Dolls and Doll-related Items for Sale

Thursday, April 2, 2020

My Collection Part Two: American Girls

I plan to intersperse collection photos with other blog posts, but these photos were easy to take, so I decided they would come next. I have a human-sized photography light on order, but it's being held up due to current virus issues.

Samantha is an original Pleasant Company doll, but she wasn't made in Germany, like the very earliest AG dolls were. Caroline is a Mattel doll. I have taken some detailed comparison pictures for people like Farrah, who were interested in the little differences between the Pleasant Company and Mattel dolls, but I'll put those at the end. If you're not interested in the minutiae, you don't need to read that far.

Quick historical note, Pleasant Company was started to help girls learn American history. I remember reading that the books were actually supposed to be the focus of the collection, and the dolls and accessories were additions, to help girls "act out" the scenes from the books. There were even girl-sized outfits that matched Pleasant Company doll clothes, for further immersion.

Samantha was released in the 80s, but I think I received Samantha for Christmas from Mr. BTEG in 1997. Eldest got her Bitty Baby (by Pleasant Company) for Christmas that year, though, so it's possible that I might have gotten mine the year before and started getting Pleasant Company catalogs then. I bought Caroline in 2015 when it was announced that she and her collection were going to be retired. Something about her had appealed to me ever since she was released, but her being retired made me finally buy her. Most of you are probably pretty familiar with this type of 18" doll, since there are so many other similar dolls that have been produced. American Girls have stuffed, cloth bodies, as you can see by looking at Caroline's neckline. In general, Pleasant Company dolls have more stuffing than more current releases.


A closeup of Samantha. I wish that if she had to have bangs, they wouldn't have been so long and thick. I've included a shot of her with her bangs somewhat pushed aside, so you can see part of her eyebrows.

And Caroline. She has slightly less of the whites of her eyes visible, which I think makes the biggest difference in their expressions?

I had to take a few pictures of the girls with their mini-versions, especially since I just featured the minis in my last post. Originally, Samantha did have a matching hair ribbon in her hair, but it was sewn in, and at one time I dressed Samantha in a different dress, so I had to remove the original ribbon. If I sewed the ribbon onto a bobby pin or narrow hair clip, Samantha could wear it again. Just one more thing on a long list. :)
As you can see, the two doll sizes are *very* similar in their outfits. My 18" Samantha came wearing drawers like I show on mini Samantha, but the elastic is shot in those, so 18" Samantha just wears her tights. Of course, the real Samantha wouldn't have been wearing tights, but I forgive Pleasant Company this, as knee stockings might have gotten loose at the top pretty quickly. Period garters would have added a lot of expense, and difficulty dressing the doll. Not to mention, the garters would have been attached to a stiffened sort of sleeveless undershirt with shoulder straps, like a corset, but unboned. That would make for more expense, plus American Girl dolls did not give completely accurate attention to undergarments, which is acceptable for me. The American Girl doll Felicity doll did have ribbon garters to tie her stockings around her knees, but those are far more simple.

I love having both of these dolls in my collection. I have some of Samantha's accessories and furniture, but nothing of Caroline's. Someday I would like to find Caroline's accessories second-hand. Her straw bonnet is the only thing I think that I would have a hard time making myself.

Now let's get to where these two dolls are the most different: their eyes and eyelashes. Honestly, they aren't even that different here, at least on my pair. People enjoy comparing dolls from different eras, though, so here are some pics.



Samantha's eyelashes are obviously sparser and rougher looking. Neither doll has ever been played with by a child, so I think that makes for a pretty even comparison. I'm not aware of my Samantha ever losing any eyelashes. The iris decal looks about the same for both girls, which was probably a wise choice by Mattel. No point in differentiating these dolls from earlier ones in more ways than necessary.


As you can see, Caroline's eyelashes curve up more at the ends. Samantha's look more realistic to me, though. As far as touch, however, neither doll's eyelashes feel softer than the others. Caroline's *eyebrows* are brush strokes, whereas Samantha's are a straight line. Caroline's are more realistic, but I don't think Samantha's are bad.


One last very small difference, and that is in their teeth.

Samantha's teeth are painted further up underneath her lip. Her eyes and teeth are not as white as Caroline's, but that could be partially due to aging. Samantha is over twenty years old!

Total dolls: 11

9 comments:

  1. Samantha and Caroline are my two favourite American Girls. You've kept them really nicely. My dolls never seem to stay quite so perfect, even if I manage to keep the children off them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Samantha is my ultimate favorite. Both of my dolls have messier hair than I feel that they ought, considering that I don't play with either of them. I do have a wig brush that I use for their hair from time to time. I'm glad that you like them!

      Delete
  2. Thanks for showing the comparisons. I think that Pleasant Company had a great idea in creating books and other items that would teach accurate history. I also loved to look through their catalogs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I loved looking through Pleasant Company catalogs! I still have a few that I saved.

      Delete
  3. It's funny how we see a doll differently Barb, I prefer Caroline myself. I think having that centre part makes her face a little slimmer and I love her colouring. I do love their little toothy pegs though, they always make me smile.
    Big hugs,
    X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I think Caroline is the more attractive doll. Samantha is my favorite because of her time period. My favorite fashion era is the Edwardian. I've even gone so far recently as to ponder having a corset made for me so that I could start sewing myself some Edwardian clothes.

      Delete
  4. I hope you can find some nice American Girl dolls for your collection, Linda. They are indeed pretty dolls, and their smiles are cute. Glad that you liked the post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Both dolls are very pretty. I like how you pointed out the differences. What a dunce I am not knowing that Mattel now makes these dolls (and I am a Barbie collector).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The fact that Mattel owns American Girl never gets talked about, unless it's an article about Mattel's financial health. Diehard AG collectors lost their minds when Mattel bought Pleasant Company; that was the only time it got discussed a lot. Mattel has definitively not kept up the strict historical accuracy, and most of the beautifully made accessories are gone, which is sad. I've heard the quality of the dolls themselves are going down, but I don't know either way. I'm glad that you like the dolls. :)

      Delete