48 Fun Facts About American Girl Doll

In what year were American Girl dolls first introduced?

Pleasant Company launched the first American Girl dolls in 1986, selling them only by mail-order catalogue until the first retail store opened in 1998.

How tall are the classic American Girl dolls?

The classic American Girl dolls stand 18 inches tall, with cloth bodies and vinyl limbs, a size that spawned a whole market of 18-inch doll clothes and furniture.

Which company bought Pleasant Company in 1998 for $700 million?

Mattel, maker of Barbie, bought Pleasant Company for about $700 million in 1998, acquiring a doll line that had been pitched to parents as the anti-Barbie.

In which Wisconsin city was Pleasant Company founded?

Pleasant Rowland founded Pleasant Company in Madison, her home city; she later gave more than $200 million to its Overture Center for the Arts.

Which three characters were the original American Girl dolls at launch?

Kirsten, Samantha and Molly were the launch trio, all sharing the same 'Classic' face mould and differing mainly in hair and eye colour.

A trip to which living-history destination inspired Pleasant Rowland to create the dolls?

A mid-1980s visit to Colonial Williamsburg, the restored 18th-century Virginia capital, gave Pleasant Rowland the idea of teaching history through dolls and stories.

Pleasant Rowland financed the company with about $1.2 million she had earned from what?

Rowland financed the launch with about $1.2 million in royalties from children's textbooks she had written, a reading programme that grew out of her years as an elementary teacher.

Kirsten Larson is an immigrant from which country?

Kirsten Larson's stories follow her family from Sweden to the Minnesota frontier in 1854; she was one of the three launch dolls and was archived in 2010.

In which year is Samantha Parkington's story set?

Samantha Parkington's books are set in 1904, in the Progressive Era of Gibson girls and new automobiles; she lives with her wealthy grandmother in fictional Mount Bedford, New York.

What is the name of Samantha's best friend, an Irish-American servant girl?

Nellie O'Malley works as a servant next door to Samantha's grandmother; in 'Samantha Learns a Lesson' Samantha tutors her so she can move up out of the youngest class at school.

Molly McIntire's father is away during the Second World War serving as what?

Molly lives in the fictional Jefferson, Illinois, with siblings Jill, Ricky and Brad.

Molly's Best Friend doll, Emily Bennett, is a girl from which country sent to America for safety?

She was a minor character in Happy Birthday, Molly! before Valerie Tripp expanded her story in Brave Emily.

Felicity Merriman, introduced in 1991, lives in Williamsburg during which conflict?

Felicity's stories begin in 1774 on the eve of the American Revolution, with her Patriot father and Loyalist grandfather on opposite sides of the coming war.

What does Felicity name the wild horse she tames?

Felicity names the copper-coloured mare Penny, for her coat and because she is 'inde-Penny-dent'; the horse is mistreated by the tanner Jiggy Nye until Felicity frees her.

Addy Walker, the first Black historical character, escapes slavery in North Carolina and reaches which city?

Addy and her mother flee the plantation in 1864 and reach Philadelphia, where they find work and a free Black community; Connie Porter wrote her stories.

Where did the Addy doll make her debut in September 1993?

Addy was unveiled at the Black Family Reunion Celebration on the National Mall in Washington in September 1993, an event run by the National Council of Negro Women.

Josefina Montoya, the first Latina doll, lives on a ranch near which city in 1824?

Josefina lives on her family's rancho outside Santa Fe in 1824, when New Mexico was part of Mexico; she keeps a pet goat named Sombrita.

Kaya, whose stories are set in 1764, belongs to which Native American people?

Kaya is Nez Perce, living in the Pacific Northwest in 1764; her doll has a closed-mouth face because baring teeth is considered impolite in Nez Perce custom.

Which title is the second book in the Kaya series?

Kaya's Escape! is the second Kaya book; instead of a 'Learns a Lesson' title, it tells how Kaya and her sister are captured by enemy raiders and Kaya escapes.

Kit Kittredge lives through the Great Depression in which city?

Kit lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1934, where her family takes in boarders after her father loses his car dealership in the Depression.

What is Kit's full first name?

Kit's full name is Margaret Mildred Kittredge; she dislikes 'Margaret' and takes her nickname from the song 'Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag'.

Which actress played Kit in the 2008 film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl?

Abigail Breslin, fresh from her Oscar nomination for Little Miss Sunshine, starred as Kit in the 2008 film, the first American Girl movie released in cinemas rather than on television.

Julie Albright, released in 2007, grows up in which city in 1974-75?

Julie Albright lives in San Francisco in 1974, moving with her mother after her parents' divorce; she invokes Title IX to win a place on her school's boys' basketball team.

Julie's best friend Ivy Ling is a girl of which heritage?

Ivy Ling is Chinese American, living with her family in the city's Chinatown and training as a gymnast; her doll was retired in 2014 along with the other Best Friend characters.

Rebecca Rubin, released in 2009, is the first historical character of which faith?

Rebecca Rubin is the daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side in 1914; her stories cover Hanukkah, Shabbat and her dream of acting in the new movie business.

