Here is another doll (or dolls) that everybody remembers. Raggity Ann and Raggity Andy. Raggedy Ann is a fictional character created by American 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 and has a triangle nose. 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.
Gruelle created Raggedy Ann for his daughter, Marcella, when she brought him an old hand-made rag doll and he drew a face on it. From his bookshelf, he pulled a book of poems by James Whitcomb Riley, and combined the names of two poems, "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie." He said, "Why don't we call her Raggedy Ann?"
Marcella died at age 13 after being vaccinated at school for smallpox without her parents' consent. Authorities blamed a heart defect, but her parents blamed the vaccination. Gruelle became an opponent of vaccination, and the Raggedy Ann doll was used as a symbol by the anti-vaccination movement. Raggedy Ann dolls were originally handmade. Later, PF Volland, a Gruelle book publisher, made the dolls. In 1935 Volland ceased operation and Ann and Andy were made under Gruelle's permission by Exposition Dolls, and without permission by MollyE's Dolls.
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ANN & ANDY Visit the Doll Hospital.
Almost nothing surprises us when we open the boxes each morning. Often what we find is the results of what happens when the doll that has been in the family for many years, is left somewhere only to be discovered by the family dog. Their idea of playing with you treasured doll usually means rough play that end up something like the picture above. This raggety Ann came to us needing some serious repair.
A week later, she was fixed up to the point that she was ready to go home. In this case the doll was dismantled, washed, then reassembled with a new head and body parts. She was then stuffed with new stuffing and received a new head of red yarn hair.
We welcome this type oof repair just as we do most doll repair, and it is fun to see the restored doll head home. The thing that is hard to imagine the pain or anguish that the owner experienced when the damaged doll was discovered. The one thing that becomes crystal clear. That is why God made puppies so cute. Their being cute is likely the only thing that saves them when it is discovered what they have been up to.
