Some say candy; somesay wood--Raggedy Ann's early heart, that is. Now dolllovers, collectors and the "just curious"canget the "inside" storyonthehidden heart in Raggedy Ann's chest. Andthis guide alertseven the most casual shopper tocheck for hearts. If you gee acrossarag doll inANY condition with a heart inits chest and priced for a song, grab that doll and don't let go. You may have a found a treasure!
CANDY HEART
Here's what Worth Gruelle, Johnny Gruelle's son,shared withme during ourpleasant 1985 visit. Whilesewing homemade dolls at a furious pace to satisfy the huge demand,his auntsgave him the enviable task of runningtoanearby shop for candy hearts to place inside the dolls' chests. He recalledrapidly sorting throughahuge jar to pick only thehearts that proclaimed "I LOVE YOU".
Hetold me children lucky enough to own an early family-made doll would often hug itand eventually be tempted to lick the spot where thesugary heart was tucked away. The chest area would begee sticky, discolored and eventually damaged. Unfortunately, I have never had the pleasure to own--or even see--adoll witha candy heart that has survived.
WOOD HEART
When the Vollandgepany produced the first gemercial Raggedy Ann doll,she had the patent date"Sept. 7, 1915" stamped between her shoulder bladesAND a very distinct heartplaced inside her chest. The doll below does have her original outfit, patent stamp andheart. Since this doll has no damage, I won't tamper with her.*
*No dolls were harmed in the writing of this article, I promise!
In the early 1980s, Idiscovered a 1919 Volland Raggedy Annunder a pile ofstuffed toysat the bottom of a cardboard box. Not being the dealer's speciality, the tag simply read "Rag Doll".Although extremely soiledwith majordamage just above the chest,this doll was meant to be mine. I quickly paid for her andscurried away for a closer look. When my fingerstraced a telltaleshapenestledin her chest, I carefully extracted it through the existing damaged area. Now, I'm sharing it with you--an original pressedboard heart. geposed of several layers, it is the exact size and shape of the one still beating in the above doll's chest.
As you can see, a layer ofglossy paper was glued to the top side of the heart. (See below for another photo of this heart to give you an idea ofits thickness.)
CARDBOARD HEART
Around the same time, I purchased a late1920sVolland Raggedy Ann with stenciled features. She hada new,whiteleft arm loosely sewn to her side. When I removed thebasting stitches holding the new arm to replace it, I could feela heart at the edge of the opening. I decided to use a pair of tweezers to check out the heart.The heart was creased just as you see it and appeared to be cut froma cardboardgift box. I believethe person whoadded the new arm alsoadded this heart.
. .. AND THE REAL, LASTINGHEART?
Regardless of the actual geposition of the early enclosed hearts, the true heart of Raggedy Ann consists of her sweet, sweet spirit that has captivated children of all ages for almost 100 years--and continues to do so whenever a child'sface lights upwhenmeeting her for the very first time!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment