Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy

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Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy

Raggedy Ann, the central character in a series of children's books about dolls that come alive when their people are away, made her official debut in 1918 with the Raggedy Ann Stories by author and illustrator Johnny Gruelle. She was first a real rag doll for a real little girl, then was mass-produced to accompany the nearly 1,000 stories written by Gruelle before his death in 1938. Raggedy Andy, the little rag-brother of Raggedy Ann, was introduced in 1920 with The Raggedy Andy Stories. Raggedy Ann's image, with her black shoe-button eyes, red yarn hair, her white pinafore, and scalloped pantaloons over red-and-white striped legs remained surprisingly intact over the years, and was featured on a vast array of children's toys, clothing, furnishings, and other objects. Gruelle produced a series of 40 books, as well as using Raggedy Ann in cartoons, but the dolls themselves remain the most popular collectibles.

John Barton ("Johnny") Gruelle (1880-1938), the son of a painter, grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. He first worked as a newspaper cartoonist for several papers, illustrating stories as well as drawing cartoons. He won first prize in 1910 in a comic drawing contest sponsored by the New York Herald with the adventures of an elf named Mr. Twee Deedle. His full-color cartoon was syndicated as a full-page feature. Gruelle wrote and illustrated children's stories for popular magazines as well, and in 1914 he produced his first book commission, an illustrated Grimm's fairy tales.

The Gruelles had a daughter, Marcella, who was devoted to an old rag doll that had belonged to Johnny's mother. Resurrected from the attic, and with a new painted face and a new name, this first Raggedy Ann was Marcella's companion through an illness that ended in her death in 1916. Raggedy Ann's initial adventures were stories Johnny told to amuse and divert his bedridden daughter.

In 1915, Gruelle applied for a patent on Raggedy Ann. The family made a dozen prototype dolls, although accounts differ as to whether the impetus for Raggedy Ann's manufacture came from Gruelle or the P.F. Volland Company of Chicago, with whom he had the book contract. In any event, the dolls and stories were simultaneously produced and were instantly successful. In the time-honored tradition of little brothers, Raggedy Andy came along two years later. Raggedy Andy never acquired the central status of his sister, but remained a secondary character.

Several factors account for Raggedy Ann's great popularity. The dolls, which included an entire cast of other characters—the Scotsman Uncle Clem, Beloved Belindy, Percy the Policeman—were kept at the forefront of consumer consciousness by the large number of books written by their prolific author (a sequel every year and sometimes two). The Raggedy series, while never enjoying great critical acclaim, was very appealing to its young audience. Gruelle's soft line drawings and full-page, color illustrations fill every alternate page of the books. His talents as a cartoonist were well employed in the difficult task of imbuing dolls, whose faces never change, with a full range of expression and attitude. The narratives—romping adventures out of sight of the "real for sure folks," usually involving peril and a cheerful resolution—are set in an innocent and somewhat dated world, but Gruelle had real insights into the way children think. He uses repetition and naming devices consistent with children's language patterns. He fills his stories with little tiny things, child-sized things, good things to eat, playing games, and (nice) secrets. He creates, in other words, an entire, internally consistent, vicarious world.

Finally, Raggedy Ann and her coterie were easily accessible. Raggedy was not a high-priced porcelain doll with an equally exclusive wardrobe, but a rag doll with a homespun quality that was deliberately preserved despite changes in manufacturers. She could even be made at home, beginning in the 1940s when McCall's Pattern Company marketed an authorized pattern to reproduce Raggedy Ann and Andy.

No discussion of Raggedy Ann would be complete without revealing her secret. She wears stamped over her heart the words "I Love You." And that came about when she fell into a bucket of paint and had to be restuffed by the painter's mother, who sewed into her chest a candy heart with the motto "I Love You" on it. Raggedy Ann was a household presence for the greater part of the twentieth century. Johnny Gruelle's gifts as an author and illustrator produced a classic American character.

—Karen Hovde