Johnny Gruelle (Robbie Readers)

Johnny Gruelle was a talented cartoonist, who was born in Arcola, Illinois, in 1880. Even as a small boy, Johnny loved to draw and carried his paper and pencils with him wherever he went. But, unlike his father who loved to paint, Johnny loved to draw cartoons. He set out to make a living by doing what he loved best. In 1901, he married Myrtle Swann, and in 1902, they became parents of a little girl named Marcella. Around 1910, Johnny took his family to visit his parents. In the attic he found an old rag doll. He painted a face on it and gave it to Marcella to play with. In some of his cartoons, Johnny would draw the doll, often being dragged behind a little girl. But tragedy soon followed. Marcella was born with a heart problem and was often a sick child. When she was barely 13 years old, she fell ill from an unsterile vaccination for which she never recovered, and she died in 1915. Johnny kept Marcella's spirit alive by naming one of his storybook characters after her. For decades, millions of children have delighted in the tales of Raggedy Ann and Andy and have played with the floppy rag dolls, and they still do.