Little Orphan Annie
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Harold Lincoln Gray (January 20, 1894 - May 9, 1968)
was an American newspaper artist and cartoonist.
He first had the idea for a cartoon strip in 1924 for
Little Orphant Otto. The title was quickly
altered by the Chicago Tribune editor to
Little Orphan Annie which first appeared
in the Tribune on August 6, 1924.
In the 1930's it also had become a popular
children's radio program sponsored by Ovaltine.
You can listen to the opening jingle
and some of the Episodes here.
Shirley Bell, who was 10 years old when she won
the role, played Radio Orphan Annie on the
show from 1931 - 1940.
Jack Pressman & Co. was one of thepioneers in the toy industry in licensing
comic strip and film properties, and
in the 1930's sold licensed toys based
on Little Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy,
and also Walt Disney's Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs.
Here is the Little Orphan Annie
Knitting Outfit made by J. Pressman
& Co. N.Y. - U.S.A. (No. 6830)
Above - showing the inside.
This is the leaflet found inside
this set - instructions for
Tricky Knit.
Obviously, it is a J. Pressman & Co issuedleaflet.
Above - showing the other side of the leaflet.
Sandy says "Aarf!!"
Little Orphan Annie's four-legged
friend.
The spool knitter itself is a verysimple wood spool shape with
the paper picture of the cartoon
Annie pasted on.
oooOOooo
Little Orphan Annie
became simply "Annie" due to the release
of the movie of that name on December 9,
1982, with Aileen Quinn as Annie.
The cast members include - Albert
Finney, Carol Burnett, Anne Reinking, Tim
Curry, Bernadette Peters, and others.
Aileen Quinn has grown-up.
There are many songs for you toenjoy to be found on U tube.
Such as Tomorrow, It's a Hard
Knock Life, and Aileen Quinn's
favourite song - Maybe.
Further reading -
About Annie the musical
Pressman History
The Nostalgia League
Radio Hall of Fame
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4 comments:
Great info! I've never seen the box before. Another good movie is the 1999 Disney version with Kathy Bates and Victor Garber. Once you hear the songs you can't get them out of your head for the longest time.
Hi Itsy! ... Thanks!
Yes, there was heaps more I could have put in the post - other movies, more about the radio shows, other companies who made Annie items, but I thought that I would keep it simple - being mainly about the Pressman knitting outfit. I left the links for those who would like to know more. I have had those songs going around my head for over a week!
That is really very cool - I don't know the movie, but I borrowed a comic book, also with Annie cartoons in it, like 10000 times from the library when I was a kid! :-D
Thanks Cat! ... Being an Aussie, I never knew of "Annie" until the 70's/80's when Knickerbocker released their line of "Annie" cloth dolls and vinyl dolls (I have two of the vinyl dolls as at the time, I was a doll collector!)
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