Girls of Many Lands was a short-lived line of eight books and display dolls that spanned several countries and time periods. The line was released from 2002 to 2005.
The line was aimed towards an older demographic with a suggested minimal age of ten years old; books went into deeper topics than the Historical Characters, including controversies such as civil or political situations, war and colonization, and disease. It was often shown in catalogs next to the American Girl Minis line as they were targeted towards the same older girl audience.
Primary Characters and Book Titles
- Isabel Campion, representing Tudor England (1592)
- Cécile Revel, representing France during the last years of the reign of King Louis XIV of France (1711)
- Leyla, representing the Tulip Period in Turkey (1720)
- Saba, representing Ethiopia during the Age of Judges (1846)
- Chou Spring Pearl, representing China during the Second Opium War (1857)
- Minuk, representing the arrival of American Christian missionaries in the Alaskan Territory (1890)
- Kathleen Murphy, representing Ireland during the global Great Depression (1937)
- Neela Sen, representing the emerging struggle for country independence in British-occupied India (1939)
Books
Each girl had one book unlike the six-book Central Series for Historical Characters. The books were much more complex both in length and topic than Historical Characters' and had much more detailed plots. The title format included the girl's first name and a poetic subtitle that evoked an image of the time and referred to events in the book (for example, Cécile: Gates of Gold implies the lavish lives of the pre-revolutionary French nobility as well as referring to literal gates). Also included were the country and year when the story was set, though the year was not directly on the cover.
The cover showed a close up of the girl's face, "Girls of Many Lands" in gold script, the country setting (or culture in the case of Minuk), the character name in cursive script, and the subtitle in cap letters. The inner flap gives a descriptive blurb of the story; the back cover has a quote from the story imposed over a faded image that is shown internally.
The half title shows the title and the main character's name in her language, if in a written non-Latin language. For example, in Saba: Under the Hyena's Foot, her name is in Amharic. [1] Behind the half title is a full color splash painting of the main character in a background scene related to the book's setting. (The cover is a close-up photo from this picture).
Each character is given a decorative "ribbon"-style motif connected to their culture in black and white that borders the top of the first page of each new chapter. The books use many words from the language of the main character. A glossary is provided in the back that lists unique words and locations, their approximate pronunciations, and definitions.[2] The books are written in first person and have no internal illustrations.
Like the Historical Central series, each book ends with a look back at the time, called Then and Now: A Girl's Life. It discusses the social aspects of the era for girls approximately of the class and culture of the main character, and how the culture and times have moved forward to modern girls in the area. (At the top of the page, the ribbon border is shown in color.) The back flap contained a removable bookmark of the character on a perforated edge and the author's data.
Dolls
The dolls of the characters, approximately nine inches tall, were mostly for display only and designed by Helen Kish. Each doll was made of full vinyl with jointed head, shoulders, and hips and painted eyes and features. She came in one elaborate, detailed, outfit designed to fully resemble what she is wearing on the internal flap and cover of her respective book. The outfit, of a fancy style, generally had deep significance to the character (for example, Neela's sari was a symbol of her impeding maturity, while Saba's fancy dress showed her newly applied royal status). There were no extra clothes for any characters; while clothes had snaps for adjustment or display, many items were sewn or tacked into place and thus the outfit was to be considered non-removable.
The dolls came in a trunk shaped cardboard box. One side held the book and the other the doll along with a doll stand that snapped around the lower leg and calves. Prices were initially in the $48-54 range, depending on outfit complexity for the character. They were later lowered by 50% before the line was discontinued. [3]
- Isabel: $54
- Cécile: $52
- Leyla: $54
- Saba: $48
- Spring Pearl: $50
- Minuk: $48
- Kathleen: $50
- Neela: $50
Additional Components
There were no extra outfits or accessories for any of the characters. Other items in the line included:
- Display Case: White wooden mirrored display case. Clear acrylic sides and mirror back with magnetic front. The case could hold one doll. Retail cost was $38
- Display Shelf: White wooden display shelf with storage drawer. The shelf could hold up to five dolls. The shelf could be wall mounted or set on a table with spaces for books if disconnected. Retail cost was $58. Additional risers for four more dolls were available for $18.
 Display case. |
 Display shelf. |
History of the Line
The line was launched in 2002 with the release of Isabel, Cécile, Minuk, Spring Pearl and Neela along with the display case and display stand. They were initially intended to have different face molds, but Minuk's proposed smiling face mold was deemed inappropriate so she shared Spring Pearl's mold.
In 2003, Saba, Leyla and Kathleen were released. That same year, American Girl Minis were discontinued, leaving Girls of Many Lands the only line in the catalog targeting older girls. By 2004, the prices had been lowered by 50%.
The Girls of Many Lands line was pulled in 2005. Theories for discontinuing mostly lean towards the collection being unpopular, though the initial high cost may have been a deterrent as well as the forming societal idea that dolls, even display quality, were considered immature for preteen girls.
Currently there is no line that American Girl offers for older girls, though some books are targeted towards an older demographic.
See Also
- American Girl Minis, another line aimed at an older demographic.
References
- ↑ Noted exceptions are Minuk as Central Alaskan Yup'ik language was not in a written form until approximately 1900 with the creation of the Yugtun script and Kathleen, who does not have her name in Gaelic (Caitlín) as it likely has been Anglicized for some time.
- ↑ Isabel, as she speaks English, is not given a glossary.
- ↑ Prices were pulled up from the Wayback Machine.