1999: Historical or Not?

The definition of historical is: “Of or Concerning History; Concerning Past Events” or “Belonging to the Past, Not the Present.”

American Girl Doll is a brand created by the Pleasant Company in 1986 before becoming a subsidiary of Mattel in 1998. Their main line of dolls is called Historical, which through the doll and a matching set of books, are meant to teach young children about that particular period. 

The latest to be released for this set are their first twin dolls: Nicki and Isabel Hoffman. They represent the year 1999 and, subsequently, the Y2K glitch. However, this has led to a debate about whether this should be marketed as historical. 

Some older fans told American Girl that having 1999 represented as a year felt too current to be historical. Others just joked that they felt old because 1999 was about 23 years ago, which now American Girl Doll considers “historical.” That leads to the question of what American Girl Doll considers historical and what could be viewed as a passage of time in an official sense.

The easiest way to see this is to compare their previous doll’s release years to what time period they represent. As we go along, we will note the time spans compared to each other.

Kristen Larson, Samantha Parkington, and Molly McIntire were all released in 1986, at the beginning of Pleasant Company’s existence. 

Kristen was based on the middle 1800s Western European immigration/pioneer era, with the year, in particular, being 1854. Thus, there are 132 years between Kristen’s story and the release years.

Samantha’s story represented the Progressive Era and Early 20th Century in America, with the year 1904. This is a significant decrease from Kristen, who only came to be 82 years old from the period to the release year.

Molly is the shortest of the three so far, as her time is during late World War II in 1943, with 43 years between the period and the release date. 

The next doll to be released was Felicity Merriman in 1991. She represented the pre-Revolutionary War era making the year 1774. The time between the time and the release is 217 years making Felicity have the most so far, taking the spot from Kristen.

The next doll was added to the line two years later, in 1993. This is Addy Walker, who represented the Civil War Era in 1864. The difference between the release period and time period is 129 years, just a few less than Kristen's. 

Josefina Montoya wouldn’t come until 1997. She represented a time in New Mexico before the Mexican-American War. For Josefina, the year is 1824. Making the difference comes out to 173 years. 

Another three years would pass before Kit Kittredge was released after Mattel bought the Pleasant Company in 2000. Kit represented the Great Depression Era, specifically the year 1932. This made the difference come out to 68 years, letting Molly still have the shortest amount of years.

Two years later, in 2002, they released Kaya'aton'my, who represented early Native America in 1764. This gives a difference of 238 years, and currently, as of writing this article, this makes her the furthest period in the lineup, taking that spot from Felicity. 

The next doll would be Julie Albright, representing the 1970s, in 2007. This would be the first time American Girl Doll would do a decade-based period without a big major event happening. Julie’s year was 1975, making the difference 32 years, taking the crown from Molly for the shortest time. 

Two years after Julie came Rebecca Rubin in 2009. Rebecca represented the early 20th century during the second wave of European immigration, specifically with Jewish Culture. She was set in the year 1914, making the difference 95 years. 

In 2011, American Girl Doll released two characters from the same period: Cécile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardner, who were best friends and the classic extrovert adopting the introvert trope. They both represented 1850s New Orleans, specifically 1853. This makes the difference 158 years. 

A year later, they would release Caroline Abbott to represent the War of 1812, and the year her story took place in 1812. This would make the difference precisely 200 years, making her the third most extended period, just below Kaya and Felicity. 

American Girl Doll wouldn’t release another doll in the Historical Line until 2015, Maryellen Larkin, who represented the 1950s, specifically 1954. This makes the difference 61 years. 

A year after Maryellen came Melody Ellison, who represented the 1960s, specifically 1963. This makes the difference 53 years, eight years after Maryellen’s story and ten years before Molly’s. 

Another year later, American Girl Doll released Nanea Mitchell’s story, focusing on Pearl Harbour and America entering World War II. Molly’s concentrated on the late stages of World War II. The year for Nanea was 1941, giving Nanea a 76-year difference. This shows how much time has passed between Molly and Nanea’s releases despite having the same time. 

The next doll, an American Girl Doll, was released in 2020. Courtney Moore represented the decade of the 1980s, with her year being 1986. This made the difference 34 years, just shy of taking Julie’s crown for the shortest time. 

The latest doll before Nicki and Isabel would be released just last year in 2022. Claudie Wells represents the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration of the 1920s. Claudie’s year is specifically 1922, making the difference precisely 99 years.

This brings us back to Nicki and Isabel Hoffman, who were released this year and given the period of 1999. The difference between the release year and time period is roughly 24 years, taking the crown from Julie as the shortest time between the historical period and the release year. 

For the record, here are the results of this little math equation:

Kaya- 238

Felicity- 217

Caroline- 200

Josefina- 173

Cecile & Marie-Grace- 158

Kristen- 132

Addy- 129

Claudie- 99

Rebecca- 95

Samantha- 82

Nanea- 76

Kit- 68

Maryellen- 61

Melody- 53

Molly- 43

Courtney- 34

Julie- 32

Nicki & Isabel- 24

So what can we take away from this? People were right that Nicki and Isabel felt a little soon because it was. They had the shortest time between the period they represent and their release year, with second place doll Julie having just eight more years than them and Courtney just being two more than that. 

However, despite the small time frame, after doing some research, there is some merit to calling 1999 Historical. The Y2K Glitch fear was rampant in 1999 because nobody knew what would happen when the clock struck midnight, and it changed to the year 2000.

With hindsight, it seems silly, but the technology wasn’t that advanced back then, and home computers were just becoming the norm. It’s not exactly a massive event like the War of 1812 or World War II, but it was more of an event than just some of the dolls being young girls during the 70s or 80s. 

This could also be due to nostalgia. Several fashion trends, like plaid skirts and grunge clothes, are back in style, with Isabel’s Clueless-inspired look and Nicki’s grunge style representing that. 

There are issues with the dolls. Nicki and Isabel feel like unoriginal names when their names have already been used in the Girl of the Year Dolls. It also feels disingenuous to market these dolls as 90s dolls when they represent early 2000s culture at best.  

But are they not historical? No. Despite how modern they feel, the research is there, and they are historical, for better or worse. 

However, American Girl Doll should probably pick a less modern era for their next doll as I don’t think the internet could handle a 9/11 or pandemic-based character quite yet.