Handmade Raggedy Ann doll

Raggedy Ann and Andy are rag doll characters created in 1915 by Hoosier author Johnny Gruelle for his daughter, Marcella. Gruelle’s book, Raggedy Ann Stories, was published by P. F. Volland & Co. in 1918, and commercially produced versions of the dolls soon followed. The original dolls had brown hair, but they became redheads as their popularity grew.

 

This handmade Raggedy Ann doll is believed to have been made by Mrs. Charles Davis when she was in the first grade in 1929. One day, she and her mother took her doll to the L. S. Ayres department store tearoom in Indianapolis, where Johnny Gruelle was signing books. For her, he didn’t just sign a book—he autographed her doll!