Enter Julie MacKenzie

Coming this August is Julie MacKenzie, an new historical doll set in 1974. She will have several books and it is thought that her friend , Ivy, will also be made into a doll.

The books will be:

Meet Julie
Happy New Year, Julie
Julie Tells Her Story
Julie and the Eagles
Julie's Journey
Changes for Julie

Ivy's book will be:

Good Luck, Ivy

Information from http://curtdanhauser.com/AG_Collecting/Jul.html. Thank you!

Picture also from www.curtdanhauser.com/AG_Collecting.

Picture has NOT been confirmed by American Girl. It is not an official picture.

This concludes my posts on American Girl.

Retired Character Lines

The first line that I am going to talk about in Girls of Many Lands. These dolls were geared toward girls over 11. They weren't dolls that were meant for play, they were meant for display. They each came with a book of their story. Above is Cecile, a French doll. Her time period is around the time of Marie Antoinette.

Next is Hopscotch Hill School. These dolls were for girls ages about 5-8. There were several dolls, however I don't think they did that well. One of the reasons could be that the dolls were fully jointed, so that it you tried to stand them up or sit them up, they kind of just crumpled to the ground.

Another Note

Okay, it has been forever since I posted. Sorry about that. My last post was on the magnetic mini worlds. I actually just got the Samantha one, and my sister got Felicity's.We both like them.

I forgot to ever mention the Bitty Baby line. Bitty Babies are baby dolls geared at girls ages 3-5. They also have a variety of outfits that can be purchased. They have plastic hair. Also sold are the Bitty Twins. Originally The bitty twins were sold as two dolls, a boy and a girl, both with actual blonde hair. Then American Girl Started selling a pair of brunette twins. Now you can pick which dolls you want with whatever color hair you want.

Magnetic Mini Worlds

American Girl has also created magnetic mini worlds for each of its principal historical characters. (Kaya, Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and Molly.) If you have Nellie , Elizabeth, or Emily your doll would be included in with the book about the character of her best friend. (i.e. Elizabeth is in the magnetic mini world for Felicity.)

Each magnetic mini world includes 2 dolls in 4 different outfits, 2 different scenes, and variety of accessories and furniture, and a booklet about the time period of the given doll.

Click on the link below to visit the page about the magnetic mini worlds.


Magnetic Mini Worlds


Thanks to http://curtdanhauser.com/AG_Collecting/Felicity_MagWorld_Big.jpg for the above image of Felicity's Magnetic Mini World.

Recent Additions

Just recently American Girl added a few new products. I'll list them below with a link to the page at American Girl about them. ( This will only be the newest stuff for dolls for girl ages 8 and over. Therefore this does not include Bitty Baby and the Bitty Twins.)

New Items:

Just Like You

Coconut & Friends Carrier
Island Outfit for Dolls +Book
Sand & Surf Set for Dolls
Island Vacation Outfit for Dolls + BookIsland Scooter Set
Flower Garden Dress for Dolls + Book
Satin Floral PJ Set for Dolls + Book

Historical Characters

Emily's 2-Piece Swimsuit
Molly's Camp TentMolly's Sleeping Bag
Molly's Recital Outfit
Molly's Percussion Set
Emily's Recital Outfit
Emily's Flutophone Accessories

The Girls Inc. Controversy

A few years ago American Girl started selling their "I Can" band. All of the proceeds from the sales of the hair band, wristband, whatever you want to call it were promised to go to a company called Girls Inc. Well it turns out the Girls Inc supports things like abortion and homosexuality. Many people began to boycott American Girl by having the daughter's sell all of their American Girl toys and things like that . Eventually, people were so mad about the sale of the "I Can" band, that American Girl stopped selling them.

American Girl Collecting Website

A man named Curt Danhauser has a website about American Girl Collecting. On his website you can see all of the current items for sale, as well as all retired items. Also, you can usually find out things about American Girl (i.e. upcoming movies, next Girl of the Year doll,etc.) before it actually gets published on the AG website.

Visit www.curtdanhauser.com/AG_Collecting for an inside look at AG doll collecting.

American Girl Part 3

At the end of 2001, American Girl introduced their Girl of the Year doll. Lindsey was the first doll American Girl released. She was a modern day doll, as all of the Girl of the Year dolls are. Lindsey was available until the end of 2002. Kailey was the second doll and she was introduced in summer 2003. Kailey was available until July 2004. Marisol was the third doll. She came out in December of 2004. She became retired early at the end of 2005 due to the sell out of her items. The most recently retired doll was, Jess. She was introduced at the end of 2005. She became sold out on December 30, 2006.

Nicki is the doll that is currently for sale. She was introduced January 1, 2007. As of now Nicki has four outfits, two animals (horse and dog), several accessory sets, and her paperback book.

Lindsey, Kailey, Marisol, and Jess are all retired. You cannot purchase the dolls or any of their accessories. (All the books about the dolls are still available. As for the accessories, Jess still has a few things for sale from American Girl. ) Most retired items can be found on Ebay.

