American Girl Doll News

I was hoping that like it is online, Julie's new journal would be available in stores, but when I went to the Nashville AG store a few days ago, it wasn't there - but I figured I'd tell you all I just ordered it from American Girl's site! As soon as I get it, I'll review it!

With the recent re-releases of Addy, Josefina and Kirsten, there are only a few historicals left from the archives that haven't been re-released currently. In this post, I'm going to outline who's left and my theories on when (or if) they'll ever come back. First, Felicity Merriman from 1776 is one of the only 2 dolls from the original American Girl lineup that are currently without a collection, and the only one that isn't available for sale. This could be due to a multitude of reasons. One reason I've seen floating around the Internet is the historically accurate depiction of Felicity's family as enslavers of African American people, but American Girl hasn't shied away from historically accurate depictions of how the world was like during time periods, even if they are problematic today, so I doubt that's the reason - and even if it was, American Girl could just update the Looking Back section to add more context. My theory, however, has two reasons why Felicity currently isn't in the lineup. Felicity has been rereleased three times - once in 2005 when her movie released and she returned to the catalog, then in 2017 for a limited time for BeForever, then in 2021 for the 35th anniversary. But that's not the only reason why she isn't out again right now - my theory is that it will be 250 years since 1776 in 2026, so American Girl might be preparing to have her re-release then. Samantha Parkington's time period from 1904 doesn't have any significant anniversaries coming up soon - but I also hold true to the 2026 theory for her uncubing. Why, you may ask? America's 250th is in 2026, but American Girl's 40th anniversary will also be in 2026. From 1986 to her first retirement, Samantha was one of the most popular American Girl dolls, being synonymous with the brand and being the first American Girl doll to have her own made-for-TV movie. What better way to celebrate American Girl's 40th by bringing back the doll that defined a generation? Cecile Rey and Marie-Grace Garner are relatively newer and rarer, only being out for three years, from 2011 to 2014. But there is still a generation that has fond memories of them! Unfortunately, most of them won't be mothers of target-age children for about a decade or two, so they might not come back for a while. Another reason contributing to my theory that they won't be back for a while is the obvious epidemic theme in their story - current target-age children were in preschool or early elementary school during the Covid pandemic, and their story right now might hit too close to home. It's kinda like how American Girl set Isabel and Nicki so close to 2001 so they wouldn't have to make a 9/11 doll, huh? Wait. 2001? LINDSEY BERGMAN? What is the Girl of the Year from 2001 doing in my post for HISTORICAL CHARACTERS? Well, there's a reason Lindsey is here. The Girl of the Year line is one of AG's most beloved features, yet it hasn't been around forever. It's only been around for 23 years, with Lindsey, the first Girl of the Year, being released then. However, what's in 2 years? Not just America's birthday in 2026. Not just American Girl's birthday in 2026. In 2026, the Girl of the Year line will be 25 years old. That's a quarter of a century, guys. The average target-age girl for American Girl in 2001 will be 36 in 2026, likely with their own children, who remember Lindsey. And since nostalgia for American Girl's past has been playing such an important role in American Girl's future, who's to say Lindsey won't make a comeback in 2026? Lastly, Caroline Abbott, who was the last historical to debut under the original historical line and the first (and only!) historical to retire under BeForever. She only lasted for three years, similar to Cecile and Marie-Grace, and doesn't have much nostalgia for her story yet, again, due to the people who were target-age still being in their early 20s and late teens and most likely not having target-age children yet. About a decade or two more, and we'll see nostalgia for Caroline... and hopefully, her return.. So, yeah! Moral of this post, everyone? 2026 is going to be a great year for American Girl if this post holds true.

Today is Maryellen's birthday! She was born this day in 1945, which would make her 79 today!

Here's the Doll of the Month poll for May 2024 - will it be Maryellen Larkin, Nicki Fleming or Julie Albright?

Today is Lila's birthday! She was born in 2014, making her 10 today.

Today is Claudie's birthday! She was born this day in 1913, making her 111.

Rubie's Costumes just announced that American Girl costumes are coming soon!