Nanea Mitchell's story is set in Honolulu around which event?

Nanea Mitchell is a Hawaiian girl in Honolulu in 1941 whose stories begin with the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor and the wartime changes that follow; she was released in 2017.

Melody Ellison lives in which city during the civil rights movement of the early 1960s?

Melody Ellison lives in Detroit in 1964, where her older brother Dwayne chases a Motown record deal and Melody sings in her church choir; she was released in 2016.

Maryellen Larkin, the 1950s character, comes from which Florida city?

Maryellen Larkin grows up in Daytona Beach in 1954 as the middle child of a crowded household, dreaming of standing out after a bout of polio; she was released in 2015.

Claudie Wells grows up in 1922 in which New York neighbourhood?

Claudie Wells lives in Harlem in 1922 at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, surrounded by the neighbourhood's musicians, writers and artists; she was released in 2022.

Caroline Abbott lives through which war at Sackets Harbor, New York?

Caroline Abbott's stories are set in the War of 1812, when British forces attacked Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario; she was released in 2012 for the war's bicentennial and archived in 2015.

Cécile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardner, released together in 2011, are best friends in which 1850s city?

Cécile and Marie-Grace live in New Orleans in 1853, one a free girl of colour and the other a doctor's daughter, as a yellow fever epidemic sweeps the city; both dolls were archived in 2014.

What name did American Girl give its rebranded historical line in 2014?

The historical dolls were rebranded BeForever in August 2014, with new outfits and their books condensed into two volumes; the relaunch also brought Samantha back after her 2008 retirement.

The doll line launched in 1995 as American Girl of Today was renamed what in 2015?

The contemporary line became Truly Me in 2015, after earlier stints as Just Like You and My American Girl; its dolls are sold by number so a child can pick one that resembles her.

Which Girl of the Year for 2008 was an ice skater?

Mia St. Clair, the Girl of the Year for 2008, is a figure skater from a family of hockey players; the 2009 doll Chrissa got the first Girl of the Year movie, Chrissa Stands Strong.

How tall are Bitty Baby dolls?

Bitty Baby dolls are 15 inches tall, with soft cloth bodies and sleep eyes designed for toddlers; the line began as Our New Baby in 1990 before taking the Bitty Baby name in 1995.

How tall are the WellieWishers dolls, launched in 2016?

WellieWishers stand 14.5 inches tall, smaller and simpler than the historical dolls and aimed at children aged five to seven; the 2016 launch group was Willa, Camille, Kendall, Emerson and Ashlyn.

Which 2017 doll was American Girl's first-ever boy?

Logan Everett, released in February 2017, was American Girl's first boy doll, a drummer introduced as the bandmate of Nashville singer-songwriter Tenney Grant.

In which city did the first American Girl Place store open in 1998?

The first American Girl Place opened in downtown Chicago in November 1998, with a cafe, a theatre staging a musical revue and a doll hair salon; a New York store followed in 2003.

Which movie star's production company made the first American Girl film, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday?

Julia Roberts's company Red Om Films produced Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, which premiered on The WB in November 2004 with AnnaSophia Robb as Samantha.

Which actress played Felicity in the 2005 TV film Felicity: An American Girl Adventure?

Shailene Woodley, later Tris in Divergent, played Felicity in the 2005 TV film Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, with Marcia Gay Harden as her mother.

In the Molly TV movie, Molly wants to be the school's "Miss Victory", the lead in what kind of performance?

Molly trains for weeks to land Miss Victory, the star of her school's tap-dance show, in the 2006 Disney Channel film, which had Molly Ringwald as her mother.

Which American Girl puberty guide for tweens outsold every other non-fiction book in the line?

The Care and Keeping of You, American Girl's 1998 puberty guide by Valorie Schaefer, sold several million copies and became the line's top non-fiction title.

How many books make up each classic historical character's core series?

Each classic character got six core books: Meet, Learns a Lesson, Surprise, Happy Birthday, Saves the Day and Changes for; they were pitched at third-grade readers.

The original American Girl dolls were modelled after dolls made by which West German company?

Götz, a doll maker in Rödental, Bavaria, supplied the play dolls that Pleasant Rowland adapted for the launch, and it manufactured the early American Girl dolls.

Which crystal maker partnered with American Girl on its first Collector Dolls?

Swarovski supplied the crystals for American Girl's first Collector Dolls, limited-edition holiday dolls whose gowns were studded with the Austrian maker's crystals.

What was the name of the online virtual world American Girl launched in 2010 for its contemporary dolls?

Innerstar University was a browser-based virtual campus launched in 2010, entered with a code from the Campus Guide packed with each contemporary doll; it shut down in 2015.

The 2002 'Girls of Many Lands' display dolls, sculpted by Helen Kish, were how tall?

Each represented a 12-year-old from a time and place such as 1592 England or 1846 Ethiopia and came with a book; the line ended in 2005.

In which year did American Girl magazine, launched in 1992, publish its final issue?

American Girl magazine, a bimonthly launched in 1992 as an ad-free alternative to teen titles, published its final issue in early 2019 after 27 years.