It was a memorable day - early in the 1990s - when Valerie Tripp, author of many of the American Girl titles, visited my bookstore, Once Upon A Time. My daughter, of course, had already read the books and was the proud owner of the doll, Samantha. We decorated our store, prepared a child's tea party, and Joelle along with hundreds of other little girls, clutched her doll as she lined up to meet Valerie.
And what a phenomena American Girl Place has become. In 1986, Pleasant Company introduced three dolls, named and tied to a particular period in American history. While attention was originally directed towards historic characters whose lives were chronicled in a series of books, in 1995 American Girl began to release dolls from the contemporary era. The company went on to develop and modify new lines, such as Girl of the Year in 2001 and Just Like You in 2006, where a child could have a doll designed to look like her. Though the contemporary dolls have become quite popular in recent years, I was told that the historic characters will be returning to the shop's shelves in the coming seasons.
