GrannyXpress

Raggedy Ann Revisited

Filed under: GrannyX Approves, GrannyX Suggests, GrannyX Recommends, GrannyXLovesTHE.BAY, GrannyX Dolls @ January 6, 2008 9:46 pm by healthiacynthia

When my eldest son was little his great-grandmother gave him a Raggedy Andy doll. I have no idea what became of that doll. We moved a lot and he must have got left behind… I am finding that that is my legacy having allowed my husband to do a lot of the packing up whenever we moved (while I looked after the children).

In any case, Raggedy Ann (and her twin, Andy) were the brain children of American artist Johnny Gruelle. He was a cartoonist back in the turn of the 20th Century on to his death in 1938. Initially he did cartooning for adults, but eventually he turned his eye to the juvenile market and really enjoyed development of the Raggedy characters. There is a museum to Johnny and his characters in Arcola, Illinois. The legacy of the Raggedys was carried forward through this museum project by his sons, Worth and Richard, and their respective spouses.

Children, and adults, continue to connect with these cheerful-looking dolls. Here are a number of possibilities to introduce Ann or Andy into your doll collection– or to gift your little grandchild or great-grandchild, as my grandma did:

There are many more variations of this theme on eBay…. just click on any of the above pictures to check out what is up for auction or what can be bought directly. Have fun!

The Story of Blythe…

Filed under: GrannyX Approves, GrannyX Suggests, GrannyXLovesTHE.BAY, GrannyX Dolls @ January 1, 2008 1:03 pm by healthiacynthia

My little granddaughter is spell-bound by the Blythe doll videos on youtube. They are mostly made by Japanese artists, I think, and combine the whimsical, the arty and the innocent in a way that appeals to two-year olds and others who are interested in maintaining the image of ideal woman as all big-eyed, small-featured, and sweetly vacuous.

Most of the Blythe dolls I have seen have round blue eyes or green eyes and hair colors ranging from blond to coppery to turquoise blue. They have long lashes, sometimes ornamented with glitter or maribou. Their eyes open and close and rotate from side to side.

The original Blythe doll was designed by Marvin Glass and manufactured by Kenner toys in 1972. Tonka Toys bought out Kenner and in the mid-80s, Hasbro bought out Tonka Toys. Marvin Glass died in 1974 and was one of the first group inducted into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 1984.

At first children found the Blythe doll rather macabre (the large round eyes changed from green to pin to blue to orange with the pull of the string on the back of her head). As often happens with the avant garde, Blythe was only popular with a small clutch of doll collectors, and after a year she was pulled off the market.

In 1997 photographer Gina Garan was introduced to Blythe by a friend. Gina “got” Blythe right away and channeled her fascination into thousands of photos of the little doll. She began to take at least one of her Blythe dolls with her on her many assignments around the globe.

Gina showed some of her Blythe photos to the founder of CWC (Creative World Connections) who intuited that a modified Blythe would be a big hit with Japanese young women. Parco Toys introduced a TV commercial in 2000 and neo- Blythe took off in Japan.

On eBay you can find everything from vintage Blythe dolls to all the accessories (and then some) for the fashionista neo-Blythe dolls…. teeny-tiny shoes, wigs, etc. Have a look, try a bid: