MigrationBot: Imported latest exported content; source attribution retained.

2026-07-22T19:21:46Z

Imported latest exported content; source attribution retained.

New page

[[File:PleasantRowland.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Pleasant Rowland, founder of American Girl.]]
[[Pleasant Rowland]], a retired school teacher and textbook writer, takes a trip to Colonial Williamsburg in the early 1980s. She is inspired by the "living history" of the setting. In late 1983, seeking dolls as a gift for relatives, she is disappointed at the selections of dolls focusing either on future maturity or caretaking and infancy, and that there are very few dolls marketed as companions to a girl or focusing on mid-range girlhood (ages eight to twelve). At the time, there was not much historical scholarship on the experiences of children, and even less for girls.<ref name="MakingAG-16">''[[The Making of American Girl]]'', p. 16</ref> In addition, there were few children's book series starring girls because publishers believed girls would read books about boys, but boys would not read books about girls.<ref name="MakingAG-16"/> That winter, she spends time at her cabin in Minocqua, Wisconsin, and the old-fashioned features of the cabin combined with her visit to Williamsburg and her doll search inspire her to write a business plan. She writes about the products, a magazine for girls, a store, and a theater; ultimately, Rowland would achieve all of the goals she wrote about that weekend.<ref>''[[The Making of American Girl]]'', p. 4</ref>

In a postcard dated December 2, 1983, Rowland contacts an associate, [[Valerie Tripp]], to propose the idea of a series "for girls, about girls" that would serve as the basis for the series.<ref>''[[The Making of American Girl]]'', p. 5</ref> Together they write outlines for the first three characters, though Tripp later chooses to write the full series for Molly. In 1984, Rowland uses the name "Pleasantries" for the doll line, and her three initial characters are: Rebecca, a Norwegian immigrant in 1865; [[Samantha Parkington|Samantha]], a girl in 1905; and Megan, a girl in 1945, all 40 years apart.<ref>''[[The Making of American Girl]]'', p. 7</ref> Rebecca became [[Kirsten Larson|Kirsten]] from Sweden, and Megan became [[Molly McIntire|Molly]]. As they went through the development process, Rowland changes the characters' years to all end in fours; she believed that consistent numbering would be easier for children to remember.<ref>''[[The Making of American Girl]]'', p. 11</ref>

The original line is modeled off of a line of dolls once produced by [[Gotz]] dollmakers, specifically using molds for the face and bodies that were designed by Gotz sculptors (the "Romina" mold).

Pleasant Company opens its first offices in a converted warehouse in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1985.

==References==
{{refs}}

[[Category:American Girl History]]

----
''This page incorporates text from [https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/PreRelease_of_American_Girl the source wiki] ([https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?oldid=130878 exported version], [https://americangirl.fandom.com/index.php?title=PreRelease+of+American+Girl&action=history contributor history]), under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ the original text license].''

PreRelease of American Girl - Revision history

MigrationBot: Imported latest exported content; source attribution retained.