Origins

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 (during legal limbo), Mollye's Dolls, resulting in Gruelle v (Mollye) Goldman

Toys and adaptations into other media

Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls

• P.F. Volland Co. 1920-1934
• Exposition doll and Toy Co. 1934-mid 1935(less than 1 yr. production RARE)
• Mollye's Doll Outfitters (without permission) 1935-1938
• Georgene Novelties 1938-1962
• Knickerbocker Toy Co. 1963-1982
• Applause Toy Co./Russ Berrie 1983-present
• Hasbro/Playskool 1983-Present?
• Simon and Schuster(books and other media) - Present

Although it is said Raggedy Ann and Andy are now considered in the public domain, scores of handmade Raggedy Ann/Andy dolls have been created since the 1940s to present.

• 1940 McCall's Pattern #820 first appeared for a 19-in. dolls, Ann doll comes with cape pattern
• 1945? McCall's Pattern #914 for Awake/Asleep dolls plus camel with the wrinkled knees
• 1958 McCall's Pattern #820 appeared with a slightly modified pattern for both dolls
• 1963 McCall's Pattern #6941 Ann pattern has lost her cape, dolls now come in 3 sizes
• 1970 McCall's Pattern #2531 Dolls come in 3 sizes but simplified pattern and different hair and face embroidery pattern, loss of button eyes
• 1970? new McCall's Pattern for 35in dolls plus apron child can wear
• 1977 McCall's Pattern #5713 HEIGHT of Raggedy mania, identical as previous #2531 pattern, different cover
• 1982 McCall's Pattern #8077 re-issue of previous patterns with NEW cover with dolls with different hair color

McCall's has produced identical #2531 patterns to present date with only a change in cover design. Simplicity Patterns released a licensed doll pattern for a different design doll that included all 4 sizes in the late 90's, though the well-known McCall's Raggedy Ann/Andy pattern was still available. Both patterns are still available today.

Many handmade Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls and some knockoff, clones, look-alike dolls or other items will have the "supposed" trademark I LOVE YOU heart. You can not correctly ID a Raggedy item by this. To correctly ID a Raggedy Ann or Andy item, toy, or doll you must look for a manufacture tag/marking or consult a collector.

Many subsequent books were published and the characters made their way into other media, including:

• A series of animated Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios shorts:
• Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy (1941)
• Suddenly It's Spring (1944)
• The Enchanted Square (1947)
• A comic book published by Dell Comics.
• A 1977 animated feature, A Musical Adventure, directed by Richard Williams
• Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper (1978) a Christmas television special directed by Chuck Jones
• Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Pumpkin Who Couldn’t Smile (1979) a Halloween television special also directed by Chuck Jones
• A 1988–1992 animated television series, The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy

While Simon & Schuster and Hasbro claim to own trademarks to the Raggedy Ann and/or Raggedy Ann and Andy names, the original 1915 doll design and 1918 and 1920 books are in the public domain, their copyright having expired. Books and films published after 1950 are protected by copyright.

Raggedy Ann was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2002. Raggedy Andy joined her in 2007.

It appears that many books were released and credited to Johnny Gruelle after his death, regardless of who actually wrote and illustrated them. Noted artist Ethel Hays illustrated most of the stories that were published beginning in 1944 by the Saalfield Publishing Company.

