When illustrator and cartoonist Johnny Gruelle’s terminally ill daughter, Marcella, found a faded rag doll in her grandmother’s attic, he painted a new, smiling face on the toy. Naming it Raggedy Ann after two poems by his friend James Whitcomb Riley, “The Raggedy Man” and “Orphan Annie,” he made up a series of stories around this character to entertain his only child, who loved to spend hours playing dolls.

After her death in 1916, Gruelle wrote and illustrated 25 storybooks based on those tales. Responding to the series’ popularity, in 1918, Gruelle and his family made several dozen dolls to sell with the books, and later that year, Gruelle licensed the publisher, the P.F. Volland Company, to manufacture the dolls based on his 1915 patent for an all-cloth doll with shoe-button eyes, a painted face, brown yarn hair, a dress, pantaloons, a pinafore, stripped legs, and black cloth shoes.

Soon after the dolls were sold, Gruelle received a package from a childhood playmate of his mother, who explained that their mothers had made a pair of boy-and-girl companion dol...

It is rumored that the original P.F. Volland dolls had a real candy heart, but after parents complained the candy was switched out with a cardboard heart. Mollye Goldman was the first, in 1935, to produce the dolls with an “I Love You” heart imprinted on the chest.

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San Marcos preschool program accepting applications
U-T San Diego, June 18th

SAN MARCOS — The San Marcos Community Services department has space available in its Raggedy Ann & Andy Preschoolers Program for children ages 3 to 5. The recreation enrichment program focuses on social skills, with an introduction to academic ...Read more

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Saukvalley, June 16th

Doretta also dressed up as Raggedy Ann on several occasions, spreading cheer to children at the hospital and local schools. Some sent her thank-you letters. “One of them said I really like your sinning,” she recalled with a smile. “I think that must be...Read more

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The beauty school dropout's distinctive, childlike voice is one of her trademarks - Conn was the voice of Raggedy Ann in the 1977 animated feature, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. The Brooklyn native lives outside New York City with her second ...Read more

Rembert Explains America: A Terrifying, Beautiful Day at the National Toy Hall ...
Grantland (blog), June 14th

I was really beginning to lose interest in Easy Bake Ovens (inducted 2006) and Raggedy Ann and Andy (2002). Then this "Arcade" sign and I stared each other down for a few seconds. I have a video-game problem. After PlayStation, I went on a 12-year ...Read more

Bonnie Watters celebrates 45 years of doll making
Barre Montpelier Times Argus, June 14th

Watters' first doll was Raggedy Ann made from a commercial pattern. From there, she made her first original doll, “Eliza,” which was “a big-eyed, long-legged girl” made of gingham fabric. Watters quit her day jobs to raise her family and focus her...Read more

Jean Kelsey
Jamestown Post Journal, June 12th

She was a parade favorite for more than 25 years handing out candy as Raggedy Ann. She is survived by two daughters: Jane K. (Mark) Peterson of Fredericksburg, Va., and Robin L. (Daniel) Traub of Raleigh, N.C.; and one son, Charles L. (Yvonne) Kelsey ...Read more

Fairytale in a garden: Jackson resident showcases quickly expanding fairy garden
MLive.com, June 12th

She said each night before she would go to sleep her mother would read stories about Raggedy Ann to her, and at night her mother would place toys out in her room as if Raggedy Ann had been playing to encourage a sense of bewilderment. “It developed ...Read more

You know it's your birthday: Celebrations to remember
Shoreline Times, June 11th

making it much easier to prepare. With a love of celebrating and two young daughters, I've done my share of birthday themes: Hawaiian luaus, Hollywood stars, winter garden parties, Raggedy Ann, princess and pirate parties, high school musical and more!...Read more