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A Brief History of American Girl Doll

2Eklectik — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:49:02 +0000

In 1986, Pleasant T. Rowland, a former educator and publisher of educational materials, founded Pleasant Company which is headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin. Pleasant Company produced and marketed three 18-inch dolls – Samantha, Kirsten and Molly – each from a different period in American History. Each girl also had historically accurate outfits and accessory sets which were tied into books depicting their individual backgrounds. The first three stories of each character’s eventual 6 book series were originally written by Danielle Steele.

The American Girl Collection was originally available only through mail-order catalogs. Several more historical dolls were added (Felicity, Addy, Josefina) and by 1997 their combined stories spanned periods in U.S. history from 1764 to 1944.

In 1992, American Girl expanded to help affirm self-esteem, celebrate achievements, and foster creativity in today’s girls with the launch of American Girl® magazine, It currently ranks among the top ten children’s magazines in the nation and is the largest magazine dedicated exclusively to girls.

In 1995, a line of contemporary 18-inch Just Like You® dolls were introduced, that represent the individuality and diversity of today’s American girls. American Girl also introduced Bitty Baby® and the Bitty Twins®-soft, (for younger girls ages 3-6). Both Bitty’s are huggable baby and toddler dolls that encourage nurturing behavior.

In the Fall of 1997, AmericanGirl.com was launched.

In 1998, Mattel, Inc.-the world’s leading toy company – acquired American Girl. That same year, American Girl established its first retail store in Chicago, and has continued to open locations in major markets across the country.

In 2003, the first Made-for-TV movies and a new feature film are the latest ways we’re connecting with girls, bringing their favorite stories to life on screen.

January 5th 2009 – Chrissa Stands Strong – The first ever Girl of the Year movie premieres on HBO

Today – American Girl continues to expand its Historical collection by adding new dolls from different eras in American history, and occassionally retiring a doll.

For more information about all things related to the American Girl Dolls, visit My Daughter Loves the American Girl Dolls.

Kit Kittredge – The Great Depression

2Eklectik — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:11:07 +0000

Growing up during the Great Depression means a lot of changes for Kit Kittredge. When her father loses his business, the family turns their home into a boarding house to make ends meet.

This means that Kit has to move into the attic, so that her family can rent her room to boarders. She also has to start wearing dresses made from feed sacks to help her family save money. The lack of jobs has Kit worried that her father may have to travel very far away to find a job. Kit Kittredge is very clever, and she works hard to help her family.

Life is not all hard, and some of the changes that Kit goes through help her to see that she can still have fun with very little money. The most important thing that Kit learns is to treasure the things that money can’t buy - family and friends.

Visit us if you’re looking for more information about the American Girl Historial Dolls and the American Girl Place.

American Girls of Strong Character

2Eklectik — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:25:19 +0000

In 1986, a former educator and publisher of educational materials, Pleasant T. Rowland, founded the Pleasant Company in Middleton, Wisconsin. Her goal was simple, to create dolls from different periods in American History. The first three 18 inch dolls the Pleasant Company produced and marketed were - Samantha (1904) , Kirsten (1854)and Molly (1944). Keeping true to her background as an educator, each girl had historically accurate outfits and accessory sets. Each doll also came with a book, that depicted their individual character and backgrounds in the context of the important era in US History that each girl lived in. These books provided a child’s perspective of significant times in American History. The first three stories of each character’s eventual 6 book series were originally written by Danielle Steele.

At first, the American Girl Collection (sometimes also referred to as the Historical Dolls) was originally available only through mail-order catalogs. By 1997, Felicity (1774), Addy (1864), and Josephina (1824) were added to the historical doll line up. Now, their combined stories spanned American history from 1764 to 1944.

Although each dolls book series provided examples of young confident girls of character, in 1992, The Pleasant Company took it one step further. In order to help affirm self-esteem, celebrate achievements, and foster creativity in today’s girls, The American Girl® magazine was launched. Currently it ranks as one of the top ten children’s magazines in the nation . Not only that, but it is also the largest magazine dedicated exclusively to girls.

In 1995, a line of contemporary 18-inch Just LIke You® dolls were introduced, that represent the individuality and diversity of today’s American girls. This group of dolls included up to thirty-two different dolls (several have been retired and are no longer sold), each with a unique combination of face mold, skin, hair and eye color (many from the original American Girl/Historical line). This allows the owner to choose the combination that best resembles herself. American Girl also introduced the 15 inch Bitty Baby® (1990) and the set of toddler Bitty Twins® in 2006 (for younger girls ages 3-6). Both Bitty’s are huggable baby and toddler dolls that encourage nurturing behavior.

In the Fall of 1997, AmericanGirl.com was launched.

In 1998, Mattel, Inc.-the world’s leading toy company – acquired the Pleasant Company. That same year, the first American Girl retail store was established in Chicago, and has continued to open locations in major markets across the country.

In 2004, the Pleasant Company changed its name to American Girl.

By 2007, the Historical Doll line had grown to include Kit (1934 – introduced in 2000), Kaya (1764 – introduced in 2002, and Julie (1974 – introduced in 2007). In addition to the main Historical dolls, several ‘friends’ were introduced as well.

In 2001, the first Limited Edition Girl of Today Doll (Lindsey) was introduced. These are currently known as the Girl of the Year Dolls, the most recent being 2008’s Mia.

For more information about the American Girl Dolls, visit our website.

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