American Girl is a line of dolls, books, and accessories based on pre-teen girl characters that originally focused on various periods of American history from the viewpoint of girls. The company was founded in 1986 by Pleasant Rowland and originally purchasable by mail order only. In 1998, Pleasant Company became a subsidiary of Mattel.
History
In 1983 educator, writer, and entrepreneur Pleasant T. Rowland was looking for dolls to give her nieces for Christmas. She found baby dolls (which emphasize mothering) and teenage or adult dolls (which emphasize future aspirations of an older age), but no dolls that realistically represented girls in an eight-to-twelve age range. This experience was coupled with a visit to Colonial Williamsburg that demonstrated the value of making history accessible, and inspired Rowland to create Pleasant Company's American Girl line of historical dolls and books.
In 1986 the first Pleasant Company catalogs debuted character dolls Samantha Parkington, Kirsten Larson, and Molly McIntire. Offered for sale with these dolls were the first three stories of each character's eventual six-book series, period outfits and accessories, and storage options. The dolls were designed by Götz, a German doll-maker. Since that time, the company has added to and expanded its historical character line, as well ceasing production of some characters. The company has since branched out into numerous other product lines, among them the American Girl magazine , myriad fiction and non-fiction publications, a line of contemporary 18-inch 'American Girl of Today' dolls, and the 'Bitty Baby' and 'Bitty Twin' collections. Pleasant Company was sold to Mattel, Inc. in 1998 and the name subsequently changed to American Girl. Since then, two of the original three dolls, Samantha Parkington, and Kirsten Larson, have been discontinued from sale.
American Girl Place/American Girl Boutique and Bistros
American Girl Places are stores where the line of American Girl dolls, clothes and accessories can be purchased. The first store debuted in Chicago followed by stores in New York and Los Angeles The stores initially featured theaters which presented three different live musicals: The American Girl Revue, Circle of Friends, and a show for younger children called Bitty Bear's Matinée: The Family Tree. All of the theaters closed by late-summer 2008.
American Girl Boutique and Bistros (AGB) debuted in 2007. The boutiques are smaller than the main stores; they feature rotating stock and more casual restaurants. There are four to date: at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia; in Galleria Dallas Mall in Dallas, Texas; Natick Collection in Natick, Massachusetts; and at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.
American Girl Movies
In 2004, American Girl teamed up with Red Om production company and Julia Roberts to create the first American Girl movie, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday . Four more films have been produced: Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005), Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front (2006), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008, the first to open in theaters), and Chrissa Stands Strong (2009, premiere on HBO).
Historical Characters
The Historical Characters were initially the main focus of Pleasant Company. This product line aims to teach aspects of American history through a six book series from the perspective of a nine year old girl living in that time period. Although the books are written for the eight-to-thirteen-year-old target market, they endeavor to cover significant topics such as child labor, child abuse, poverty, racism, slavery, alcoholism, animal abuse, and war in manners appropriate for the understanding and sensibilities of the company's target market.
The first dolls in the American Girl/Historical line (Samantha, Kirsten and Molly) shared the same face mold but had different hair and eye colors. The first dolls were created with white muslin bodies, but these cloth bodies were changed in 1991 from a white muslin to a matching flesh tone to accommodate the low necklines of Late Colonial/Revolutionary period gowns. Additional face molds were later developed for other dolls, and the line to date includes ten characters covering the period 1764 to 1974.
The "Best Friends" line was introduced in 2004 when supplemental characters from the core book series were created in doll form and marketed as 'best friends' for some of the Historical Characters. These 'Best Friend' dolls share the collections of the main characters, but each has her own book, and additional products are marketed under their names.
Kaya 1764
Kaya (pronounced KY-yah) is a Native American girl of the Nez Perce tribe. Kaya's full name is Kaya'aton'my , or "she who arranges rocks." Written by Janet Beeler Shaw, Kaya's stories takes place in America's Northwest in 1764, before white settlers fully settled the area. The stories focus on the Native way of life and Nez Perce culture of the time. Kaya was introduced in 2002 and American Girl worked with a panel of Nez Perce consultants in creating her stories and collection. A glossary is included for the many Nez Perce words and phrases, and many words are spelled phonetically.
Felicity Merriman, 1774
Described as a horse-loving colonial girl living in Williamsburg, Virginia, who is caught between Patriot and Loyalist family and friends at the onset of the American Revolution, themes in her core books include loyalty and staying true to one's ideals. Many items from Felicity's collection were retired in the early 2000s. However, following the success of the made-for-TV adaptation of Samantha's stories, Felicity's core books were dramatized and Felicity: An American Girl Adventure aired on the WB on November 29, 2005.
Elizabeth Cole
Elizabeth Cole is Felicity's best friend, despite her Loyalist family leanings during the American Revolution. The Elizabeth doll was introduced in August 2005 as the second Best Friend doll, with a book written by author Valerie Tripp. The character was prominently featured in Felicity: An American Girl Adventure . In the original Felicity book illustrations, Elizabeth had brown hair and eyes. The character's appearance was revised to that of blue-eyed blonde with the release of the Felicity DVD and Elizabeth doll. Later editions of the Felicity books were re-illustrated to reflect these changes and edit Elizabeth's physical description.
Josefina Montoya, 1824
Josefina Montoya is a young Mexican girl living in New Mexico when that state was still part of Mexico. She and her family must adapt following the death of their mother and the introduction of mother's sister Tía (Aunt) Dolores to the family circle. Themes include adjustment to loss, day-to-day life of the Mexican people, and an introduction to the cultural and societal changes and influences that occurred once Mexico opened trade routes with the US. Josefina was released in Fall 1997. Josefina's family speaks Spanish; there are many Spanish words and phrases in her books which are defined in the glossary.
Kirsten Larson, 1854
Kirsten Larson is a Swedish immigrant who settles in the Minnesota Territory with her extended family. She faces the hardships, challenges, and adaptations necessary to adjust to life in America, such as learning to speak English. Kirsten was one of the first three dolls produced by American Girl in 1986. Unlike many of the dolls, Kirsten's books have maintained their original illustrations (with the exception of the covers). On September 25, 2009, American Girl customers began receiving letters from the company announcing the pending archiving of Kirsten and her collection, which was subsequently announced on the company's website on September 28, 2009.
Addy Walker, 1864
Addy Walker is a fugitive slave who escapes with her mother from a plantation in North Carolina to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Civil War. Addy dreamed of a new life in freedom but learns about prejudice and racism even in the free North. Addy's main series was written by Connie Porter; the books were originally illustrated by Melodye Rosales and Bradford Brown but later redrawn by Dahl Taylor. Addy is currently the historical line's only African-American character and was the fifth doll to be added to the collection. Addy was not without controversy at release; according to the New York Times , critics attacked the company for making Addy a slave at the start of her stories and wondered why a post-slavery era could not have been chosen instead.
A play about Addy was commissioned and produced by the Seattle Children's Theater in 2007. Addy: An American Girl Story was subsequently taken on limited national tour from January through May 2008 through Kids Entertainment, Inc.
Samantha Parkington, 1904
Samantha is an only child growing up during the Edwardian per
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