raggedy ann and andy…timeless toys

Pen and ink wash of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, favorite toys of my daughters
 illustrated by Sandra Santa Lucia

When my little girls were born in the late sixties my mom made each of them large Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. Those two dolls are the subject of this week's Illustration Friday's topic, "toy" pictured above.

Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls have been loved and cuddled since 1915 when artist Johnny Gruelle, a cartoonist-illustrator and a natural born storyteller illustrated and wrote the Raggedy Ann and Andy Stories

 http://www.marcellasraggedyann.com/raggedy-books.html

Raggedy Ann and Andy: History and Legend by Patricia Hall 

Raggedy Ann, and her equally spirited rag brother, Andy are the world's best-known and most adored rag dolls. At the hand of their creator, cartoonist-illustrator-author Johnny Gruelle, the Raggedys weren't ever simply dolls. They were literary characters as well, possessing attributes and outlooks reflecting trustworthiness, kindness, and spunk. Because Gruelle was a natural born storyteller, it followed that his dolls would star in whimsical, fanciful tales, based on fantasy and make believe.