Raggedy Ann Learns A Lesson

Raggedy Ann Learns A Lesson

  One day the dolls were left all to themselves.

       Their little mistress had placed them all around the room and told them to be nice children while she was away.

       And there they sat and never even so much as wiggled a finger, until their mistress had left the room.

       Then the soldier dolly turned his head and solemnly winked at Raggedy Ann.

       And when the front gate clicked and the dollies knew they were alone in the house, they all scrambled to their feet.

       "Now let's have a good time!" cried the tin soldier. "Let's all go in search of something to eat!"

       "Yes! Let's all go in search of something to eat!" cried all the other dollies.

       "When Mistress had me out playing with her this morning," said Raggedy Ann, "she carried me by a door near the back of the house and I smelled something which smelled as if it would taste delicious!"

       "Then you lead the way, Raggedy Ann!" cried the French dolly.

       "I think it would be a good plan to elect Raggedy Ann as our leader on this expedition!" said the Indian doll.

       At this all the other dolls clapped their hands together and shouted, "Hurrah! Raggedy Ann will be our leader."

       So Raggedy Ann, very proud indeed to have the confidence and love of all the other dollies, said that she would be very glad to be their leader.

       "Follow me!" she cried as her wobbly legs carried her across the floor at a lively pace.

       The other dollies followed, racing about the house until they came to the pantry door. "This is the place!" cried Raggedy Ann, and sure enough, all the dollies smelled something which they knew must be very good to eat.

       But none of the dollies was tall enough to open the door and, although they pushed and pulled with all their might, the door remained tightly closed.

       Raggedy Ann can think clearly now.

       The dollies were talking and pulling and pushing and every once in a while one would fall over and the others would step on her in their efforts to open the door. Finally Raggedy Ann drew away from the others and sat down on the floor.

       When the other dollies discovered Raggedy Ann sitting there, running her rag hands through her yarn hair, they knew she was thinking.

       "Sh! Sh!" they said to each other and quietly went over near Raggedy Ann and sat down in front of her.

       "There must be a way to get inside," said Raggedy Ann.

       "Raggedy says there must be a way to get inside!" cried all the dolls.

       "I can't seem to think clearly to-day," said Raggedy Ann. "It feels as if my head were ripped."

       At this the French doll ran to Raggedy Ann and took off her bonnet. "Yes, there is a rip in your head, Raggedy!" she said and pulled a pin from her skirt and pinned up Raggedy's head. "It's not a very neat job, for I got some puckers in it!" she said.

       "Oh that is ever so much better!" cried Raggedy Ann. "Now I can think quite clearly."

       "Now Raggedy can think quite clearly!" cried all the dolls.

       "My thoughts must have leaked out the rip before!" said Raggedy Ann.

       "They must have leaked out before, dear Raggedy!" cried all the other dolls.

       "Now that I can think so clearly," said Raggedy Ann, "I think the door must be locked and to get in we must unlock it!"

       "That will be easy!" said the Dutch doll who says "Mamma" when he is tipped backward and forward, "For we will have the brave tin soldier shoot the key out of the lock!"

       The Brave Tin Soldier

       "I can easily do that!" cried the tin soldier, as he raised his gun.

       "Oh, Raggedy Ann!" cried the French dolly. "Please do not let him shoot!"

       "No!" said Raggedy Ann. "We must think of a quieter way!"

       After thinking quite hard for a moment, Raggedy Ann jumped up and said: "I have it!" And she caught up the Jumping Jack and held him up to the door; then Jack slid up his stick and unlocked the door.

       Then the dollies all pushed and the door swung open.

       My! Such a scramble! The dolls piled over one another in their desire to be the first at the goodies.

       They swarmed upon the pantry shelves and in their eagerness spilled a pitcher of cream which ran all over the French dolly's dress.

Having tea

       The Indian doll found some corn bread and dipping it in the molasses he sat down for a good feast.

       A jar of raspberry jam was overturned and the dollies ate of this until their faces were all purple.

       The tin soldier fell from the shelf three times and bent one of his tin legs, but he scrambled right back up again.

       Shame on you, Raggedy Ann!

Color Raggedy with jam smudged all over her face.

       Never had the dolls had so much fun and excitement, and they had all eaten their fill when they heard the click of the front gate.

       They did not take time to climb from the shelves, but all rolled or jumped off to the floor and scrambled back to their room as fast as they could run, leaving a trail of bread crumbs and jam along the way.

