Little Orphan Annie....

Every family through the years read the comic strip….Little Orphan Annie, in the Sunday newspaper. We all bought the “big little books”, the buttons, decoder rings and badges, the comic books and the Little Orphan Annie MUG!!!

The one on the left I bought on e bay several years ago.

"Gee whiskers" and "Leapin' lizards!"

Annie was the adventurer who, with her faithful canine companion Sandy, first debuted in the New York Daily News in 1924, with a supporting cast that included the billionaire Daddy Warbucks, and his enforcers, Punjab an eight-foot native of India, introduced in 1935, and the Asp, an inscrutably generalized East Asian, who first appeared in 1937.

Annie attributed her lasting youthfulness to the fact that she was born on Leap Day, February 29, and so only aged one year in appearance for every four years that passed.
The strip gained instant popularity, and, as the Depression years came, its popularity grew even more. People who were down and out saw Annie as even worse off than themselves - and in that they found comfort. It was sort of a reverse escapism - and it was exactly what fans needed. In 1931 (with Shirley Bell as the voice of Annie), a radio show aired that would remain on NBC for the next 11 years. Radio Orphan Annie was first sponsored by Ovaltine, and then by Quaker Puffed Wheat and Rice Sparkies (towards the end of its run). It was during the Ovaltine years that Annie premiums were at an all time high, with mugs, masks, the especially popular decoders, games, pin backs, dolls, rings, club goodies for "Radio Orphan Annie's Secret Society" and so much more being offered, to the delight of fans. The Quaker years, which only lasted from 1940 - 42,



The show opened with a theme song that took on a popularity of its own with oft-quoted lyrics:

Who's that little chatter box?
The one with pretty auburn locks?
Whom do you see?
It's Little Orphan Annie.
She and Sandy make a pair,
They never seem to have a care!
Cute little she,
It's Little Orphan Annie.

Bright eyes, cheeks a rosy glow,
There's a store of healthiness handy.
Mite-size, always on the go,
If you want to know - "Arf", says Sandy.

Always wears a sunny smile,
Now, wouldn't it be worth a while,
If you could be,
Like Little Orphan Annie?

The song led to the catch phrase, "Arf says Sandy,"

The first film adaptation of the strip with RKO's Little Orphan Annie (1932), starring Mitzi Green as Annie. Later, Paramount’s version in 1938

In 1977, Little Orphan Annie became a Broadway musical, Annie. The original production ran from April 21, 1977 to January 2, 1983.