![]() On the Raggedy Land web site, author Patricia Hall noted that the legend was one of many associated with Raggedy Ann, a brand popular with children for several decades: Evidence indicates that he had been working on perfecting Raggedy Ann prior to this tragedy in his family. This is certainly not the case, and Gruelle's registered patent of the Raggedy Ann character occurred right around the time of Marcella's death. However, there is an absurd school of thought that asserts that the Raggedy Ann doll was created as a limp and lifeless-looking creature to symbolize Gruelle's dead child. The child was just 13 years old, and her loss was devastating to Johnny Gruelle, who then became a proponent of the anti-vaccination movement. The tragic truth that still wrenches our hearts to this day is that Johnny Gruelle's little daughter died after being given a mandatory smallpox vaccination at school. Raggedy Ann has been historically associated with the anti-vaccination movement, and there is some truth and some fiction associated with this belief. Historians at doll enthusiast site noted that Gruelle's purported creation of a "dead" and "lifeless" tribute to his daughter with X marks over the doll's eyes were "absurd": ![]() The rumor clearly had sticking power and regularly made the rounds on social media, and although aspects of it may be correct, the gist of the "vaccination" claim is easily disputed. In general, the memes and articles advanced the claim that Raggedy Ann dolls were created by Johnny Gruelle in 1915 as symbols of the dangers and deaths purportedly associated with vaccines. This myth was hinted at by the Wall Street Journal in February 2015. It was this sick vaccine-injured child that inspired Gruelle to create the Raggedy Ann doll. Between the time she became ill from the vaccination and her death a few months later, her body was completely limp, like a rag doll. In 1921, Johnny Gruelle's 8-yr old daughter was vaccinated in school without her parents' permission. Different versions of this claim had appeared as early as 2009, and the alternative health site RealFarmacy published a 2014 article that linked Raggedy Ann with a death caused (they said) by vaccination:
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