PLEASANT CO., AMERICAN GIRL DOLL, 18” “SAMANTHA”, + 4 ADDITIONAL OUTFITS

Description

Here is Samantha Parkington, an American Girl doll from 1904.  She was made by Pleasant Doll company and is probably the most popular of the American Girl series of dolls having been introduced in 1989.  According to the story she is an orphan who lives with her wealthy Grandmother She is made of vinyl head with large brown sleep eyes, long brunette hair with full bangs, vinyl arms and legs that hold a pose and firmly stuffed cloth body. The doll has been used – there is an area at the back of the head where some of the hair is a bit shorter than the rest and she may have met with a self-appointed barber!  Or this could have been caused by excessive brushing.  She is dressed in cotton print jump suit with short sleeves (obviously not from the 1904 era), white fancy Mary Janes with lace trim and snap strap closure and comes with four other outfits.  Her clothes have been tailored by a skilled seamstress and while some are in the style of the period, others are more contemporary.  I don’t think any of the clothes have been worn and perhaps the doll was owned by an adult who just wanted to make clothes (a possibility since I found this lot at a local auction a few weeks ago.). We have a maroon print long sleeve dress with dropped waist and braided ribbon trim.  There is a sleeveless aqua blue dress with embroidered Peter Pan collar, pleated skirt and metal snap closure and matching ruffled bloomers.  All seams are finished with seam binding.  There is a pale green print dress with puffed sleeves (elastic needs to be replaced) and attached sash. Finally, there is a long sleeve navy blue dress with white stars, dropped waist with inverted pleat in the front and white sailor collar with red trim and ribbon closure.  The right sleeve is faded from exposure to sunlight.