Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and Beloved Belindy

Name: Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and Beloved Belindy

Made by and When: Applause (1991); Janet Larsen-Tyre (ca. 2013); Not So Raggedy Acre Country Boutique (2003); all others were handmade by unknown 1970s to early 2000s dollmakers.

Materials: Cloth, cotton or synthetic stuffing, embroidery thread, cotton and polyester fabrics, yarn, paint

Hair, Eyes, Mouths: Except for Anne and Andy, the Larsen-Tyree pair, and the 33-inch Raggedy Ann, all dolls have black yarn hair with embroidered facial features and triangular-shaped red noses. Red yarn was used for Anne and Andy and the Larsen-Tyre pair. Beloved Belindy’s bald head is covered with a scarf, has white button eyes, white-painted eyebrows, and a painted nose and a broad smiling white mouth.

Clothes: Unless otherwise noted, the dolls have red and white stuffed-cloth legs, sewn-on or painted black-cloth feet, and the traditional “I Love You” inside a heart is embroidered or printed on the dolls’ left chest.

The following descriptions are for the smallest to largest dolls in this installation.

The Janice Larsen-Tyre handmade Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy doll pins (circa 2013) are 3-1/2 inches tall. The dolls have bright red yarn hair and painted facial features. Ann wears a red and white gingham dress, a red felt overdress, and a white-eyelet slip. Andy wears a red and white gingham shirt and red felt overalls. Both dolls have painted red and white striped legs and black-painted shoes. Horizontal brooch pins are attached to their backs.

The 12-inch pair by Applause from 1991 has attached Applause paper hang tags and Applause logo plastic tags attached to the left and right hands, respectively. Ann wears a Carolina blue floral-print dress with a ruffled white collar, white pantaloons, and a white pinafore. “Raggedy Ann” is embroidered in cursive at the pinafore hemline. Andy wears a one-piece shirt and pants. The checkered shirt is red and white with a white collar and a blue ribbon bow attached. The pants are royal blue with an encircled “H” embroidered on the top of each pantleg. Andy’s white sailor cap is personalized with his name, “Raggedy Andy,” in cursive.

This 13-inch circa 2000 Raggedy Andy’s one-piece pants have an attached red and white checkered, collared shirt and royal blue pants. The waist and lower sides of the pants are accented with white buttons. Andy wears a white-trimmed royal blue cloth cap. (Andy’s embroidered eyes have a large white scleral area and black pupils.)

A 19-inch circa 1990s Raggedy Ann has embroidered black pupils without sclerae. A dark cotton calico-print dress is worn under a white pinafore and over white pantaloons. The pinafore is embellished with rickrack and a rose bouquet appliqué near the hemline.

Anne (spelled with an “e” at the end) and Andy are 22 inches tall. This pair of dolls, dating from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, has red yarn hair and painted faces. They wear red, blue, tan, and beige clothes. Anne wears a wooden heart necklace, and the hem of the skirt reads, “Anne [red heart symbol] Andy.”

Circa 1970s Raggedy Ann and Andy are approximately 24 inches tall. Ann wears a red calico-print dress, a white pinafore, and white pantaloons. Andy’s wide collared shirt has a blue necktie. The shirt matches Ann’s dress fabric. Andy’s attached gold pants have buttons at the waist and on the sides of each pantleg. The sailor cap is white. The leg fabric is a broken zigzag print. (Description and photos courtesy of Jeanie Baker Harris.)

A 1970s-1980s Raggedy Ann is 25 inches tall, has black embroidered eyes and no sclerae. Dressed in an off-white light-blue floral-print dress with a purple, white-rickrack-trimmed pinafore, this Ann does not wear pantaloons. The usual “I love You” found on most Raggedy Anns’ chests is absent.

The 33-inch Raggedy Ann has felt eyes, nose, and a red felt strip for the mouth. The other facial features are hand-drawn in black. Ann wears a red dress and a rickrack-trimmed white pinafore, no pantaloons.

Georgene Novelties “Inspired” Beloved Belindy, an 18-inch handmade doll, represents the character in the book, Beloved Belindy. Made by Gayle Garbarino of the Not So Raggedy Acres Boutique in 2003, the doll is #177 in the artist’s series. Beloved Belindy wears a red and white polka dot blouse trimmed in white eyelet at the collar and sleeves with four yellow buttons on the front, a yellow floral-print skirt, a white apron trimmed in white eyelet, and white eyelet pantaloons. Belindy has red and white cloth legs and red cloth feet.

Other: Johnny Gruelle, an American artist and author, created the Raggedy Ann series, focusing on the adventures of Raggedy Ann and her friends, including Beloved Belindy. Gruelle was inspired to create Raggedy Ann after his daughter, Marcella, brought him an old handmade rag doll onto which he drew a face (Open AI). The Raggedy Ann doll preceded Andy in 1915. Raggedy Ann’s brother, Raggedy Andy, was created in 1920. The first Raggedy Ann and Andy book was published in 1918.

“On July 1, 1926, Johnny Gruelle authorized the P. F. Volland Company to begin selling the Beloved Belindy character doll as a tie-in to his forthcoming book bearing the same name” (Garbarino). After Gruelle’s death, Georgene Novelties, later known as Averill Mfg. Corp, began making Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and Beloved Belindy dolls in the 1930s and 1940s. In the Beloved Belindy book, Beloved Belindy is a stereotypical character described as Raggedy Ann and Andy’s mammy and friend who offers life lessons to the dolls in Marcella’s nursery.

The original Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls were white characters. In later years, doll manufacturers and individual doll artists reimagined the doll characters as Black. Gayle Garbarino of Not So Raggedy Acres has made an assortment of Black Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, and Beloved Belindy Dolls.

Gallery

3-1/2-inch Doll Pins by Janice Larsen-Tyre:

12-inch Manufactured dolls by Applause:

A 13-inch Raggedy Andy:

A 19-inch Raggedy Ann:

19-inch Anne Loves Andy:

Jeanie Baker Harris’s 22-inch circa 1970s Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy:

25-inch Raggedy Ann:

33-inch Raggedy Ann:

A Raggedy Ann and Andy Group:

Related Link

Gayle Garbarino’s Black Raggedy Anns and Andys

References

Garbarino, Gayle. “Beloved Belindy.” Beloved Belindy & Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls.
Sept. 2011. notsoraggedyacre.com/belindy.htm. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

“Johnny Gruelle’s Raggedy Ann and Andy” (prompt) ChatGPT, 1 April. OpenAI.
ChatGPT, 01 Apr. 2025, https://openai.com. “Edited for style and content.”

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