History Literature / AmericanGirlsCollection

** Several historical characters have had ''very'' small wardrobes at launch outside of their meet sets, with only one or two extra outfits. Claudie, was only released with her pajamas and a jazz dance outfit;[[note]]Three other outfits were released, but are ''inspired by'' and thus not part of Claudie's daily wear.[[/note]] and Isabel and Nicki each had just pajamas and sport-themed sets. Nicki's skateboarding outfit kind of doubles as casual wear, but Isabel's was a tennis dress--not exactly day-to-day wear. They got later additions to their collections but compared to the [[UnlimitedWardrobe]]s of those before them, it can look practically puny.
** Early Girls of the Year had miniscule wardrobes compared to later releases, back when they were considered an expansion of the modern line and not a line to themselves. While the books might have shown extra items, the collections were small. Kailey only had a wetsuit as an extra, all Marisol's outfits were dance themed with no regular clothes, Jess just had pajamas and a swimsuit set--and Lindsey got no extra clothes at ''all''. It wasn't until Nicki's release that more casual clothes for the characters became standard.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Nellie's collection is way too nice for a poor servant when her doll was out, serving to spoil the ending of ''Changes for Samantha'', where [[spoiler:Samantha's aunt and uncle adopt her and her sisters]].

** A good portion of the earlier historical characters have at least six to nine outfits in their collection. This is a lot for a quick-growing nine-year-old, especially in eras when clothes were not quickly mass-manufactured. This makes sense for girls like Samantha who were rich (enough her family has a private seamstress) or Julie who lived in a time of easy clothes shopping, but applies even to characters who would logically have small wardrobes such as those who lived rurally and didn't have easy access to brand new clothes (Kirsten), were so poor the family was at risk of losing the house (Kit), were on wartime rationing (Molly), or had to build a wardrobe from scratch after becoming free (Addy).[[note]]With Addy, the in-story logic is that her mother is a seamstress and can thus sew new clothing for her, but in the books her best dress is almost always her blue school set and she wears her first freedom pink dress just as often.[[/note]] The trend until Kaya was that every character had at least ''one'' new outfit for each book in their six-book series (with the "outfit of the book" highlighted on the cover). They also had additional one- or two-scene outfits as part of the collection, and some outfits were made that weren't seen in the books at all. This is because the point was (along with showing various fashions of the era) for a kid to read the book and/or flip through the catalog and see the clothes that went with each "book." This has been toned down with newer characters, but ironically may have [[LimitedWardrobe swung too far in the other direction]] for some characters who might not even have more than one daily outfit.

** The modern dolls have had new outfits come out yearly since 1995, updated as fashions for children change, and thus can access well over two decades of outfits. In theory, a doll could have clothes older than they are even if the clothes are somewhat fashion-dated.

* CoverIdentityAnomaly: The My Journey protagonists are flying the seats of their historically-accurate outfits when trying to act as if they belong in the era they've been been transported to (especially when they're impersonating a person they're mistaken for). The Historical Characters may initially find them suspicious but mostly chalk it up to the protagonist being a NaiveNewcomer (e.g. Addy assumes the time traveler of her book is recently escaped from slavery and so is new to the north, while Felicity assumes the traveler to her time came with the crowd protesting the gunpowder being taken). The traveler still may make mistakes by knowing things from the future--Kit's traveler, for example, sees a book of ''Literature/TheWizardOfOz'' and says it's just like [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the film]]. Kit asks what she's talking abuot, because it's 1934 and the film hasn't been released yet, and the protagonist has to cover her tracks.

