If there's been a little girl in your life at any point, chances are pretty good that Raggedy Ann made her way into your home.
The cloth doll with the yarn hair and the candy-cane-striped stockings has been a part of America's toy scene for a century.
Raggedy Ann has some very strong roots in West Michigan.
Anne Dake is a curator at the Muskegon Heritage Museum. She says almost 90,000 Raggedy Ann dolls were handmade in Muskegon from 1918 to 1926.
According to Dake, the story of Raggedy Ann began when cartoonist Johnny Gruelle's daughter found a red doll at her grandmother's house. They painted her a new face, and Gruelle's daughter named it "Raggedy Ann."
"Her iconic smile, her joy ... Every time you see one, you can't help but smile and be happy," says Dake.
* Listen to our conversation with Anne Dake.
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