Strawberry Shortcake is the name of the cute female character licensed and owned by greeting card company American Greetings Corp. It was intended primarily for use in greeting cards. Today, it is also featured in other products such as posters and dolls. Because of the positive response of consumers to this character, manufacturers started to gain interest on it. The product line has been expanded to include the pets as well as friends of the main character. To understand it more, here is a quick look at the person who invented Strawberry Shortcake.
The Invention of Strawberry Shortcake
Who invented Strawberry Shortcake? While working as illustrator of greeting cards at the Juvenile and Humorous card department of American Greetings, Muriel Fahrion drew the original design of the character. It was done some time in 1977, which included the main character together with her cat named Custard. After that, it was presented to General Mills executive Bernie Loomis, who helped the character become a licensing entity. She then worked for the toy and licensing design division of American Greetings. After Fahrion created Strawberry Shortcake, Janet Jones and Cindy Moyer Patton were assigned to design the other characters.
Additional Facts and Other Important Information
Besides inventing the Strawberry Shortcake character, Fahrion directed the production of the first doll of the character. Her sister Susan Trentel created the design for the rag doll. The personality profiles of the different characters of t he line are unique and very interesting. The names of the characters carry a dessert or fruity themes. Likewise, the names of their pets also have a dessert or fruity sound.
The characters rose to fame some time in 1980s. They were featured in various kinds of things including video games, clothes as well as sticker albums. By 1985, the popularity of the character line waned, which eventually halted the production of the toys and dolls. Video game publisher THQ Inc. attempted to revive the fame of Strawberry Shortcake in 1991. However, it only had a moderate success, which only lasted for a single year.
In 2002, numerous attempts were made to bring back the interest of people, especially female kids, on these loveable characters. These include educational CD-ROMs, new videogames as well as new toys and doll designs. Furthermore, DiC Entertainment was tasked to produce a TV series. Some of the most interesting characters in the Strawberry Shortcake line are Apple Dumplin, Huckleberry Pie and Pupcake. Another attempt to revive the characters is scheduled to start in the summer of 2009.