** A good portion of the earlier historical characters have at least six to nine outfits in their collection. This is a lot for a quick-growing nine-year-old, especially in eras when clothes were not quickly mass-manufactured. This makes sense for girls like Samantha who were rich (enough her family has a private seamstress) or Julie who lived in a time of easy clothes shopping, but applies even to characters who would logically have small wardrobes such as those who lived rurally and didn't have easy access to brand new clothes (Kirsten), were so poor the family was at risk of losing the house (Kit), were on wartime rationing (Molly), or had to build a wardrobe from scratch after becoming free (Addy).[[note]]With Addy, the in-story logic is that her mother is a seamstress and can thus sew new clothing for her, but in the books her best dress is almost always her blue school set and she wears her first freedom pink dress just as often.[[/note]] The trend until Kaya was that every character had at least ''one'' new outfit for each book in their six-book series (with the "outfit of the book" highlighted on the cover). They also had additional one- or two-scene outfits as part of the collection, and some outfits were made that weren't seen in the books at all. This is because the point was (along with showing various fashions of the era) for a kid to read the book and/or flip through the catalog and see the clothes that went with each "book." This has lessened recently with newer characters, but ironically may have [[LimitedWardrobe swung too far in the other direction]] for newer characters who might not even have more than one daily outfit.

** In-universe with Kit's Aunt Millie who used fabric from feed sacks to make Kit's birthday outfit. TruthInTelevision as housewives had repurposed flour sack fabric into articles of clothing and home goods since the early 20th century. This led George P. Plant Milling Company and other firms to sell home goods and feed packaged in dress-quality sacks during the Great Depression and World War II to help promote the purchase of their items over other brands.

** Nicki and Isabel's computer, like Courtney's boombox, plays made-up songs to mimic the girl-grou pop and alternative music of the late 1990s.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Wing Feather and Sparrow, Kaya's younger brothers, Agnes and Agatha Pitt in Samantha's series, and Rebecca's twin older sisters Sadie and Sophie. Nicki and Isabel Hoffman avert this; they were fraternal twins to start with and have different hair and eye colors.

** Courtney's parents; she went back and forth between them until her father had to move for his job.

* BlandNameProduct: Courtney's favorite video games along with the averted VideoGame/PacMan are "Gorilla Run" (highly likely to be VideoGame/DonkeyKong), and "Space Blaster", which could be any well known space shooting game but is likely {{VideoGame/Galaga}}. Her cassette player and boombox also doesn't have accurate era songs, but has made-up songs that simulate pop and rock music of the era.

** The fourth story in each Historical Character's series through Kit; this also resulted in them all having spring or early summer birthdays since the books were set in springtime. Kaya's culture didn't celebrate or track exact birthdays, so her fourth story focuses on her maturity and connection with a wild dog and its pups. (American Girl tends to give her amid-August birthday celebration at store events.) Caroline, Marie-Grace, Cécile, Claudie, and Courtney's stories don't cover their birthdays. Melody's is shown at the start of her second volume; her birthday is January first, the earliest of any character. The Hoffman twins' series hasn't covered their birthday as of 2023.

** In-universe, it's the case with medicine, transportation, and other technologies and inventions. For example Samantha's era has new inventions like bicycles, motorcars, and electricity gaining widespread use, which are considered common by the time of later era characters. (This is discussed in ''Samantha Learns a Lesson'' when she's considering what new sign of progress to focus her essay on.) By the time of Kit's era--the 1930s--all of these items are common enough to not be remarked on, and remain so through the other characters (Kit thinks nothing of having access to electricity, and by Molly's era it's pretty ubiquitous even if not aviliable in more rural locations.)
** In Historical Collections, this initially was done to show how items changed over eras but had the same purposes; for example, the hornbook of Felicity's era is comparative to Addy's simple but bound ''Union Reader'', which is comparative to Molly's reading book. Rebecca's collection has a phonograph (she's gifted for her birthday) that plays three era-accurate records--it's still expensive, but is something even rich Samantha did not have access to. Julie not only owns a "modern" state of the art portable record player with clips from three era-accurate songs, but her father brings her a "new" tape recorder to use, and in the collection it can record twenty seconds and play them back. She's then followed by Courtney who has a cassette and a portable tape player that plays [[BlandNameProduct era-simulating songs]]--who is ''then'' followed by the Hoffman twins having a CD player. [[ZigZaggedTrope Funny enough]], the Hoffmans' CD player doesn't play any songs at all--their then-state of the art computer does.
** Courtney's books, aimed at children who would be used to cellphones and social media, state in the Looking Back section how children of the 80's didn't have their own phones to connect with each other, so often met up at the mall to hang out and meet up.
** It's even seen in the modern collection, seeing as it's now spanned several decades. The original high-level [[https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Mini_Macintosh Macintosh desktop]] or [[https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Nighttime_Necessities headset phone]] from the mid-ninties are nothing like the modern tablets, smartphones, and slim laptops from the 2020s. Lindsey's then high level [[https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Lindsey%27s_Laptop_and_Bag laptop]] is practically ''clunky'' compared to the slimmer laptop in Joss's collection. [[ZigZaggedTrope Zigzagged]] again as the older items often had interactivity and batteries (Lindsey's doubled as a calculator, calendar, and digital phonebook), but the newer ones are often just solid plastic and may have one or two interactive buttons but most often have removable thin screens instead.

