PreRelease 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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] 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, a girl in 1905; and Megan, a girl in 1945, all 40 years apart.[4] Rebecca became Kirsten from Sweden, and Megan became 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.[5]
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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Making of American Girl, p. 16
- ↑ The Making of American Girl, p. 4
- ↑ The Making of American Girl, p. 5
- ↑ The Making of American Girl, p. 7
- ↑ The Making of American Girl, p. 11