| American Girl | |
|---|---|
| Type | Doll |
| Inventor | Pleasant Rowland |
| Company | Pleasant Company, Mattel |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1986–present |
| Official website | |
American Girl is an American line of 18-inch dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray ten-year-old and nine year old girls of a variety of ethnicities living in various times throughout American history. They are sold with accompanying books told from the viewpoint of the girls. Originally the stories focused on various periods of American history, but were expanded in 1995 to include characters and stories from contemporary life. A variety of related clothing and accessories is also available. Pleasant Company was founded in 1986 by Pleasant Rowland, and its products were originally purchasable by mail order only. In 1998, Pleasant Company became a subsidiary of Mattel. The company has been awarded the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award eight times.[1]
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The Historical Characters line of 18-inch dolls 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– to eleven–year–old girl living in that time period. Although the books are written for an eight- to thirteen-year-old target audience, 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 their young audience.[2] The Pleasant Company originally released 3 historical dolls: Molly, Kirsten, and Samantha. Over the years they have come out with many other dolls: Kaya, Josefina, Felicity, Elizabeth, Addy, Nellie, Rebecca, Kit, Ruthie, Emily, Julie, Ivy, and most recently Marie Grace and Cecile, released in September 2011.
Only one of the original dolls, Molly, is still available for purchase in American Girl stores, magazines, and online. Samantha Parkington and Nellie O'Malley were archived in 2008; Kirsten Larson in 2009; and Felicity Merriman and Elizabeth Cole in 2010.
In 2001, American Girl came out with "Today Girl" now "Girl of the Year", a line of modern, limited-edition dolls. The first "Today Girl", Lindsey Bergman, did so poorly that there wasn't another Today Girl until 2003. In order of release, the GOTY's are: Lindsey Bergman(2001) Kailey Hopkins(2003) Marisol Luna(2005) Jess McConnell(2006) Nicki Fleming(2007) Mia St. Clair(2008) Chrissa Maxwell(2009) Lanie Holland(2010) Kanani Akina(2011) McKenna Brooks(2012)
In 1995, Pleasant Company released "American Girl of Today". In 2006 the product line was renamed "Just Like You"; it was changed again, in 2010, to "My American Girl". This line has included over fifty different dolls over the years, although many are no longer produced and are only available on the secondary market. Each doll has a different combination of face mold; skin tone; eye color; and hair color, length and/or style. American Girl states that this variety allows customers to choose dolls that "represent the individuality and diversity of today's American girls".[2] These dolls are not marketed as representing specific races or ethnicities. Each doll is sold wearing a "meet outfit" that is updated every two years to reflect new fashion trends. A wide variety of contemporary clothing, accessories, pierced ears, earrings and furniture is available for separate purchase, and there are regular releases and retirements to update this line.
Bitty Baby is a line of baby dolls targeted to children aged three and older. The Bitty Twins line debuted in 2003 to represent slightly older toddlers and/or preschoolers.[2] These dolls are set in a modern setting and clothing and accessories are available for them. For both bitty baby and bitty twin dolls, there are two ways to buy them. You can get them with a starter collection or just the doll or dolls, depending if you get bitty baby or bitty twin dolls. Every couple of years, the starter collection is updated. So are the meet outfits, which are the outfits that the dolls come in.
In 2005, American Girl teamed with Julia Roberts' Red Om production company and to create the first American Girl direct-to-video movie, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday. The film spawned a franchise that was followed by Felicity: An American Girl Adventure (2005), Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front (2006), along with the 2008 theatrically released film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. In 2009, HBO premiered An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. Julie: An American Girl Musical was announced as a 2012 theatrical release.[3]
American Girl Place is a store that sells American Girl dolls, clothes, and accessories. The flagship and first store debuted in Chicago followed by stores in New York City, New York and Los Angeles. A number of boutiques followed which are smaller than the main stores; they feature rotating stock and some have casual restaurants. There are six smaller stores to date in North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia; Galleria Dallas Mall in Dallas, Texas; at the Natick Collection in Natick, Massachusetts; at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota; in the Vistas section of the Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado, and most recently in September 2010 at Oak Park Mall in Overland Park, Kansas (a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri).[4] A tenth store opened in June 2011 at Tysons Corner Center in Tysons Corner, Virginia (Washington DC region),[5] and an eleventh store opened at Alderwood Mall, located near Seattle, Washington. There is also an American Girl store in Atlanta, Georgia.
The American Girl magazine is run by the American Girl company. It was started by the Pleasant Company in Middleton, Wisconsin in 1992,[6] with the first issue dated January 1993. Aimed towards girls ages 8 through 14, the bimonthly magazine includes articles, advice columns, fiction, arts and crafts, and activity ideas.
American Girl launched Innerstar University, an online virtual world featuring the My American Girl contemporary doll line, on July 13, 2010. Access to the online world is via a Campus Guide (available separately for a limited time, normally bundled with purchase of one of the 44 My American Girl dolls which contains an access code for the creation of a doll avatar that then navigates the various games, shops, and challenges of the virtual campus of Innerstar U.[7] The launch was simultaneous with Shine on Now, a fund-raising effort by selling t-shirts for the girls and dolls.Kids In Distressed Situations, National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, National Wildlife Federation, and Save the Children charities.[8] The company has also donated "almost $500,000" over several years to national non-profit homeless housing group HomeAid.[9] These contributions are mainly through its Project Playhouse program.[10]
The company has drawn criticism for the expense of the dolls, which cost $100 without accessories. Buyers can easily spend $600 for a doll, outfits and lunch in the company's store in New York.[11]
Some aspects of the doll's characters and history have also provoked controversy. Some observers questioned why Addy, American Girl's first African-American historical character, was portrayed first as a slave (in later stories Addy and her family gain their freedom after the Civil War).[12] In 2005, residents of Pilsen (a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois) criticized a passage in the book associated with the Latina-American doll Marisol, saying it inaccurately depicted their neighborhood as dangerous. A senior public relations associate for American Girl responded to critics saying: “We feel that this brief passage has been taken out of context in the book."[13] The 2009 limited-edition release of Gwen, a homeless American Girl character, was also controversial.[14][15]
In 2005, some pro-life and Catholic groups criticized the company for donating funds to the organization Girls, Inc. which supports underprivileged girls, but also promotes abortion rights and acceptance of homosexuality.[16][17]
The American Girl Place store in New York City was the center of a labor dispute with Actors Equity Association (AEA). On August 3, 2006, fourteen of the eighteen adult actors at the store's now defunct theater went on strike.[18] AEA reached a two-year contract effective April 1, 2008. All American Girl Place theatres were subsequently closed in September of that year.[19]
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