She also doesn’t rush people through the signing and is really tolerant of people bringing in lots of stuff for her to sign. I personally don’t love when people bring in all 30 books an author’s ever written because it puts a lot of pressure on the author to autograph each and every one of them, but it’s just another way in which she’s a really wonderful person to see. Each meeting felt personal and warm rather than just coldly getting your autograph and being sent on your way, even though there were a fair amount of people to see. 

When it was our turn, I told her she probably didn’t remember me, but I had gone to her book signing at Historic Huguenot Street in 2016 and she said she had thought my face looked familiar. It made my day!! We chatted a little about the past event and I got to tell her I had graduated from the MA I was starting when we met last time, and now I work as a research historian writing exhibit script for different museums. She seemed really interested about the job and said knowing jobs like that exist gives her hope about the future of the humanities. It was really lovely to see her again and definitely made the trek out to Mount Vernon worth it!


After we got our book signed, we tried to get our tea treats. The event was very up front that this wasn’t going to be a full tea: the website said there would be tea, cider, and shrewsbury cakes, queen cakes, and chocolate meringues served, and that’s it. I didn’t mind this, but I did overhear a couple guests complaining that there wasn’t much to choose from. The problem with a buffet format – besides the space issues – is that some people load up their plates without thinking about how many people still need to eat. Jessi and I each took one of each treat (we shared a plate) and a cup of tea, but there were lots of people behind me and they were already almost out of the meringues. 

The treats were nice. They were tasty and more or less period inspired, but nothing especially fancy or fussy, so thus perfect for the kids in attendance as well as the adults. Fortunately the shrewsbury cakes weren’t anything like the versions I made for the blog many years ago, and the meringues were particularly nice, if extremely crunchy. Again, not a bad thing, but a bit of a surprise if you were expecting something a little chewier. The tea was similarly comfortingly simple, a refreshing snack before we went in to the talk and a good way for me to wind down after the excitement of getting to meet one of my childhood role models again.


When it was time for the talk, we were led out of the inn and into the auditorium. It’s a really nice facility, and they had set up a cute little tea table for Valerie Tripp and Mary Wiseman – decked out in her Martha Washington attire – to sit at. 

Once we were all settled, the moderator allowed both women to introduce themselves and talk a little about how they met and what creating Felicity was like. Mary Wiseman was Pleasant Rowland and Valerie Tripp’s original point of contact at Colonial Williamsburg and helped guide the Pleasant Company through the process of designing the character along with many other historians and interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg. She worked closely with Valerie Tripp in the creation of Felicity’s story, giving advice about everything from possible plotlines to the names of the characters. They said the only thing they seriously disagreed about during the process – and it was an ultimately minor disagreement – was the character’s name. “Felicity” is apparently a New England name, not one a Virginia girl likely would have had. Ms. Wiseman said now she was happy to have lost that argument.


It was really interesting to hear such a focused discussion on the creation of one character. At Historic Huguenot Street, Ms. Tripp talked about her writing process very broadly, and talked a lot about her different book series and characters, like how her husband talked her out of killing off Grandmary and how the scene in Meet Molly where she and her friends are sprayed with a hose on Halloween is based off of something that really happened to her. This time, they dug a little more into how Williamsburg provided such a great point of inspiration for the character and her world. Ms. Tripp talked about how she originally wanted Ben to join the Patriot cause as a soldier, but the Colonial Williamsburg historians – including Ms. Wiseman – explained that apprentices signed a binding contract that would have prevented Ben from enlisting in the Continental Army. Tripp rolled with this, and made Ben run away in Felicity Saves the Day.

Ms. Wiseman is also the person responsible for a lot of the events in Felicity Learns a Lesson, including the character Miss Manderly. After watching the movie Rebecca, Wiseman introed a new character called Miss Manderly with younger interpreters to teach them about etiquette, particularly while serving and enjoying tea. Tripp named the character after Wiseman’s persona, and Wiseman emphasized how much she liked that the drama in the book centered around tea and the mannerisms expected of a young lady during the ceremony. I asked if there were any storylines that had to be cut or scrapped from the final drafts of the book, and Ms. Tripp explained that originally, she wanted to have Felicity travel beyond Williamsburg, and maybe even to come up to Mount Vernon! But the idea just didn’t end up working in the final draft and was cut. She also had brought the original draft of Meet Felicity to show all the edits and notes she got back to show just how much work really goes in to writing a book. She said she ended up needing to write Happy Birthday, Samantha! three times before her editors would give her more feedback other than “start over.” 

