February 2026 Raggedy Ann and Johnny Gruelle
For me personally my most iconic American cloth doll is Raggedy Ann given to me at Christmas in 1941 by my Oregon grandmother. She also started me becoming an antique doll collector when she gave me her closed mouth Kestner with a trunk of clothes when I was ten. I have enclosed a picture of me with my beloved Raggedy probably a photo sent in 1942 to my father who was in the Signal Corps in Europe during the war.
Johnny Gruelle was born into an artistic family in 1880. He too became an artist primarily a political cartoonist, children’s book and comic author and the creator of the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls and many books about them. He lived in a creative home influenced by many artist friends of his parents and the poet James Whitcomb Riley who wrote The Raggedy Man poem who was a neighbor and a family friend. The name Raggedy was Johnny’s inspiration when he later wrote the story books and drew the dolls. He had found a rag doll in his parents attic just before his first child Marcella was born at the turn of the century and when she started playing with dolls Johnny remembered the rag doll and began writing a story. There are many myths and stories regarding the dolls but there was definitely a patent applied for in May 1915 around the time Marcella became gravely ill from an infected needle used for vaccinations at her school. The patent was approved in September 1915 but sadly Marcella died soon after and it is said Johnny grieved his entire life for his adored daughter. The name of the doll combined two poems of Rileys Raggedy Man and Little Orphant Annie.
It is thought his wife and family initially made the cloth dolls to promote the stories of Raggedy but Johnny also reached out to his book publisher Volland & Co to create a doll to accompany his books. The merchandising agreement with Volland began the production of the doll we know today.
Raggedy is an all cloth stuffed rag doll with floppy joints at shoulder and hips, bright red yarn short hair, printed facial features with a red triangle nose, a linear smile with red lips and tin button eyes. The Volland dolls had an open heart shape on the left side of the chest with a cardboard removable heart, mitten shaped hands, red and white striped legs and black stuffed feet. Volland went bankrupt during the depression and subsequent dolls have a printed chest heart with I Love You on it. Raggedy is dressed in a removable flowered fabric dress, a pinny and long johns.
There was a court case regarding the patent and infringement of copyright as Molly E’s company copied the doll after Volland went bankrupt and it was she who introduced the printed heart. She lost the patent and it remained with the Gruelles but the fight hastened the early death of Johnny. Georgene Novelties (my doll maker) took over, then Knickerbocker and at the present time Hasbro makes Raggedy. Johnny developed other dolls and toys Beloved Belindy, the Quacky Doodles, a stuffed elephant and the camel with the wringled knees as well as story books published by Bobbs-Merrill, lyrics, sheet music and song books. A truly talented man a credit to the toy makers of America and doll lovers everywhere.