Doll with a Past

By Wendy Cole/Chicago

A pink plastic bucket overflowing with Barbies, many half naked, with limbs askew, sits untouched these days on the bedroom floor. They haven't stood a chance since their owner, Allison Powers, a fifth-grader in Woodridge, Ill., discovered Addy and Samantha. "They're more realistic than Barbie," Allison says, "and they look cooler."

This year's must-have dolls are those of the American Girls Collection, drawn from evocative periods of U.S. history. They include daring slave girl Addy and plucky Victorian orphan Samantha. Each of the six chubby-cheeked dolls comes with a book that tells her story. Though they cost a pocket-puckering $82 apiece, the dolls have won a cultish following among preadolescent girls. Sales reached $287 million last year, up 12% from 1996.

Pleasant Rowland, a former teacher and newscaster, launched American Girls 12 years ago in Middleton, Wis., precisely to offer girls an alternative to the unnaturally proportioned Barbie. Yet in July, Rowland sold her company to Barbie's corporate parent, Mattel, for $700 million--and a promise that American Girls would retain its separate identity.

Four million dolls and 48 million books have been sold to date, exclusively through catalogs. In November the company will open its first retail outlet, American Girl Place, in downtown Chicago. It will feature a one-hour musical bringing the six characters to life (tickets: $25 each).

Young fans will no doubt swoon, but some parents, like Ted Fishman of Chicago, are a bit alarmed by the merchandising mania. His 10-year-old daughter Elly has already circled half the inventory in the latest catalog for her holiday wish list. "These dolls are supposed to represent wholesomeness and frugality," he notes wryly. But slave girl Addy's ironstone compote set ($50) "costs more than a real set would." In that way, at least, these dolls are thoroughly modern.

--By Wendy Cole/Chicago