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Molly McIntire, one of the dolls in this series (without glasses)
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 and has now expanded to include dolls of and stories about contemporary girls. The 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.
Contents
* 1 Overview
* 2 American Girl Stores
* 3 American Girl Movies
* 4 Historical Characters
o 4.1 Kaya, 1764
o 4.2 Felicity Merriman, 1774
+ 4.2.1 Elizabeth Cole
o 4.3 Josefina Montoya, 1824
o 4.4 Kirsten Larson, 1854
o 4.5 Addy Walker, 1864
o 4.6 Samantha Parkington, 1904
+ 4.6.1 Nellie O'Malley
o 4.7 Rebecca Rubin, 1914
o 4.8 Kit Kittredge, 1934
+ 4.8.1 Ruthie Smithens
o 4.9 Molly McIntire, 1944
+ 4.9.1 Emily Bennett
o 4.10 Julie Albright, 1974
+ 4.10.1 Ivy Ling
* 5 My American Girl dolls
* 6 Girl of the Year dolls
o 6.1 2001: Lindsey Bergman
o 6.2 2002: Kailey Hopkins
o 6.3 2005: Marisol Luna
o 6.4 2006: Jess Akiko McConnell
o 6.5 2007: Nicki Fleming
o 6.6 2008: Mia St. Clair
o 6.7 2009: Chrissa Maxwell
o 6.8 2010: Lanie Holland
* 7 Bitty Baby and Bitty Twins
* 8 Innerstar University
* 9 Retired Product Lines
* 10 Reaction
o 10.1 Controversies
o 10.2 Addy
o 10.3 Girls, Inc.
o 10.4 Girl Of The Year 2005: Marisol
o 10.5 Labor Issues
o 10.6 Gwen Thompson and Homelessness
* 11 External links
* 12 References
Overview
In 1984, 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 nine-to-twelve age range. This experience was coupled with a visit to Colonial Williamsburg, a place which Rowland felt personified the accessibility of living history and which inspired her to create a line of historical character 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 then, the company has added to and expanded its historical character line as well as ceasing production of some older characters. The company has also 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 Twins' collections. Pleasant Company was sold to Mattel, Inc. in 1997, and the name of the company subsequently changed to American Girl.
American Girl Stores
American Girl Place in The Grove at Farmers Market in Los Angeles, California
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 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). [2] A tenth store is planned for summer 2011 at Tysons Corner Center in Tysons Corner, Virginia (Washington DC region).
American Girl Movies
Main article: American Girl films
In 2004, American Girl teamed with Red Om production company and Julia Roberts 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 on An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. Julie: An American Girl Musical was announced as a 2012 theatrical release.
Historical Characters
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