Felicity Merriman (doll)

The Felicity Merriman doll was released in Fall 1991. Felicity was officially archived on March 28, 2011.

Felicity Doll
Appearance:
 * Face Mold: Classic Mold
 * Skin: Light
 * Eyes: Green
 * Hair: Red, center part, no bangs, three pin curls at the sides
 * Felicity's hair comes pulled back in a ponytail.

Meet Outfit
Felicity's meet outfit has had two distinctly different versions. She wore the first version from her debut in 1991 until 2005; it was changed to coincide with the revamp of her collection and the release of her movie, Felicity: An American Girl Adventure.

First Meet Outfit
Felicity's original meet outfit was an everyday dress.

Rose Garden Gown
A low cut off white dress with an era-accurate rose print and elbow length sleeves. The dress has white ruffles at the neck and wide ruffled white sleeves; sleeves also have matching print ruffles. The waistband is curved and the ankle-length skirt is knife-pleated onto the bodice. The skirt has slits in the side so that Felicity can access her pocket. Velcros up the back.

When Felicity's meet outfit was changed to the Traveling Gown, the dress was sold separately with the ivory hair ribbon for $22 before being retired.

Shift
Rather than underpants like the other girls wore, Felicity wore a historically accurate shift under her clothes. Somewhat shorter than her dresses, it was loose from the neckline down to the hem and in the sleeves. The neckline itself was gathered with elastic. A historically accurate shift would use ribbon or string to gather the neck opening, but presumably elastic was more prudent for a doll's shift.

Stockings
White woolen stockings that come up over the knees.

Shoes
Black shoes with brass buckles. These shoes were "single-lasted", allowing the shoes to be placed on either foot as actual colonial shoes were.

Hair Ribbon
A 22" ivory colored satin ribbon with V-cut ends.

Second Meet Outfit
Felicity's Meet outfit was changed with her revamped collection and the release of Elizabeth Cole.

Traveling Gown
Felicity's Traveling Gown became the new meet outfit.

Shift
The shift was changed to velcro up the back and have a fixed neckline, rather than one that gathered with elastic. Though this added bulk under the dresses, the fixed neckline shape and size worked better with the necklines of Felicity's dresses.

Stockings
The stockings were now made with knit fabric.

Shoes
The shoes are now matched to the feet and cannot be swapped left for right.

Hair Ribbon
Now a white satin ribbon with V cut ends; about 18" in length.

Coral Necklace
A string of coral beads.

Round-Eared Cap
White round-eared cap embellished with a thin dark coral ribbon.

Garters
Thin white ribbons of 12 3/4" long and 1/4" with red embroidery of dots, lines and text; the text reads in caps, "Wove with love for Lissie 1774." These tie around her stockings to simulate actual garters needed to hold up stockings. They come with a card with the following text:


 * Mrs. Merriman wove these garters for Felicity. Tie them in a pretty bow around her stockings just above her knees.

Despite the text, the garters can be accurately worn both above and below the knee.

Bit
A replica of a colonial bit, worth 12.5 cents. It comes on a card to hold it; the card discusses how it was made (cutting a Spanish dollare into eight pieces), how it was the most popular coin in Virginia, and how later the dollare let to the name of the American dollar.

Handkerchief
A 3" square of white cotton trimmed with lace.

Drawstring Purse
A red brocade purse with a ribbon drawstring top.

Second Meet Accessories
Only two items in the accessories were changed to match the Traveling Gown; the rest remained the same.

Mob Cap
The lavender-ribboned mob cap that came with the Traveling Gown replaced the dark coral ribboned round-eared cap.

Floral Choker
The choker that had come with the Traveling Gown replaced the coral necklace.

Dress Like Your Doll
Felicity's first meet outfit was available as the Rose Garden Dress for $80; the girl-sized coral necklace was available as Felicity's Coral Necklace for $28. Both items were phased out around 2000.

Pre-Mattel Differences

 * Mattel Felicity dolls have darker red hair as opposed to the "carrot red" of the PM dolls.
 * PM Felicity dolls have muted green eyes; Mattel Felicity dolls have brighter green eyes.
 * PM Felicity dolls have soft red eyelashes; Mattel Felicity dolls have standard black eyelashes.

Trivia

 * Felicity’s low cut outfits resulted in the body fabric of the first three dolls being changed from white to skin-colored.
 * While the American Girl site now refers to the round-eared caps as mob caps, they are still properly called round-eared caps; there was a distinct difference in the designs during the colonial era.
 * When Kaya debuted in 2002, Felicity was pulled from the catalogs with a note saying that she would now be an online exclusive. During this time several of her items and outfits were retired. She was later revamped with the release of her movie and Elizabeth Cole.
 * Felicity was available for a limited time to celebrate the opening of American Girl Washington DC in 2011 following her archival.