Picture credits: Nicki doll and paperback book courtesy of www.curtdanhauser.com/AG_Collecting. Thank you!!!

American Girl Part 2

To continue on American Girl, let's start with their line of 18 inch dolls set in modern times. In 1995, American Girl released a new collection of dolls. They were look-alike dolls called "American Girls of Today." Originally, the collection started with 20 dolls. As of now there are 25 dolls currently for sale. Three other dolls have been marketed and then retired. You can also purchase many different outfits, accessories, and furniture for the dolls. Unlike the historical dolls, the dolls come unnamed with no specific outfit for certain dolls. Also just recently, this line of dolls was renamed "Just Like You".

Visit www.americangirl.com for more info.

Original Dolls

Here are the three original dolls, Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly.

Visit www.americangirl.com for more info.

American Girl

In 1986 a woman named Pleasant Rowland founded Pleasant Company. Her company produced and sold three eighteen inch historical dolls. They were called Samantha, Kirsten, and Molly. Their time periods were 1904, 1854, and 1944 respectively. Along with the dolls, Pleasant Company also sold historically correct outfits and accessories to accompany each doll. Also produced were books that depicted stories about each character. In 1991 Pleasant Company introduced Felicity, their fourth doll. She was set in 1774 and her collection also included extra outfits and accessories. Addy, a doll that was set in 1864, was added in 1993. Josefina, depicted in 1824, was added in 1997. In 2000, Kit was added to the collection. She is a Depression era doll set in 1934. In 2002, Kaya was launched. She is a Native American girl set in 1764.

In 2004, Samantha's best friend Nellie was added along with American Girl's first movie, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday. Felicity's friend, Elizabeth, was added in 2005. American Girl also made another movie, Felicity:An American Girl Adventure. Just this past Christmas, Emily, friend to Molly, was added along with the latest movie, Molly: An American Girl on the Homefront, which was set in 1944.

At some point Pleasant Company officially switched its name to American Girl. This is also the reason that older dolls are marked with "Pleasant Company" on the neck, while newer ones say "American Girl".

I will try to post more about American Girl soon.

Visit www.americangirl.com for more info.

American Girl vs. A Life of Faith

Sorry it has taken me forever to post on here again. I am planing to do a series of articles on the American Girl company and the A Life of Faith company. Both companies sell dolls for girls. American Girl dolls are 18 inches tall. A Life of Faith dolls are 18 3/4 inches tall. Both companies also sell books about their dolls.

Please look for future posts about these companies, there differences and why to chose one or the other.

More Pictures for Beautiful Girlhood

I've added some more pictures for the new items that have been added to The Beautiful Girlhood Collection.The first picture is of The Complete Beautiful Girlhood Doll Wardrobe. The second picture is of the Fiesta Mexican Doll Dress. The third is of the Princess Ka'iulani Doll Dress. The last picture is of Princess Ka'iulani: Hope of A Nation, Heart of a People. It is a book about Princess Ka'iulani, the last princess of Hawaii.

Beautiful Girlhood has Updated Their Collection

The Beautiful Girlhood Collection has been updated. Instead of having 2 dolls, they now have 4. They have added a Hispanic doll and an African American doll, so now the collection has 2 Caucasian dolls, an African American doll, and a Hispanic doll. They have also added 2 new doll sized dresses. Their new outfits are the Fiesta Mexican Doll Dress, and the Princess Ka'iulani Doll Dress. The collection also has girl sized versions of the Dolley Madison Outfit, Colonial Outfit, and Sacagawea Outfit. You can also purchase girl-sized nightgowns and slips.

These additions bring The Beautiful Girlhood Collection to 4 dolls, 10 doll outfits, and 4 girl outfits.

The dolls in the above picture are as follows: Liberty, Evangeline, Abigail, and Fidelia.

Click on the link to visit the Beautiful Girlhood web page.

A Website for the Mayflower

In doing research for the book my friend and I are working on, I came across a really cool website about the Mayflower and the Pilgrims' voyage to the New World. This website is very complete. On it you can find a list of all the passengers aboard the ship, the beliefs of the Pilgrims, what happened during the voyage, things that the Pilgrims brought with them, what happened when land was reached, family role in Plymouth Colony, crime and punishment in Plymouth Colony, List of the passengers that were aboard the Anne and Little James ( which arrived in 1623), and many other things. The website is called Mayflower History.com .

Click on the link above to go to the site.

My New Blog

I have a new blog. It is called Books of Note. I started it because I had been using this blog to review books on, and I decided that I needed a different place to do it. So, if you have been reading this blog for the books I have posted about, all of that type of thing will be on my other blog.

The URL for my new blog is: http://www.reviewing-books.blogspot.com.

This blog will now be used for other topics, as it was not originally created for the purpose of reviewing books.