       Just as their mistress came into the room the dolls dropped in whatever positions they happened to be in.

       "This is funny!" cried Mistress. "They were all left sitting in their places around the room! I wonder if Fido has been shaking them up!" Then she saw Raggedy Ann's face and picked her up. "Why Raggedy Ann, you are all sticky! I do believe you are covered with jam!" and Mistress tasted Raggedy Ann's hand. "Yes! It's JAM! Shame on you, Raggedy Ann! You've been in the pantry and all the others, too!" and with this the dolls' mistress dropped Raggedy Ann on the floor and left the room.

       When she came back she had on an apron and her sleeves were rolled up.

       She picked up all the sticky dolls and putting them in a basket she carried them out under the apple tree in the garden.

       There she had placed her little tub and wringer and she took the dolls one at a time, and scrubbed them with a scrubbing brush and soused them up and down and this way and that in the soap suds until they were clean.

       Then she hung them all out on the clothes-line in the sunshine to dry.

Hanging in a row.

       There the dolls hung all day, swinging and twisting about as the breeze swayed the clothes-line.

       "I do believe she scrubbed my face so hard she wore off my smile!" said Raggedy Ann, after an hour of silence.

       "No, it is still there!" said the tin solder, as the wind twisted him around so he could see Raggedy. "But I do believe my arms will never work without squeaking, they feel so rusted," he added.

A proper tea-party

       Just then the wind twisted the little Dutch doll and loosened his clothes-pin, so that he fell to the grass below with a sawdusty bump and as he rolled over he said, "Mamma!" in a squeaky voice.

       Late in the afternoon the back door opened and the little mistress came out with a table and chairs. After setting the table she took all the dolls from the line and placed them about the table.

       They had lemonade with grape jelly in it, which made it a beautiful lavender color, and little "Baby-teeny-weeny-cookies" with powdered sugar on them.

       After this lovely dinner, the dollies were taken in the house, where they had their hair brushed and nice clean nighties put on.

       Then they were placed in their beds and Mistress kissed each one good night and tiptoed from the room.

       All the dolls lay as still as mice for a few minutes, then Raggedy Ann raised up on her cotton-stuffed elbows and said: "I have been thinking!"

       "Sh!" said all the other dollies, "Raggedy has been thinking!"

       "Yes," said Raggedy Ann, "I have been thinking; our mistress gave us the nice dinner out under the trees to teach us a lesson. She wished us to know that we could have had all the goodies we wished, whenever we wished, if we had behaved ourselves. And our lesson was that we must never take without asking what we could always have for the asking! So let us all remember and try never again to do anything which might cause those who love us any unhappiness!"

       "Let us all remember," chimed all the other dollies.

       And Raggedy Ann, with a merry twinkle in her shoe-button eyes, lay back in her little bed, her cotton head filled with thoughts of love and happiness.

Color the dollies feeding themselves without permission.

Color the good dollies eating under the trees.

Back to the original stories index by Johnny Gruelle

Raggedy Ann And The Washing

Raggedy Ann & The Washing    

  "Why, Dinah! How could you!"

       Mamma looked out of the window and saw Marcella run up to Dinah and take something out of her hand and then put her head in her arm and commence crying.

       "What is the trouble, Dear?" Mamma asked, as she came out the door and knelt beside the little figure shaking with sobs.

       Marcella held out Raggedy Ann. But such a comical looking Raggedy Ann!

       Mamma had to smile in spite of her sympathy, for Raggedy Ann looked ridiculous!

       Dinah looked a bit worried, for Marcella had snatched Raggedy Ann from her hand as she cried, "Why, Dinah! How could you?"

       Dinah did not understand and, as she dearly loved Marcella, she was troubled.

       Raggedy Ann was not in the least downhearted and while she felt she must look very funny she continued to smile, but with a more expansive smile than ever before.

       Raggedy Ann knew just how it all happened and her remaining shoe-button eye twinkled.

       She remembered that morning when Marcella came to the nursery to take the nighties from the dolls and dress them she had been cross.

       Raggedy Ann thought at the time "Perhaps she had climbed out of bed backwards!" For Marcella complained to each doll as she dressed them.

       And when it came Raggedy's time to be dressed, Marcella was very cross for she had scratched her finger on a pin when dressing the French doll.

       So, when Marcella heard the little girl next door calling to her, she ran out of the nursery and gave Raggedy Ann a toss from her as she ran.

