Every morning I am greeted by my favorite doll sitting in her rocking chair in hall entry. I found her in a gift shop a few years ago, and the books were copywritten in 1947. That was a good year. I love her sweet paper mache' face and soft cloth body. She is an inspiration for me to not take life so seriously all the time. I will never outgrow my love for her. Sometimes you know, you just need hang onto those childhood comforts...Maybe I need to bake some cookies eat them warm with cold milk.. or Annie & I could have a tea party.Raggedy Ann is a fictional character created by writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair. The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book Raggedy Ann Stories. A doll was also marketed along with the book to great success. A sequel, Raggedy Andy Stories (1920) introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy, dressed in sailor suit and hat.
The creation of the first Raggedy Ann doll was inspired by his daughter Marcella. She had found a tattered rag doll in her Grandmother's attic.
Her father used his cartooning pen and applied a new, whimsical face to the doll. The name for the doll came from two poems by James Whitcomb Riley - "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphan Annie."
Marcella Gruelle died at age 13, from an infected small pox vaccination. In the same month as Marcella's death, Johnny Gruelle had been granted final approval by the U.S. Patent office for his rag doll.
As Johnny Gruelle worked on finishing the stories, he often glanced up at one of the few keepsakes of his daughter -- Marcella's own tattered doll.
Raggedy Ann was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2002. Raggedy Andy joined her in 2007.