The talk went a little over and even had some time at the end to take questions from the audience. When they led the guests who were attending the 3:00 tea to the inn, we got to take our photo with Mary Wiseman at the tea table. With that, the event was over, and we headed home. 

Overall, I’m really glad we decided to venture out and I definitely think the program was well worth the ticket price. Parts of the event were a little poorly managed, but I understand how trying to do a tea, book signing, and talk with a lot of kids in attendance presents a challenge to museum professionals, even at a place like Mount Vernon. Hopefully if they do something similar again, they’ll have worked out the kinks and it will be an even bigger success. 

Something I’m always really amazed by with these events is that although Felicity was apparently never a big seller for American Girl, the girl really commands an audience. The event sold out super quickly, and so many people were there so eager to gush at Tripp and Wiseman about their favorite character and what she’s meant to them. Although there are other AG themed events around the country, I definitely feel like as far as character specific events go, Felicity seems to be one of, if not the, most popular subjects. It’s really great to see that the character who got me into historical fiction, and thus my degree and career, still has so many fans almost three decades after her creation.

And let's hope that continues for a long time to come!

2 comments:

  1. I got the chance to go to the tea as well. I've missed any past chances I had to meet Valerie, and I wasn't going to miss this one. Valerie is so nice! I didn't expect her to sign everything I brought (three regular books and a mini book), but she did, and I'm so grateful. I had a tough time narrowing down what to bring - Kit's story collection is my favorite, Meet Molly was the first AG book I ever read, and Felicity's story collection just seemed appropriate to bring to a Felicity event. My modern doll also got her tiny Meet Molly book signed. I'm a bit shy, but Valerie made me feel so at ease that I could've kept talking to her for much longer. I love that she offered to hold my childhood Molly and Kit dolls when we took a photo together. I had decided that I absolutely could not leave Molly, Kit, nor Felicity home and that all three had to go - luckily my mom helped carry someone. I could totally meet Valerie again and will should I have another opportunity. :)

    I do agree that the tea was fairly disorganized. I saw the menu beforehand, but I still expected more than what we got. The food at Colonial Williamsburg is much more substantial! I was at the 3:30 tea, and there weren't enough tables and chairs to go around. My mom and I had to grab a chair from the restaurant. I think they'd run out of tea cups because there were only plastic goblets. I kind of expected real china! The food was only meh - I only grabbed one of each, but I agree that it all went fast. But I didn't come for the food - I came for Valerie! I won't complain too much.

    They must've run out of word searches and postcard books - I didn't end up getting them. But, that's okay. I'm happy with my pamphlet on Valerie's life and the bookmarks Valerie gave me.

    I saw you briefly when we were waiting to go in to the panel, but I was feeling shy! It was definitely cool to recognize other adult collectors there, though!

    I definitely want to go back to Mt Vernon someday. Traffic was heavy coming up, so I didn't have time to check out the house.

    Also, I loved that tiny teapot in the gift shop! I could've gotten it myself, but I ended up getting one of those expensive dresses for Felicity instead. It's going to be a holiday gift!

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    Replies
    1. Bringing the tiny book to get signed is such a cute idea! I'll have to remember that if I get to go to any other future events. :)

      Too bad that the second seating was a little more disorganized. I wonder if they accidentally put out all of the books and crosswords instead of reserving some for the second seating. I know some people took little cards of Felicity on the table that apparently weren't meant to be taken, but there wasn't anything saying they were decor or off limits. Our table didn't have any, but if they did, I totally would have assumed they were part of the freebies.

      Glad you had a nice time even with the bumpiness and sorry to have missed you! A couple people have said they saw me but didn't think to come up and say hi, but I'm always happy to meet other collectors and would love to chat if paths ever cross again. :)

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