American Girl Samantha grows up with her first fans, as the company turns 40

American Girl dolls of all eras are on display at the American Girl store in New York City. Lanna Apisukh for NPR

Lanna Apisukh for NPR

Meet Samantha Parkington. She’s a 9-year-old orphan living with her wealthy grandmother in the fictional town of Mount Bedford, N.Y., in 1904.

And her hair is a mess.

Emily Friedrichsen, a stylist at the American Girl salon in New York City, buckles Samantha into a magenta-colored, doll-sized salon chair,