vintage postcards
Here I am clutching my Raggedy Ann doll! Awwwwwww! The first gladdening Raggedy Ann stories (written in 1915 by Johnny Gruelle) were based on a real rag doll found by the author's daughter in an attic trunk.
He drew the famous black eyes and red triangular nose onto the faceless rag doll. 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 Orphan Annie." He said, "Why don’t we call her Raggedy Ann?