       Now it happened Raggedy lit in the clothes hamper and there she lay all doubled up in a knot.

       A few minutes afterwards Dinah came through the hall with an armful of clothes and piled them in the hamper on top of Raggedy Ann.

       Then Dinah carried the hamper out in back of the house where she did the washing for Marcella's Mamma.

       Dinah dumped all the clothes into the boiler and poured water on them.

       The boiler was then placed upon the stove.

       When the water began to get warm, Raggedy Ann wiggled around and climbed up amongst the clothes to the top of the boiler to peek out. There was too much steam and she could see nothing. For that matter, Dinah could not see Raggedy Ann, either, on account of the steam.

       So Dinah, using an old broom handle, stirred the clothes in the boiler and the clothes and Raggedy Ann were stirred and whirled around until all were thoroughly boiled.

       When Dinah took the clothes a piece at a time from the boiler and scrubbed them, she finally came upon Raggedy Ann.

       Now Dinah did not know but that Marcella had placed Raggedy in the clothes hamper to be washed, so she soaped Raggedy well and scrubbed her up and down over the rough wash-board.

       Two buttons from the back of Raggedy's dress came off and one of Raggedy Ann's shoe-button eyes was loosened as Dinah gave her face a final scrub.

       Then Dinah put Raggedy Ann's feet in the wringer and turned the crank. It was hard work getting Raggedy through the wringer, but Dinah was very strong. And of course it happened! Raggedy Ann came through as flat as a pancake.

       It was just then, that Marcella returned and saw Raggedy.

       "Why, Dinah! How could you!" Marcella had sobbed as she snatched the flattened Raggedy Ann from the bewildered Dinah's hand.

       Mamma patted Marcella's hand and soon coaxed her to quit sobbing.

       When Dinah explained that the first she knew of Raggedy being in the wash was when she took her from the boiler, Marcella began crying again.

       "It was all my fault, Mamma!" she cried. "I remember now that I threw dear old Raggedy Ann from me as I ran out the door and she must have fallen in the clothes hamper! Oh dear! Oh dear!" and she hugged Raggedy Ann tight.

       Mamma did not tell Marcella that she had been cross and naughty for she knew Marcella felt very sorry. Instead Mamma put her arms around her and said,

       "Just see how Raggedy Ann takes it! She doesn't seem to be unhappy!"

       And when Marcella brushed her tears away and looked at Raggedy Ann, flat as a pancake and with a cheery smile upon her painted face, she had to laugh. And Mamma and Dinah had to laugh, too, for Raggedy Ann's smile was almost twice as broad as it had been before.

       "Just let me hang Miss Raggedy on the line in the bright sunshine for half an hour," said Dinah, "and you won't know her when she comes off!"

       So Raggedy Ann was pinned to the clothes-line, out in the bright sunshine, where she swayed and twisted in the breeze and listened to the chatter of the robins in a nearby tree.

       Every once in a while Dinah went out and rolled and patted Raggedy until her cotton stuffing was soft and dry and fluffy and her head and arms and legs were nice and round again.

Coloring page of Raggedy Ann hanging on the wash line.
See how to hang clothes on a wash line properly.

        Then she took Raggedy Ann into the house and showed Marcella and Mamma how clean and sweet she was.

       Marcella took Raggedy Ann right up to the nursery and told all the dolls just what had happened and how sorry she was that she had been so cross and peevish when she dressed them. And while the dolls said never a word they looked at their little mistress with love in their eyes as she sat in the little red rocking chair and held Raggedy Ann tightly in her arms.

       And Raggedy Ann's remaining shoe-button eye looked up at her little mistress in rather a saucy manner, but upon her face was the same old smile of happiness, good humor and love.

Coloring page of Raggedy coming through the wringer as flat as a pancake!
See a wringer from 1920 and another one that is working with water from 1912.

Color Marcella as "She sat in the little red rocking chair and held Raggedy Ann tightly in her arms."

Back to the original stories index by Johnny Gruelle

A Well Loved Friend

Description of Coloring Page: rag doll, red yarn hair, mitt hands, stripped socks, triangle nose, Johnny Gruelle character doll, Raggedy Ann

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Raggedy Andy's Charming Smile

 

Description of Coloring Page: boy rag doll, red yarn hair, mitt hands, stripped socks, triangle nose, Johnny Gruelle character doll

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.