Eighty-eight years ago this month, a red-headed charmer with an eternal smile was born in Arcola, Ill. Well, not exactly born, reclaimed from the attic and recycled, is more like it. And not, as you might assume, by a mother. Raggedy Ann, the beloved doll, was created by cartoonist Johnny Gruelle for his daughter, Marcella, who died in 1915 at age 13 of an infected vaccination.

There are several versions about how Raggedy Ann came to be, but this is the one I like. When she was a little girl, Marcella Gruelle ran into her father’s studio where he was working on his “Mr. Twee Deedle” comic strip. She was dragging behind her a rag doll that had one black shoe button eye, but no other features on its face. The little girl told her father that she found the doll in her grandmother’s attic.

Johnny Gruelle used his artist’s pen to draw in a face – and the iconic smile generations would grow to love. Then, reaching for a book of poetry by James Whitcomb Riley, a family friend, he combined words from the titles of two poems, “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphant Annie,” and suggested that Marcella name the doll Raggedy Ann.

In the ensuing years, Gruelle wrote stories about Raggedy Ann’s adventures to entertain his daughter. After Marcella’s death, Gruelle and his family began making Raggedy Ann dolls and publishing the stories to honor her memory. Later, the Volland Company published the books and made the dolls.

Gruelle gave Raggedy Ann a brother, Raggedy Andy, in 1920 and the rest, as they say, is doll history.

In August, on my way back from Shin Pond, I stopped at the public library in Patten. They were having a book fair and I filled a bag for a buck – well, two bucks because I figured an extra one would be put to good use. I found a copy of one of my all-time favorite books, “Desiree” by Anne Marie Selinko, several books by Vita Sackville-West, whom I have never read, and several titles from the Williamsburg series by Elswyth Thane, a favorite author from my teen years.

Just as I was leaving, I glanced toward the back of the library and there sitting on a shelf was my old friend, Andy – Raggedy Andy, to be exact, the very one I had created for the library more than 25 years ago. His smile made me smile as I recalled the days in the 1970s when my sons were small and we lived right next door to the library. Katherine Rogers was the librarian then.

I made lots of Raggedy Anns and Andys for friends and family in those years, including an Andy for each of my sons when they were 3 and 4 years old. My older son wanted his to be entirely blue – the hair, the fabric for the face and body, the fabric for the clothes and the buttons. Last I knew, he gave the blue Raggedy to his son a few years ago. My younger son wanted his Raggedy Andy to be dressed in pajamas of the same fabric as his favorite pajamas and I happily obliged. I still have it and a Raggedy Ann and Andy I made for myself.

Recently, I learned that it’s a good thing I let my packrat instincts rule. I saved my Raggedy Ann doll patterns from all those years ago. A call to JoAnn Fabric store gave me this sad information – pattern companies no longer have patterns for Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. However, patterns are sold on the Internet. Just go to Google and type in “Raggedy Ann patterns.” You’ll get enough citations to keep you browsing for days.

Snippets

For those interested in making pottery, Jay Hanes of Great Water Ceramics in Winterport is offering six-week courses. Call him at 223-5517 for details.

Angela Randall, 1 Rousseau Road, Windham 04062 is seeking a cross-stitch pattern for Campbell’s Soup Kids.

The September-October issue of Crafting Traditions magazine has a pattern for a knit sweater with a cable stitch yoke. It also includes a pattern for an apple quilt wall hanging, a tea pot pattern in cross-stitch and several Halloween and Christmas themed projects. Visit www.craftingtraditions.com or call (800) 344-6913 for information.

The Reader’s Digest published “The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches” in May. Call your local bookstore to learn more about it.