In 1915, when she was 13, Marcella Gruelle was vaccinated at school for small pox. Marcella and her father were extremely close, and the cartoonist would often regale his child with outlandish stories involving the fearless and sweet Ann. Raggedy Ann first appeared when artist Johnny Gruelle created a brand-new face for an old cloth doll that had been unearthed in the family’s attic-some experts say that Johnny stumbled upon it in his mother’s upstairs crawl space others say his daughter, Marcella, found it while playing beside her grandma’s steamer trunks. They are dapper and goth makeshift in their appearance and mesmerizing in their allure.“Raggedy Ann and her companion/brother, Raggedy Andy, are likewise pretty sharp in their primary-colored togs and their eerily wide-eyed view of the world. Sally and her paramour, Jack Skellington, are the “Lucy and Desi” of the steam-punk movement. Frankenstein, is the harbinger of “Sally,” the ethereal and macabre heroine of Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas.” As a matter of fact, her primitive face, which looks a bit like a makeover a la Dr.

Taken in a certain light, Raggedy is a heck of a steam-punk goddess. Pretty cutting-edge for your great-grandma’s playmate. I don’t know about you, but to me, that equals a doll tattoo. She could be the brainchild of a dollmaker plying her craft today on the Deviant Art board!īefore the literary punk Lisbeth Salander caused a stir in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” franchise, Raggedy already had a heart embroidered on her fabric chest. What’s interesting to me about Miss Ann is that her birthday, quickly coming up to 100, is happening during a time when her bold head of hair, dowdy pinafore, striped stockings and clunky shoes make her both a throwback clotheshorse and a very groovy chick. If I had to describe her, I’d simply say “nostalgic.”

She is an antique collectible that doesn’t appear to belong to any particular time period or geographic locale. If you had told me that the yarn-haired miss made her debut during the Civil War, I would have believed you. Raggedy Ann is one of those slices of Americana that just always seemed to be there. Instead, I’m saluting “Raggedy Ann,” the cloth creation that was awarded its patent on Sept. No, I’m not chatting about Betty White-though that spry golden girl has been everywhere of late, spreading her message to live life to the fullest.

September 2010 marks the 95th birthday of an American icon who has inspired, entertained, and taught us to love, laugh, and persist for several generations.

Marcella a raggedy ann story