Celebrating 40 years of American Girl

For me, the American Girl doll was a rite of passage. Moving from a baby doll to big girl doll was a big moment for my sisters and me. We all were allowed to choose our American Girl dolls before our respective eighth birthdays, and then we eagerly awaited them. As a group, we had Molly, Samantha, and Kit. Like other American Girl doll fans, we voraciously read our way through every available six-book American Girl series in the 1990s.

As we approach this milestone and the company focuses on celebrating 40 years of American Girl, it’s fun to reflect on how these dolls have captured the hearts of young readers, and where they’re going in the future.

The American Girl doll line is turning 40 this year. Not each and every doll in their line, but the company and concept as a whole. American Girl has stood out in the doll universe because of its initial focus on historical dolls and the perspective of 8 to 14-year-old girls of different backgrounds throughout American history. I spoke to the founder of American Girl Doll News, Sydney Jean, about her love for the doll line. She noted that her fandom arose in part because “American Girl didn’t talk down to us. It’s very special because it shows us all we have a place in history.”  

The beginning of the American Girl

American Girl books from BorrowedmemoriesCo on Etsy

The founder of the company, Pleasant Rowland, was a teacher and also wrote textbooks. She conceived of the American Girl idea after a trip to Colonial Williamsburg showed her a total lack of young girls’ perspectives on history. She invested her earnings from textbook royalties into starting the Pleasant Company in 1986 to house her project of historical dolls, accessories, and associated book series. The original American Girl company was headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.

The first three 18-inch American Girl historical dolls were released in 1986: Kristen Larson, Samantha Parkington, and Molly McIntire. Felicity Merriman followed in 1991, and Addy Walker in 1993. Addy was a big moment for American Girl because she was their first Black doll. The writer of her six-novel series, Connie Rose Porter, worked with historians to ensure an accurate, educational, and viable doll to introduce her to the American Girl universe. Next up was Josefina Montoya to round out the original six. Each series started with a “Meet [name]: An American Girl” to set up their life, and then followed with their historical adventures. First editions are major collectibles.

The historically accurate outfits and accessories were part of Rowland’s “chocolate cake with vitamins” approach to embedding history in playtime. The methodical process of dressing up and playing pretend fed into the interest in reading the books for more storylines. Sydney noted that engaging with the historical dolls from the age of eight allowed her a view into certain parts of history that were glossed over in school, especially slavery and the reality of life in the 1920s. The recent collection An American Girl Anthology: Finding Ourselves in the Pleasant Company Universe presents a series of essays from OG American Girl fans who grew up and started to pass down their love of American Girl to their children, and also tapped into the nostalgic online fandom of American Girl.

As the historical doll line continued, dolls were continually “archived” and “re-released.” They also expanded the worlds of the historical dolls, like introducing Samantha’s best friend Nellie, Felicity’s best friend Elizabeth, and Molly’s English friend Emily. There are over 50 characters available now.

Outside of the dolls, American Girl released The Care and Keeping of You in 1998, which became an iconic book for young tweens who were quietly afraid of puberty. This, and a copy of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, were all we had in the ’90s!

To support the girls even more, American Girl published a magazine from 1992 to 2019. Fans loved the magazine, and you can find collectors reselling them on eBay and Etsy.

Even though American Girl had started as a competitor to Barbie, Mattel Inc. noticed the power of the dolls and bought Pleasant Company in 1998. Pleasant Rowland stayed on the board for another two years and retired in 2000.

Outside of the Central Series for each of the historical characters, American Girl also started publishing middle grade mysteries for them. Each contemporary Girl of the Year gets a dedicated book as well. To support their young readers even more, the Smart Girls Guide series includes books about how to handle friendship, self-confidence, sports, and more.

Representations of the American Girl

The runaway popularity of the American Girl dolls led to the opening of the first American Girl Place in 1998 in Chicago. There are currently still seven open in the United States, and three in Mexico. This was truly the place to be: not only could you shop for American Girls and their accessories, you could have tea with them at the café. You could also go to the hair salon with your doll and take them to the hospital for any necessary services.

