American Girl

This article is about the brand of dolls. For other uses, see American Girl (disambiguation).

American Girl
Type	Doll
Inventor	Pleasant Rowland
Company	Pleasant Company, Mattel
Country	United States
Availability	1986–
Official website

American Girl is an American line of 18-inch dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray ten-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]

Dolls and accessories

Molly dolly McIntire, one of the American Girl dolls

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: Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly. 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. 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 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, and furniture is available for separate purchase, and there are regular releases and retirements to update this line.

Bitty Baby and Bitty Twins are a line of baby dolls targeted to children aged three and older.

Movies

Main article: American Girl films

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 2011 theatrical release.^[3]

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). ^[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.

Magazine

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. It is also notable for being free of advertising.

Online marketing and philanthropy

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 40 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 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]

External Links

• Official American Girl Web Site
• American Girl Dolls Wiki, an external wiki

References

1. ^ "Oppenheimer Toy Award". Toyportfolio.com. Archived from the original on 2006-04-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20060421091642/http://www.toyportfolio.com/Later/ChapterSubChapter.asp?Chapter=Toys:+Early+School+Years:+Five+to+Ten+Years&SubChapter=Dolls+and+huggables:+Dolls. Retrieved 2006-05-04. 
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.americangirl.com/corp/corporate.php?section=about&id=2
3. ^ "Movies: About Julie: An American Girl Musical". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/459275/Julie-An-American-Girl-Musical/overview. 
4. ^ City, Kansas (May 17, 2010). "American Girl comes to Kansas City area's Oak Park Mall". http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2010/05/17/daily4.html. 
5. ^ Mui, Ylan Q. (August 18, 2010). "American Girl doll store coming to Tysons Corner Center". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/17/AR2010081702367.html?hpid=editorialpromo. 
6. ^ O'Rourke, James S. (2007). The Business Communication Casebook: A Notre Dame Collection (2nd ed.). Cengage Learning. p. 3. ISBN 0-324-54509-6. 
7. ^ http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/06/30/american-girl-launches-online-charity-donation-campaign
8. ^ http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/article_d1fe7cb4-83da-11df-a31d-001cc4c03286.html
9. ^ http://www.americangirl.com/corp/pr.php?y=2009&date=1001_1
10. ^ http://www.homeaid.org/index.cfm?tdc=dsp&page=donors_highlights