American Girl....The Doll

American Girl!  This is the name of a doll that I just discovered. I went to a "famous" shopping center called The Grove. I say famous because from my understanding you can see "famous" people shopping there, (I don't when I go). I digress. The American Girl doll has been around since about 1986, I instantly fell in love with it the minute I saw it. I wish that I had discovered it when my girls were young, no, better still I'm glad that I didn't know about them, because I quite possibly would have been homeless, spending so much money trying to keep up with the latest dolls and fashions.

These are the kinds of dolls that I was talking about in my hub, "What are dolls coming to." I mean this is the kind of doll that I was looking to buy for my granddaughters. Let me see if I can do them justice in just a few words.

The day in question, my daughter and I had missed our turn to be on the Price Is Right, so we wondered around the shopping area and happened upon the store. Our curiosity led to us stopping in the store. Needless to say my curiosity piqued when I say all those age appropriate dolls. I mean dolls that I wouldn't mind my preteen granddaughters playing with. Dolls that I would surely have bought for my girls if they were around when they were small, which by the way they were just coming to market about that time.

To my understanding there are only about 8 physical stores, however the dolls can be ordered over the Internet.

Now to the American Girl store here in Los Angeles, California. I was so impressed and again I can say I'm glad that I didn't know that this store existed when my girls were young. You see this store was a veritable playground. We actually stayed there for hours touring, taking pictures and talking to the employees.

The entire store was based on the American Girl theme, up to and including the restrooms.

The first thing that really caught my attention and impressed me was the beauty salon for the dolls. The employee was actually working on the dolls hair as if she were a real beautician. These were dolls that were brought in and left for them to have their hair done. As we walked through the store we saw a hospital. The hospital was for broken dolls. These dolls were either mailed in or dropped off to be repaired, mended, or whatever the term. One of the things that I thought was so cute was the restaurant. They had baby seats that they attached to the tables for the dolls.

Please click through the pictures to get a taste of what we saw. But excuse the photography, my daughter used her Blackberry, and I didn't quite know how to correct the position.

A little about the dolls. In the store the dolls are showcased by periods, in American History. From what I can tell, it appears the dolls cover a periods from 1774-1974. Also there's a series that began around 2001 called "Girl Of The Year Dolls." Then there's the Bitty Baby and Bitty Twins. Oh, I almost forgot, there's the "Just Like You," collection.

The American Girl Period Dolls are as follows.

• Kaya, 1764 Native American. Kaya is the only Native American Historical doll.
• Felicity Merriman 1774, representing the American Revolution period.
• Elizabeth Cole, 1774, Felicity's best friend of the same period.
• Josefina Montoya, 1824, a young Mexican girl living in New Mexico.
• Kirsten Larson, 1854, is a Swedish immigrant who settled in the Minnesota Territory, with her extended family.
• Addy Walker, 1864, the company's only African American character. Her character is a fugitive slave who escapes with her mother from a plantation in South Carolina to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the American Civil War.
• Samantha Parkington, 1904, an only child growing up during the Edwardian period, raised by her Victorian -era grandmother in New York.
• Nellie O'Malley 1904, Samantha's best friend. Nellie is an Irish immigrant who works for the Parkington's neighbors.
• Rebecca Rubin, 1914, a nine-year old Jewish girl of Russian descent.
• Kit Kittredge, 1934, lives during the Great Depression in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Ruthie Smithens 1934, Kit's best friend, an only child from an affluent family.
• Molly McIntire, 1944 is a young girl living in Jefferson, Illinois during World War II.
• Emily Bennet, 1944, a friend of Molly who was sent from England for her protection, during the Second World War.
• Julie Albright, 1974, a young girl growing up in San Francisco, California, during the mid 1970's nearing the end of the Vietnam War.
• Ivy Ling, 1974, is a Chinese American, and Julie's best friend. Ivy is the only Asian American Historical character.

• 2001: Lindsey Bergman
• 2003: Kailey Hopkins
• 2005: Marisol Luna
• 2006: Jess Akiko McDonnell
• 2007: Nicki Fleming
• 2008: Mia St. Clair
• 2009: Chrissa Maxwell
• 2010: Lanie Holland

I hope I've done justice for these beautiful dolls. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for age appropriate, modest dolls for their young daughters, granddaughter, nieces, etc.

Just because it says American Girl, that in no way limits it, girl around the world can truly appreciate the American Girl dolls.