Most likely because of the popularity of the American Girl dolls, the company introduced a line of contemporary dolls in 1995 called American Girl of Today. The company renamed the product line to Just Like You in 2006, and settled on the name Truly Me for these contemporary dolls in 2015. Additionally, American Girl releases an annual “Girl of the Year.” This doll is also a contemporary one, only available for that year (a very Disney Vault kind of move).

As for the historical dolls, there are currently 20 characters, with the oldest historical period, the 1760s, told through Kaya from the Nimiipuu Nation of the Pacific Northwest. Since its inception, the historical line has continued to focus on introducing more girls of different backgrounds and classes, like Claudia (who lived during the Harlem Renaissance), and Nanea (a Hawaiian girl whose storyline dealt with Pearl Harbor). Currently, the most “recent” historical dolls are Nicki and Isabel Hoffman (released in 2023), fraternal twins whose storyline starts in 1999.

Pleasant Rowland’s original concept of “chocolate cake with vitamins” continued, but there has been contention with how American Girl chooses to display certain parts of history. Fans and critics alike have pointed out that the focus on optimism sometimes glosses over historically complicated times. The need to sell dolls could tip the balance toward a cleaner narrative, instead of one that dealt with the true complications of history (like Kristen’s friend dying). Playing with America’s Doll: A Cultural Analysis of the American Girl Collection by Emilie Zaslow explores these issues as a fan and a critic.

Anniversary celebrations  

American Girl has a lot of celebrations coming up for its 40th anniversary. The company will release a how-it’s-made book called The Making of American Girl for fans who want an insider view into the doll production.

Extending their literary history, Samantha Parkington is getting a new book aptly titled Samantha: The Next Chapter by Fiona Davis. The book will follow Samantha in the 1920s, hard at work after the passage of the 19th Amendment, encouraging women to vote. But she shockingly loses all her money and has to make it on her own in the city. It’s a very different Samantha than we have known in the past.

The first and biggest anniversary celebration moment was the release of the American Girl Modern Era collection. These are the original six historical dolls, but in a modern alternate universe. They’re 14.5 inches instead of 18, and have been met with mixed-to-negative reactions from fans. They are also only $90 instead of $135, so it’s maybe a decent option if you have an avid collector in your midst.

The Future

As American Girl has moved to address issues facing young people today, they continue to face issues. The 2022 book Body Image: How to Love Yourself, Live Life to the Fullest, and Celebrate All Kinds of Bodies from their Smart Girls Guide series included references to trans-affirming care, so naturally, a bunch of right-wing groups got very angry that a book was accurately reflecting the issues of the moment.

The fear from American Girl fans like Sydney is that American Girl, owned by Mattel, will capitulate to the demands of profit. She noted, “In the last couple of years, the focus has veered more towards licensing instead of focusing on creating new characters.” Although it’s very cute that licensing deals allow American Girl to offer KPop Demon Hunters and Disney dolls, it dilutes the brand of American Girl. Treating American Girl as just a diffusion brand for Mattel would totally kill the nostalgic love that fans have for the brand.

Although many fans joke that American Girl dolls are always going through difficult times in their books —there’s even an SNL skit about this topic — we love American Girls because of their trials. We want to see girls who struggle and find strength and resilience.

American Girl can and should inspire a love of history in their fans. Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl, by American Girl podcasters Mary Mahoney and Allison Horrocks, is yet another book that reaffirms why so many writers learned storytelling and creativity from American Girl. Without new historical dolls to drive that love and interest, American Girl will be just another doll company. It’s great that fans can get made-to-order, customized dolls—but what about recognizing themselves in history?

Fans want American Girl to continue to develop historical dolls. Sydney stressed it was more important than ever to feature dolls from immigrant backgrounds, from different time periods, and diverse backgrounds in historical time periods across the line. If American Girl wants to remain the “rite of passage” doll — especially as prices go up — they should listen to the die-hard fans who will pass down their love of American Girl.

The importance of widening the American Girl experience is instilling the belief and confidence that people like Sydney got from the American Girls when she started collecting them: “we matter, we are going to be able to change things, and we have hope in the girls of tomorrow.”