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 Earth is home to many living creatures, including man himself. But how often do we as humans take for granted Mother Earth and all that she provides for us. We rarely give a second thought to the air we breath or the ground that we walk upon. It seems the very source of our survival, is the very source we tend to rape, pillage and pollute. From the age if antiquity the relationship between man and nature has been a co-dependent one where what affects one, affects the other. And like any marriage, if we want it to be successful, the exchange has to be a healthy and beneficial one. It was over 39 years ago today that the first modern environmental movement designed to encourage environmentally-aware behaviors, inspire appreciation and raise awareness to this powerful yet fragile union between man and nature was born. And every year since, April 22nd has been designated as Earth Day; mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues onto world stage. From recycling, improving energy efficiency, and reducing disposable items, to hugging trees, creating animal habitats, and car pooling, humans have been slowly but surely playing their part one by one in the hopes of rectifying their wrongs and creating a marriage of love and longevity between Mother Earth and man. In honor of this movement, this marriage and this life, J&O Fabrics celebrates Earth Day and encourages everyone to take a stand in support as well by recycling old fabric, reupholstering outdated furniture, air drying your material instead of machine drying, or purchasing organic fabrics. One person can make a difference, let it be you! Labels: bamboo-fabric, childrens novelty fabric, earth-day, kona-cotton, mother-earth, organic-fabric, planet-earth
 I remember as a child, having a Raggedy Ann doll. I don’t quite remember where she came from, but she was about a foot or so tall, wore a red, white and blue girlie dress with a light white lace trim, and rocked that infamous mane of red yarned hair that she is still famous for today. She was soft and durable and quite the contortionist. Often times I would take her out of my wooden toy box only to stuff her quite snuggly in my old fish bowl that was two sizes too small just to see if her face would look bigger behind the glass. Other times, my sister and I would play tug-of-war with her to test her endurance and strength under extreme conditions. Despite my tough love approach, Raggedy Ann always kept an upbeat smile on her face and soon earned by respect for her tenacity and devotion to me….until Saturday April 28th, 1979. It was a dark and dreary spring day and I was nervously watching my line up of horror shows, when one came on featuring a doll quite like mine. This doll had an owner about my age as well, who trusted and loved her doll with all her heart. But it seemed the sweet smile that this Raggedy Ann carried, was just a front. In fact, the Raggedy Ann in this movie was possessed by some evil spirit and would move at will without the hands of her owner controlling her. The idea that my lovable rag doll could fall suspect to that same demonic notion as I slept innocently in the night was simply uncomfortable to say the least. So without further adieu, I quickly picked up my cloth friend and handed her over to my mother for immediate deportation to the island of Goodwill. I don’t know how my Raggedy Ann finally met her demise, but hopefully she stayed out of trouble and went out like the trooper that she projected herself to be. My love for her over the years always remained, and often times I thought about my red headed friend. Many early stories of her and her sidekick brother Andy told of adventures in magical places and the meeting of strange new faces. They even had an animated television series that ran from 1988-92 to mark their resurgence since her original debut in the 1918 book ‘Raggedy Ann Stories’ by creator Johnny Gruelle. Images and captions of the two have even been reprinted on fabric for die hard Raggedy Ann & Andy fans alike. From ‘Raggedy Ann & Andy with Toys’ to ‘Raggedy Ann & Andy with Puppies’, the cotton prints found at J&O Fabrics are the perfect novelty item for the young at heart.
P.S., If by chance anyone reading this has seen a cute little red headed doll with a ‘P.O.W’ tattoo on her arm and a broken left leg, that means my Raggedy is still alive. Take good care of her and tell her I said “HI!”
Check out our full selection of Raggedy Ann & Andy fabric here!
Check out our collection of children's fabric here!
Check out our fabulous novelty fabric here!
Posts by J&O Fabrics StoreLabels: childrens fabric, childrens novelty fabric, johnny gruelle, raggedy andy, raggedy ann, raggedy ann and andy
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