Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls

By Esther Nunley

Original Publish Date: August 31, 2022

Among the toy doll collection at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum, you will find the famous Raggedy Ann and her brother Andy. It’s very possible that most people have walked right by them while they toured the Museum. They sit way up high on the top shelf of the toy display case located on the third floor. Raggedy Ann and Andy are members of the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, New York.

Their painted faces are always smiling as they scan the third-floor collections of the Museum through their button eyes—shoe button eyes as described in the first Raggedy Ann book. Their expression gives you a sense of delightfulness. There is no end to the activities that these dolls could engage in if you let your mind wander back to your childhood days that were full of exciting imagination.

These characters have brightened the lives of millions of children since their introduction. Raggedy Ann was patented in 1915 and sold with the book Raggedy Ann Stories in 1918. Andy was introduced as her brother in 1920. The two characters brought to light situations that happened with other toy characters in subsequent books. Raggedy Ann handled each situation in a calm way and the ending usually had a lesson learned. The Raggedy Ann stories have also appeared in comic books, audio recordings, animated films, and television and theatrical productions.

There are many different stories about how Raggedy Ann was created in the home of Johnny Gruelle, (b. 1880, d. 1938), an award-winning cartoonist inspired by his father Richard who was a landscape artist. Gruelle tells in his first book, Raggedy Ann Stories, that his daughter Marcella, found the rag doll in her grandmother’s attic. It was missing an eye which her grandmother immediately replaced. Years later, Gruelle’s wife recounted that it was Gruelle himself that found the rag doll many years before Marcella’s birth and that he kept the doll in mind stating it would be a good story. Either way, the beginning of Raggedy Ann started with Gruelle and his daughter Marcella.

As her father watched her play with the rag doll, he noticed how the toys came to life through her imagination with each one having its own personality. He created his version of the doll Raggedy Ann and applied for a patent in early 1915. Marcella became ill and passed away in September of 1915, at the age of 13, the very same month he received his patent. Gruelle continued to publish Raggedy Ann and Andy series with the goal to provide joy to children across the world. Gruelle passed away from a heart attack at the age of 57. His son Worth continued to publish his father’s works for some years after.

Our Raggedy Ann and Andy are from 1956 and came from a Texas toy store. They were a family gift that was thoroughly enjoyed for many years. That head of red yarn hair, the red triangle nose, those button eyes, and those ever-smiling faces remain delightful!

Raggedy Ann is wearing a print dress with a white apron and white pantaloons covering red and white stockings while Andy has a jumper with a pink, purple, and green, geometric-designed top accented with a white turn-down collar and navy bottoms covering his red and white stockings accented by two white buttons at the chest level. Both have the classic red yarn hair.

We brought them down from the top of the cabinet for a picture. Just handling them with their lifeless dangling limbs and tipsy heads causes you to play around with them just to get them to sit up. Their 36 ½ inch height makes them appear to be close to lifelike characters being larger than a toddler! It was a challenge to have them pose for their picture all the while giving me their silly smiles and--knowing some of their adventures--I just had to smile and start talking to them.

There is no doubt that these two were daily playmates and thoroughly enjoyed. A close inspection reveals some repairs like to Andy’s left eye with hand-basted stitches and both have their backsides hand basted to hold in the cotton stuffing. They show some wear and tear but the delightful joy of imagination remains fresh and new!