American Girl Doll Trivia
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48 free American Girl Doll trivia questions with answers — pop culture quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
45 free American Girl doll trivia questions with answers. American Girl dolls arrived in 1986 with three characters and a catalogue, and grew into a brand with flagship stores, movies, a magazine and a place in the National Toy Hall of Fame. This American Girl doll trivia quiz covers all of it: which year and city each historical character lives in, the six-book pattern the stories follow, the friends who were retired, the Girl of the Year line, Bitty Baby and WellieWishers, and the four American Girl films. It also covers the company: founder Pleasant Rowland's trip to Colonial Williamsburg, the textbook royalties she spent on the idea, and the sale to Mattel. Questions run from easy ones for a slumber party to hard ones for adult collectors who remember the original Pleasant Company boxes. Every answer is checked against Wikipedia and cited on the question, so you can see the source for yourself.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year were American Girl dolls first introduced?
1986
Pleasant Company launched the first American Girl dolls in 1986, selling them only by mail-order catalogue until the first retail store opened in 1998.
Q 02How tall are the classic American Girl dolls?
18 inches
The classic American Girl dolls stand 18 inches tall, with cloth bodies and vinyl limbs, a size that spawned a whole market of 18-inch doll clothes and furniture.
Q 03Which company bought Pleasant Company in 1998 for $700 million?
Mattel
Mattel, maker of Barbie, bought Pleasant Company for about $700 million in 1998, acquiring a doll line that had been pitched to parents as the anti-Barbie.
Q 04In which Wisconsin city was Pleasant Company founded?
Madison
Pleasant Rowland founded Pleasant Company in Madison, her home city; she later gave more than $200 million to its Overture Center for the Arts.
Q 05Which three characters were the original American Girl dolls at launch?
Kirsten, Samantha and Molly
Kirsten, Samantha and Molly were the launch trio, all sharing the same 'Classic' face mould and differing mainly in hair and eye colour.
Q 06A trip to which living-history destination inspired Pleasant Rowland to create the dolls?
Colonial Williamsburg
A mid-1980s visit to Colonial Williamsburg, the restored 18th-century Virginia capital, gave Pleasant Rowland the idea of teaching history through dolls and stories.
Q 07Pleasant Rowland financed the company with about $1.2 million she had earned from what?
Children's textbook royalties
Rowland financed the launch with about $1.2 million in royalties from children's textbooks she had written, a reading programme that grew out of her years as an elementary teacher.
Q 08Kirsten Larson is an immigrant from which country?
Sweden
Kirsten Larson's stories follow her family from Sweden to the Minnesota frontier in 1854; she was one of the three launch dolls and was archived in 2010.
Q 09In which year is Samantha Parkington's story set?
1904
Samantha Parkington's books are set in 1904, in the Progressive Era of Gibson girls and new automobiles; she lives with her wealthy grandmother in fictional Mount Bedford, New York.
Q 10What is the name of Samantha's best friend, an Irish-American servant girl?
Nellie O'Malley
Nellie O'Malley works as a servant next door to Samantha's grandmother; in 'Samantha Learns a Lesson' Samantha tutors her so she can move up out of the youngest class at school.
Q 11Molly McIntire's father is away during the Second World War serving as what?
A doctor in England
Molly lives in the fictional Jefferson, Illinois, with siblings Jill, Ricky and Brad.
Q 12Molly's Best Friend doll, Emily Bennett, is a girl from which country sent to America for safety?
Britain
She was a minor character in Happy Birthday, Molly! before Valerie Tripp expanded her story in Brave Emily.
Q 13Felicity Merriman, introduced in 1991, lives in Williamsburg during which conflict?
The American Revolution
Felicity's stories begin in 1774 on the eve of the American Revolution, with her Patriot father and Loyalist grandfather on opposite sides of the coming war.
Q 21What is Kit's full first name?
Margaret
Kit's full name is Margaret Mildred Kittredge; she dislikes 'Margaret' and takes her nickname from the song 'Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag'.