Here’s another peek at the new American Girl birthday outfit, courtesy of @amcangrl!

Here’s a bit of American Girl history for you: Addy has had various different illustrators for her books during her time as a historical character. Originally, the first three books were illustrated by an illustrator named Melodye Rosales, but due to racially-charged disagreements regarding the illustrations from Melodye, who is biracial and wanted to express the harsh realities of slavery, as well as colorism, within the illustrations, and the white executives at Pleasant Company, she was replaced for the rest of Addy’s series. This article explains more about it: https://slate.com/culture/2016/09/the-making-of-addy-walker-american-girls-first-black-doll.html Melodye’s illustrations were eventually replaced in 1998, but AGDN reader AmericanGirlStar DMed me with some exciting news: in the new Meet Addy that comes with the re-released doll, the original illustrations are back!

American Girl put up webpages for Kirsten, Julie, Addy, Kit and Josefina, each with never-before heard facts about these dolls! Here they are: One of the outfits that was sold for Kirsten was a housecoat and sockor, or wool slippers. The sockor for the Kirsten doll were handmade by a woman in Sweden beginning in 1987 for twenty years. In Pleasant Rowland’s original business plan, Kirsten was named Rebecca, and was a Norwegian immigrant in 1865. The team who created Kirsten did a lot of research with the Minnesota and Wisconsin Historical Societies, who had a lot of information about the Swedish settlers who came to these states in the 1800s. To learn more about what Josefina’s life would have been like, author Valerie Tripp spent two summers in New Mexico. She visited living history museums and interviewed elderly New Mexican women about the daily lives of Hispanic families and children in rural New Mexico. The models for Josefina’s home were la El Rancho de las Golondrinas near Santa Fe and Hacienda de los Martinez near Taos, NM. Both are former ranchos from Josefina’s time and now living history museums that you can visit today. Josefina’s first and last names are drawn from the New Mexican censuses of 1790 and 1823. Although Josefina is actually a Mexican citizen, the advisory board felt comfortable calling her an “American girl” because her story presents a history and heritage that’s an integral part of America today. By the end of her series, Josefina has a new mother. This plot element symbolizes the change for the Spanish settlers of New Mexico and the Southwest, who lost their mother country of Mexico when they became citizens of the United States, their new mother country. Researchers on Addy confirmed when the full moon would have been during Addy and her mother’s escape from enslavement in 1864 to ensure historical accuracy in the timing. The museum program, Addy at Ohio Village, debuted in 1998. The dialect used in the Addy books was created by author Connie Porter to be a balance between what speech of the time would’ve sounded like and what is accessible for young readers and was reviewed by two dialect experts at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. Addy was the first American Girl character to have an advisory board. Addy’s advisory board was made up of Black historians, educators, and museum curators who ensured the depiction of Addy’s life and times was historically accurate. Addy’s first three books sold more than a million copies in the year they were released. When Julie launched, in 2007, American Girl historical characters’ years had always ended in 4, so Julie’s year was set as 1974—even though her stories begin in 1975. When Julie debuted, some customers felt American Girl should not depict a girl with divorced parents. But since about 50% of kids today live with divorced parents, the creators of Julie felt it was important to have a character and doll who represented their experience. Author Megan McDonald has four sisters who inspire many of her stories. Quite a few of the scenes between Julie and her teenage sister Tracy were inspired by Megan’s experience growing up with her sisters. Illustrator Walter Rane used himself as a model for the grumpy grocery store owner in Kit’s stories. Like Kit’s dad, author Valerie Tripp’s grandfather paid his staff out of his own pocket as long as he could, but eventually had to close his hotel during the Great Depression. After the launch of the Kit doll and books, Valerie Tripp received a letter from a woman named Kit Kittredge who had grown up in Cincinnati during the Depression and was very excited about the coincidence!

I went to the American Girl store to get photos of the new Historical release! Here they are:

The agency that redesigned American Girl's logo and marketing materials, Pentagram, posted some more insights on the redesign - as well as sneak peeks at new products! If you want to see more about the story behind the rebrand, go to this link: https://www.pentagram.com/work/american-girl/story