Journey To The Past: American Girls Doll Line Fanlisting

W E L C O M E

Welcome to "Journey To The Past", fanlisting for the American Girls Doll Collection, as produced by the Pleasent Company and Mattell!

This listing is currently owned by me, Missy, who established it. I adopted it to Mellissa, who adopted it to the next owner, name unknown. The codes and member's list are culled from all three versions, codes specifcally from The Previous approved listing owner. The listing is a part of TFL.org.

S T A T S

Last Updated: June 13th, 2009
Last Added: No members have submitted updates or requested to join since June 12th.
Member Count: 144
Adopted From: Previous Uncredited Owner, Mellissa
Adoption Date: August 31st, 2006
Credits: Gradient, Font and Pictures: Right Here Font is zanders.
A Part Of: The Fanlistings. org

A B O U T

General History: The American Girls Collection was created by Pleasent Rowland in 1985. A former educator, Rowland was looking for a way to make young girls interested in history and strengthening their leadership skills. Rowland produced her first catalog in 1986, and the line took off, becoming a major hit. Originally foccussing on three dolls, the line expanded to eventually include six historical dolls, plus the Bitty Babies, Angelina Ballerina, Girls of Many Lands and Hopscotch Hill lines before Rowland sold the Pleasent Company brands to Mattel Inc. The current number of American-Girl style dolls sold by Mattel (Including the Girls of Yesterday, Girls of Today and Girl of the Year line), number ten.

Branding Info: The doll collection is part of the much larger American Girls brand, which include a magazine, tie-in novels, stationary items, clothing, personal grooming items, Doll Care items, doll hospital, the American Girls Stores (In Minneapolis and New York), tv and (soon) theatrical movies. Spin-off lines have included the Girls of Today line (AKA: Just Like You), which allows the child to "create" a doll that looks like them from a variety of hair and eye-color types and acessorize their dolls with outfits and clothing that best represents their lifestyles and Bitty Babies - baby dolls with different kinds of clothing.

About The Dolls Each doll is soft-bodied, with a hard plastic head, rooted hair, handpainted features and "sleepy eyes". They each have a collection of accessories and outfits that come directly from their representation in each novel - whenever the doll recieves a spin-off movie, their collection expands to include best-friend dolls, acessories and costumes used onscreen. Originally, the release of clothing and acessories followed a certain pattern: Meet (Doll's name) would be accompanied by the release of the basic doll and a small portion of acessories (a purselike acessory, whatever the character would have used as a hankie in her time, replicated money from the era, an extra set of socks, a hat) entitled "(Doll's Name) Acessories". Then, with the release of each new book in the series (there were, invariably, six), lots of four acessories were offered, for anywhere from twenty to a hundred dollars. Release order usually followed this pattern:

(Doll's Name) Learns a Lesson included a school outfit or uniform, replicated educational materials from the era and a carrying satchel/backpack, a mock-lunch and eventually a miniature school desk for the doll.

Merry Christmas, (Doll's Name)! Would include a fancy winter dress, toys mentioned in the story and a real food acessory (In Samantha's version, you can make real gingerbread houses with the icing mix, candy and pre-baked gingerbread the company would send you; in Felicity's version, you could bake real teacakes, etc.).

Happy Birthday, (Doll's Name!) was invariably the largest release every year, and always offered a birthday dress, a small-scale table and two chairs, birthday party dinnerware, a party game, a stuffed pet figure for the doll, a gift, and fake food items.

(Doll's Name) Saves The Day included a summer outfit, an outdoorsy craft project, and a number of acessories related to the story with a natural/outdoors theme.

Changes for (Doll's Name) Usually included whatever would serve as a winter jacket, hat and gloves in the doll's time period, winter activity packets, and some acessory crucial to the development of the last story.

The final acessory pack released was always a nightgown, bed, and "travel trunk" (AKA: doll storage trunk). In recent times, the bedtime package has expanded to include a table, robe and evening acessories. Also availible are the usual multiple-doll acessories (doll stands, extra stockings and shoes, hair grooming acessories).

When the Mattel takeover occured, the company began to release new outfits quarterly, to match the seasons as they passed, and, as stated above, began adding "Best Friend" dolls and new acessories and outfits whenever a new movie is released. The execption to all of the above trends is Kaya, a Nez Perce pre-Colonization Native American. Her books - and thus her doll and acessories - reflect the seasonal changes and challenges her tribe go through during the space of a year.

Dolls: When The American Girls Collection was first released, the line included three dolls:

Kirsten Larson: A Swedish immagrent resettling in Minnesota during the pioneering boom. Feels out-of-place in her new country as she tries to assimilate into the new American culture.