Q 22Which actress played Kit in the 2008 film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl?
Abigail Breslin
Abigail Breslin, fresh from her Oscar nomination for Little Miss Sunshine, starred as Kit in the 2008 film, the first American Girl movie released in cinemas rather than on television.
Q 23Julie Albright, released in 2007, grows up in which city in 1974-75?
San Francisco
Julie Albright lives in San Francisco in 1974, moving with her mother after her parents' divorce; she invokes Title IX to win a place on her school's boys' basketball team.
Q 14What does Felicity name the wild horse she tames?
Penny
Felicity names the copper-coloured mare Penny, for her coat and because she is 'inde-Penny-dent'; the horse is mistreated by the tanner Jiggy Nye until Felicity frees her.
Q 15Addy Walker, the first Black historical character, escapes slavery in North Carolina and reaches which city?
Philadelphia
Addy and her mother flee the plantation in 1864 and reach Philadelphia, where they find work and a free Black community; Connie Porter wrote her stories.
Q 16Where did the Addy doll make her debut in September 1993?
A Black Family Reunion Celebration in Washington
Addy was unveiled at the Black Family Reunion Celebration on the National Mall in Washington in September 1993, an event run by the National Council of Negro Women.
Q 17Josefina Montoya, the first Latina doll, lives on a ranch near which city in 1824?
Santa Fe
Josefina lives on her family's rancho outside Santa Fe in 1824, when New Mexico was part of Mexico; she keeps a pet goat named Sombrita.
Q 18Kaya, whose stories are set in 1764, belongs to which Native American people?
Nez Perce
Kaya is Nez Perce, living in the Pacific Northwest in 1764; her doll has a closed-mouth face because baring teeth is considered impolite in Nez Perce custom.
Q 19Which title is the second book in the Kaya series?
Kaya's Escape
Kaya's Escape! is the second Kaya book; instead of a 'Learns a Lesson' title, it tells how Kaya and her sister are captured by enemy raiders and Kaya escapes.
Q 20Kit Kittredge lives through the Great Depression in which city?
Cincinnati
Kit lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1934, where her family takes in boarders after her father loses his car dealership in the Depression.
Q 24Julie's best friend Ivy Ling is a girl of which heritage?
Chinese American
Ivy Ling is Chinese American, living with her family in the city's Chinatown and training as a gymnast; her doll was retired in 2014 along with the other Best Friend characters.
Q 25Rebecca Rubin, released in 2009, is the first historical character of which faith?
Jewish
Rebecca Rubin is the daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side in 1914; her stories cover Hanukkah, Shabbat and her dream of acting in the new movie business.
Q 26Nanea Mitchell's story is set in Honolulu around which event?
The attack on Pearl Harbor
Nanea Mitchell is a Hawaiian girl in Honolulu in 1941 whose stories begin with the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor and the wartime changes that follow; she was released in 2017.
Q 27Melody Ellison lives in which city during the civil rights movement of the early 1960s?
Detroit
Melody Ellison lives in Detroit in 1964, where her older brother Dwayne chases a Motown record deal and Melody sings in her church choir; she was released in 2016.
Q 28Maryellen Larkin, the 1950s character, comes from which Florida city?
Daytona Beach
Maryellen Larkin grows up in Daytona Beach in 1954 as the middle child of a crowded household, dreaming of standing out after a bout of polio; she was released in 2015.
Q 29Claudie Wells grows up in 1922 in which New York neighbourhood?
Harlem
Claudie Wells lives in Harlem in 1922 at the height of the Harlem Renaissance, surrounded by the neighbourhood's musicians, writers and artists; she was released in 2022.
Q 30Caroline Abbott lives through which war at Sackets Harbor, New York?
The War of 1812
Caroline Abbott's stories are set in the War of 1812, when British forces attacked Sackets Harbor on Lake Ontario; she was released in 2012 for the war's bicentennial and archived in 2015.