Beloved Belindy: A Raggedy Ann Book

[100 pp.] The seventh book in Gruelle's famous Raggedy Ann series. Original pictorial hardcover. Paper over boards, black cloth spine, pictorial endpapers. Raggedy Ann is a fictional character created by writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair. The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book Raggedy Ann Stories. A doll was also marketed along with the book to great success. A sequel, Raggedy Andy Stories (1920) introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy, dressed in sailor suit and hat. Gruelle created Raggedy Ann for his daughter, Marcella, when she brought him an old hand-made rag doll and he drew a face on it. 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." Marcella died at age 13 after being vaccinated at school for smallpox without her parents' consent. Authorities blamed a heart defect, but her parents blamed the vaccination. Gruelle became an opponent of vaccination, and the Raggedy Ann doll was used as a symbol by the anti-vaccination movement. Many subsequent books were published and the characters made their way into other media, including: A series of animated Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios shorts: Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy (1941); Suddenly It's Spring (1944); The Enchanted Square (1947); A comic book published by Dell Comics; A 1977 animated feature, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, directed by Richard Williams; Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper (1978) a Christmas television special directed by Chuck Jones; Raggedy Ann and Andy in: The Pumpkin Who Couldn’t Smile (1979) a Halloween television special also directed by Chuck Jones; A 1988–1992 animated television series, The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy. While Simon & Schuster and Hasbro claim to own trademarks to the Raggedy Ann and/or Raggedy Ann and Andy names, the original 1915 doll design and 1918 and 1920 books are in the public domain, their copyright having expired. Books and films published after 1950 are protected by copyright. Raggedy Ann was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2002. Raggedy Andy joined her in 2007.