Samantha Parkington: recently-orphaned Edwardian (billed as "Victorian", but the stories take place in 1904-1905, which is post-Victorian) child, living with her grandmother in Mount Bedford New York, a tomboy who rebels against her social caste. Her best friend, Nellie was released as a companion doll to her movie.

Molly McIntire: Jefferson, Illinois girl coping with troubles on the homefront as her doctor father serves overseas in World War II. Has fantasies of being a glamorous movie star. A doll of Emily, her English friend, was released as a companion piece to her movie.

After a five-year period, a new doll was added:

Felicity Merriman: A determined young horsewoman dealing with the burgeoning Revolutionary War in Williamsburgh, Virginia. Her best friend, Elizabeth, was released as a companion doll for the debut of her movie.

After Felicity's sucess was a proven thing, the next doll added was:

Addy Walker: A runaway slave (AG's first African-American character) who hopes for the reformation of her family as the Civil War comes to a close around her in Phillidelphia, Pennsylvania.

The next doll added was Josefina Montoya, a motherless daughter gradually emerging from her shell as she lives in pre-revolutionary New Mexico. She was the final doll added before the Pleasent Company was bought by Mattel.

Next was Kit Kittredge, a young girl dealing with the Great Depression from the vantagepoint of her hometown in Cinncinati, Ohio. Her best friend Ruth was released in 2008 as a companion to her movie.

Then came Kaya, a Nez Perce Native American living in pre-colonized America. An experienced horsewoman, she dreams of being a great healer.

In 2007, Julie Albright and her best friend Ivy were addded (Ivy's the first historical issue Asian American character in the line). Julie's story deals with the women's rights movement in the 1970's.

In 2008, Mattel announced they would retire the Samantha and Nellie dolls in 2009.

In 2009, Samantha was replaced by Rebecca Rubin, whose story is set in a similar time period as Samantha's (1914), a Russian-Jewish first-generation American living in a New York City tennament building. In Rebecca's line - similar to Julia's - the "(Doll) Learns a Lesson" book is replaced by a story that concentrates on the friendship between the main character's best friend, in Rebecca's case, her cousin Anna (also aside from the title, as in Julie's case, the theme of the book is much the same as it is in (Doll) Learns a Lesson). Her holiday story, of course, explores Hanukkah.

Girl Of The Year: After the Mattel takeover, the Girl of The Year line was introduced. Beginning in 2001, the limited edition featured smaller, specific collections and individual storybooks, similar to the historical doll's "Meet" book. Although each collection is specific to the doll's character, each features accessories based on the book's plotline, and each doll has an animal companion. Each doll is only available for a year after being released in the company's Christmas catalog, and is immediately retired with the next year's Christmas book.

The dolls offered thus far are:

2002 - 2003: Lindsey Bergman

2003 - 2004: Kailey Hopkins

2004 - 2005: Marisol Luna

2005 - 2006: Jess Akiko McConnell.

2006-2007: Nicki Flemming

2007-2008: Mia

2008-2009: Chrissa Maxwell

Other Pleasent Company Lines:

Bitty Babies: The Bitty Babies are soft-bodied baby dolls with plastic hands, feet and heads. Much like the American Girls, the Bitty Babies and Bitty Baby Twins have multiple stories and outfits reflecting seasonal celebrations. Many parents use the Bitty Babies to help their younger children cope with the prospect of a coming sibling.

Angelina Ballerina Angelina Ballerina tells the story of a ballet-loving mouse and her quest to become a prima ballerina. The Pleasent Company issued several stuffed animal versions of Angelina, along with costumes and playsets. There is also an Angelina animated tv series, which airs on PBS. The Angelina line has since been retired.

The Girls of Many Lands Targeted to the preteen and older-audience markets, The Girls of Many Lands dolls were made of more delicate material, and were intended for display versus play. The story books accompanying the dolls - all set overseas - foccused on such periods and places as Rennasaince Italy and Pre-Colonial India and on such serious topics as arranged marriage and social imperialism. The doll series never caught on with collectors - despite being winningly sculpted by well-known collectible doll artist Helen Kish - and were retired a year after they went into production.

The Hopscotch Hill Gang: Intended for younger readers, the Hopscotch Hill Gang were a group of preeschoolers learning how to share, grow and be responsible children. Three dolls were issued, along with books and outfits - their bodies more the soft ragdoll type versus the hard plastic of the American Girls series. This series also never caught on with buyers and too was reired quickly.

thanks to wikipedia.com for some details.

R U L E S

We don't have that much in the way of rules to follow here; just follow these simple notions and you should be fine.

You've got to be a fan of the American Girls doll line - only the dolls, there is a sepparate listing for the book series -, in any incarnation. Otherwise, why would you want to be part of this listing?

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C O D E S

All made by The Previous approved listing owner, unless otherwise noted. To donate, attach to an email and send Here!

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Donated By Denis