American Girl Dolls in Review
Production for the popular American Girl Dolls began in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The company, founded by Pleasant T. Rowland, bacame a division of Mattel, Inc. in 1998. They are a standard size of 18 inches and are able to share clothing and accessories with other brands of similar body shape. The high-quality dolls are made with vinyl heads and lower arms and legs while having a soft cloth body. As the intention of these dolls are for each one to symbolize a specific time period in America’s history, their skin tones vary depending on each doll’s ethnic background and place in time.
As the dolls aren’t inexpensive, the are often a special gift from parents or doting grandmothers. Each doll comes with a lavish signature outfit and an historically accurate book written around their character. All the accessories and clothing for each individual doll are centered around “her” very own story.
The Historical American Girl dolls are as follows. - Kaya lives an exciting life as a Native American Nez Perce in 1764.
- Felicity and her best Friend Elizabeth are colonial girls growing up in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1774.
- Josephina is a Hispanic girl living on a ranch in New Mexico in 1824.
- Kirsten is a Pioneer girl on the Frontier in 1854.
- Addy, a “courageous African-American, escapes from slavery in 1864.
- Samantha lives as a Victorian orphan with her Grandmother in the year 1904 and is friends with Nellie, a servant girl, in 1906.
- Kit grows up during the Depression Era, her story beginning in 1932.
- Molly’s story takes place during World War II with her best friend Emily in 1944.
- The year 1974 brings about a lot of change for creative Julie and her best friend Ivy.
“Girl of the Year” is a Limited Edition line produced by Pleasant Company. These dolls are only available for year.
- Pleasant Company introduced Lindsey, with “a love to help” in 2001.
- In the Summer of 2003, Kailey, a beach girl, made her appearance.
- Marisol Luna, with a love of dance and living in Chicago, was introduced December of 2004.
- We welcomed Jess McConnell who was eager to explore Belize on December 26, 2005.
- Nicki is the star of 2007, with her pup Sprocket.
Pleasant Company also has another line of dolls called “Girls of Today”. These dolls are designed to be “matched” to their owner. You can select hair, eye and skin color as well as hair style.
Each doll is beautiful in her own right. As the dolls are a standard size, even if her “clothing line” has been retired, it is still just as easy to find a wardrobe for them. While a limited number of outfits are available at American Girl.com, you can find a huge selection on eBay. Many individual web sites such as www.dollcupboard.com, offer a variety of high-quality clothing and accessories at a resonable price. Better yet, if you can so yourself – there are many sources for appropriately sized clothing patterns you can do yourself.
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