Historical Characters



The Historical Characters, for the purposes of this wiki, refers to the flagship American Girls doll collection. Previously known as The American Girls Collection, they have since been officially renamed Historical Characters in order to give more spotlight to the other lines, just as American Girl of Today became Just Like You and, more recently, My American Girl. This product line was originally the center focus of the American Girl company and includes the first dolls released by the company.

Primary Characters

 * Kaya'aton'my, representing Native America in a region prior to European-centered settlement
 * Felicity Merriman, representing Colonial America at the dawn of the Revolutionary War
 * Caroline Abbott, representing the War of 1812
 * Josefina Montoya, representing Southwest America under Mexican rule
 * Cécile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardner, representing New Orleans during the 1853 yellow fever epidemic
 * Kirsten Larson, representing mid-century settlement of the American "West" by pioneers
 * Addy Walker, representing the end of the Civil War era
 * Samantha Parkington, representing turn-of-the-century America and the American Progressive Era
 * Rebecca Rubin, representing early twentieth century immigration from Eastern Europe and events leading to World War I America
 * Kit Kittredge, representing the Great Depression era
 * Molly McIntire, representing the World War II era
 * Julie Albright, representing the upheaval and changes of American society during the mid 1970s

Inspiration
Pleasant Rowland gave two reasons for creating the line. One was to provide a doll the same age as the child who would be playing with it and present it as a friend rather than a baby to take care of or an adult to be like in the future. The other was to teach history to children with a personal focus from characters their age whom they could relate to.

History of the Historical Line
The Historical Collection, and Pleasant Company itself, launched in 1986 with the release of Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly. At the time, the dolls were only released with small collections consisting of the dolls, meet accessories, school clothing and accessories, holiday clothing and dolls, and the first three books of the Central Series. No furniture was released until later on. The dolls had been developed by Gotz.

In 1990, while Felicity was still in design, a radical change was made in the body of the dolls. Previously, the dolls had white muslin bodies; all clothes were designed to cover up the body with high necks and full bodies, which was historically accurate for the time. Due to the low neckline of historical colonial outfits, Felicity could not have a white muslin body as it would destroy the doll's aesthetics and the image of the body being flesh. The original three dolls were given skin-tone matching bodies, and in the following Fall of 1991, Felicity, with a skin-tone matching body, was added to the collection along with her first three books and related accessories. This led to all future dolls having bodies that were much closer to the doll's given skin tone. Felicity's last three books and accessories came out in spring 1992.

In Fall 1993, Addy was was added to the collection along with her first three books. Her being African-American required a new face mold, the Addy Mold. Her last three books and complementing accessories came out in spring 1994.

In Fall 1997, Josefina was added to the collection along with her first three books. She was given a more accurate mold as well, the Josefina Mold. Her last three books and complementing accessories came out in spring 1998. This was the last Historical Character fully released by Pleasant Company.

In Fall 2000 (soon after the full purchase by Mattel), Kit was was added to the collection along with her first three books and associated accessories. Her last three books and complementing accessories came out in Spring of 2001.

In Fall 2002, Kaya was added to the collection along with all her books and several complementing accessories.

In Fall 2007, Julie was released with all her books and several items in her collection. She was also released with her companion doll, Ivy Ling. Her birthday and summer sets were released in Spring 2008.

In Fall 2008, American Girl announced that they would "archive" Samantha's entire collection; she, Nellie O'Malley, and their collections would no longer be available for purchase with the exception of books, movie, and the Mini Dolls. Nellie and Samantha dolls, along with a majority of the collection, began to sell out by the beginning of December 2008.

In Spring 2009, Rebecca was released with all her books, and several aspects of her collection. At the same time, Samantha and Nellie were officially archived. It is officially unknown if Samantha and Nellie will ever be available again after the archiving; American Girl has made no official statements about their return at this time. In Fall 2009, American Girl announced that they would archive Kirsten's entire collection; she and her collection would no longer be available for purchase with the exception of books and the Mini Dolls.

In 2010, Kirsten was officially archived. In Fall 2010, American Girl announced that they would archive Felicity's entire collection; she, Elizabeth Cole, and their collections would no longer be available for purchase with the exception of books, movie, and the Mini Dolls.

In Spring 2011, Felicity and Elizabeth were officially archived. In Summer 2011, two new Historical Characters, Marie-Grace Gardner and Cécile Rey, were made available for pre-order on the official website and released with all their books and several items in their collections.

In Fall 2012, a new Historical Character, Caroline Abbott, was released and made available for purchase along with her books, clothing, accessories, and furniture.