** Addy's mother works as a seamstress in a dress shop, and Addy learns some sewing with her.

* ''An American Girl Story: Summer Camp, Friends For Life'' (2017) The first Contemporary Character movie, starring Zoe Manarel as Z Yang.

Short films based on Julie and Maryellen (2015), Joss and Courtney (2020), and Kira (2021) were uploaded on Website/YouTube, with other promotional animated videos for additional characters. A movie was planned and in post production for Corinne by Warner Bros, but has not been released.

** Until the release of Cécile in 2011, Addy was the only black historical character for the entire line; she returned to being the only black historicla character after Cécile's retirement in 2014, but has since been accompanied by Melody and Claudie. In the modern line, the only black Girl of the Year has been Gabriela from 2017.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: There are many characters for this trope. Note that [[RealWomenDontWearDresses the tomboy is almost always the star of the series]].

** Julie is a sporty girl that enjoys basketball and hanging out with boys, while Ivy is a girl who likes making bracelets, baking, and gymnastics.

The first line, the historical character line, released in 1986 and focuses on the history of the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates in various time periods ranging from pre-European settlement (and Native culture) to TheNineties, as seen through the eyes of a nine-to-ten-year-old girl living in the era. The collection was first referred to as "The American Girls Collection", then "Historical Characters" when other lines came out, and briefly redesigned as "[=BeForever=]" before reverting back to "Historical Characters." This is also the line most people who remember the brand from the 90s are thinking about or have nostalgia for, and the part of the line that is often parodied or [[ReferencedBy/AmericanGirlsCollection referenced]] in other media.

* AccidentalTimeTravel: The protagonists of the My Journey GameBooks don't initially decide to go back in time; they end up back there by interacting with something from that era such as a coin, miniature portrait, vintage camera, or brooch. (The exception being the one from Melody's, who goes back by singing "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing".) However, after the first trip, they ([[RefusedTheCall mostly]]) go back willingly.

* NoEqualOpportunityTimeTravel: For the black protagonists in the Journey books. Addy's My Journey book has a middle-class modern black girl travel to 1864. All the book's endings are happy, but the protagonist faces the segregation, prejudice, poorly funded schools, and even slave-catchers of the era which gives her major culture shock. The black protagonist of Melody's has her own when, if taking the path with riding with Melody and her brother Dwayne in a nice car, they're pulled over by the police and Dwayne is accused of stealing the car and forced to contact his boss to prove he has the car legitimately.

* RefusalOfTheCall: In both Caroline and Josefina's My Journey books, the time traveling protagonist can decide not to go back in time after the first trip and thus end the story immediately.
* ReimaginingTheArtifact: Samantha's ice cream maker was spoken of in her books first, but released in Addy's collection first in 1994; it was not given to Samantha until 1998. When Samantha was rereleased (and Cécile and Marie-Grace archived), Samantha got their parasol, Addy got their ''underwear'', and the ice cream maker--still Addy's--was soon retired.

* AccidentalTimeTravel: The protagonists of the My Journey GameBooks don't initially decide to go back in time; they end up back there by interacting with something from that era such as a coin, miniature portrait, vintage camera, or brooch. (The exception being the one from Melody's, who goes back by singing "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing".) However, after the first trip, they ([[[RefusedTheCall mostly]]) go back willingly.