Gruelle, Johnny, 1880-1938

Johnny Gruelle, American artitst, political cartoonist, children's book author and illustrator, and creator of the Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy books and dolls.

Born in 1880 in Arcola, Illinois, John Barton Gruelle began his career as an illustrator for an Indianapolis tabloid. In 1911 he went to work for The New York Herald after winning a national comic drawing contest. Gruelle gained notice as a popular children's illustrator with his Sunday "Mr. Twee Deedle" comic. In 1915, inspired by his daughter Marcella, Gruelle applied for a patent for the first Raggedy Ann doll and began writing stories, with their simple messages of kindness and moral character, that generations of children would come to embrace.

Following Gruelle's death in 1938, the work of maintaining the artistic vision of the Raggedy Ann and Andy franchise fell to his wife Myrtle and his sons Richard and Worth. In 1999 Joni Gruelle Wannamaker founded the Johnny Gruelle Raggedy Ann and Andy Museum in Arcola, Illinois, which is dedicated to preserving both the legacy of Johnny Gruelle and the values for which he stood.