• Raggedy Ann Stories (1918) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Andy Stories (1920) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees (1924) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Andy's Number Book (1924) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann's Wishing Pebble (1925) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann's Alphabet Book (1925) by Johnny Gruelle
• Beloved Belindy (1926) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• The Paper Dragon: A Raggedy Ann Adventure (1926) by Johnny Gruelle
• Wooden Willie (1927) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann's Fairy Stories (1928) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann's Magical Wishes (1928) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• Marcella: A Raggedy Ann Story (1929) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann in the Deep Deep Woods (1930) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann's Sunny Songs (1930) words and illustrations by Johnny Gruelle, music by Will Woodin
• Raggedy Ann in Cookie Land (1931) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann's Lucky Pennies (1932) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann in the Golden Meadow (1935) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and the Left-Handed Safety Pin (1935)
• Raggedy Ann's Joyful Songs (1937) words and illustrations by Johnny Gruelle, music by Chas. Miller
• Raggedy Ann in the Magic Book (1939) written by Johnny Gruelle, illustrated by Worth Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and the Laughing Brook (1940) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and the Golden Butterfly (1940) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and the Hoppy Toad (1940)
• Raggedy Ann Helps Grandpa Hoppergrass (1940) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann Goes Sailing (1941)
• Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Nice Fat Policeman (1942) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and Betsy Bonnet String (1943) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and Andy (1944)
• Raggedy Ann in the Snow White Castle (1946)
• Raggedy Ann's Adventures (1947)
• Raggedy Ann and the Slippery Slide (1947)
• Raggedy Ann's Mystery (1947)
• Raggedy Ann and Marcella's First Day At School (1952)
• Raggedy Ann's Merriest Christmas (1952) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Andy's Surprise (1953)
• Raggedy Ann's Tea Party (1954)
• Raggedy Ann's Secret (1959)
• Raggedy Ann and the Golden Ring (1961)
• Raggedy Ann and the Hobby Horse (1961) by Johnny Gruelle
• Raggedy Ann and the Happy Meadow (1961)
• Raggedy Ann and the Wonderful Witch (1961)
• Raggedy Ann and the Tagalong Present (1971)
• Raggedy Andy's Treasure Hunt (1973)
• Raggedy Ann's Cooking School (1974)
• Raggedy Granny Stories (1977) by Doris Thorner Salzberg

Raggedy Ann is sometimes used by national sororities as a mascot: The current incarnation of Delta Gamma's official mascot, the Hannah Doll, is a Raggedy Ann doll, and Ann also is one of the unofficial mascots of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority. "Ophia" (Raggedy Ann) is also the national mascot of Omega Phi Alpha.

Raggedy Ann and Andy are also the mascots of the Lockheart Social Club, founded in 1938, of the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi.

Gruelle's home town, Arcola, Illinois, is home to the annual Raggedy Ann & Andy Festival, as well as the Raggedy Ann and Andy Museum.Ragdoll Productions' old logo was a Raggary Anne-Andy-like doll over a yellow sun, with a candle, that was removed in 1991.

Cynthiana, Ky. has also adopted Raggedy Ann for an annual festival. It is held the third Saturday of April every year with dolls, books, Raggedy Ann collectibles, booths, children's activities, and museum displays. The connection of Raggedy Ann with Cynthiana is by way of Johnny Gruelle's father, the artist Richard Gruelle, who was born there.

Different media around the world also have paid tribute to the doll characters. The Japanese video game company Hudson Entertainment created a character based on Raggedy Ann in its Xbox Live Bomberman game called Raggedy Bomb.

She appears in two episodes of South Park: Pinkeye and Imaginationland.

Raggedy Ann and Andy have appeared in several episodes of Family Guy, including Something, Something, Something, Dark Side.

In the Parks and Recreation episode Greg Pikitis, Ann Perkins (played by Rashida Jones) dresses up as Raggedy Ann for a Halloween party at her house. She tells Ron Swanson (played by Nick Offerman), who is also present at the party, that Raggedy Ann was one of her favorite books as a kid.

Raggedy Andy appears in the Roger Rabbit short Tummy Trouble as a doll in Baby Herman's room.

Raggedy Ann was presented as an original musical at New York State Theatre Institute in the 1980s

On March 27, 2002, Raggedy Ann was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.

In October 1986, Raggedy Ann, The Musical Adventure, starring Ivy Austin, opened on Broadway at The Nederlander Theater.

Her name appears in a Nicki Minaj verse in a remix of the track Lemonade by southern rapper Gucci Mane.In July 2010, the character is referenced in the fifth episode of Hot in Cleveland. After Betty White's character Elka dyes her hair bright red, Jane Leeves's character Joy calls her Raggedy Ann.

IMDb

• (1941)
• (1944)
• (1947)
• (1977)
• (1978)
• (1979)
• (1988)

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