Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie Christmas Cards

By Richard D. Olson, Ph.D.

Like many artists, Harold Gray created his own Christmas cards. In the early 1920s, he and Doris sent cards that he created but were unrelated to comic characters. However, after his Little Orphan Annie strip started on August 5, 1924, he followed the lead of other comic strip artists and began creating cards that featured Annie and Sandy.

Because many of the cards were not dated, I have had to make my best guess on which year those cards were created. In other cases I have envelopes to validate a year, or the card includes greeting and wishes for the coming year. If anyone can correct any of my guesses, I hope they will contact me. For example, I have one card sent by Doris and Harold from Lombard, Ill. After "Annie" started running in the paper in August, did Gray have time to make a card featuring Annie and send it out that year? Or was their Christmas card for 1924 one of their pre-Annie cards? If they did send an Annie card in 1924, did they also send a card in 1925, given that Doris died in late November? I am guessing that they sent the card in 1924 and that no card was sent in 1925. The 1964 card states that it is the 40th anniversary of the Annie card, so it would make sense that the year that one wasn't sent was the year his wife died in November, probably too late in the year for him to create a card to send with only his name on it. This is just an example of the kind of problem that can arise trying to date the cards.

Another problem that exists is counterfeit cards. The 1928 card that looks like a telegram is extremely rare. Unfortunately, the front has been Xeroxed on to a light yellow paper and this card has been sold for years as genuine. It was only a few years ago when I was fortunate to obtain many cards from the estate of Bob Leffingwell that I finally saw a genuine card on a different type of paper with writing on the reverse. The same holds true for the small cards issued during the war years of 1940-44; these cards were copied in black and white and offered as genuine. I now know that all of the genuine cards were printed in color.

I hope you will enjoy looking at Harold Gray's Annie cards. They vary a great deal, but they are all beautiful. The Annie of the early 1920s is so primitively distinctive. The cards of 1935 and 1937 are gigantic and colorful, while many of the cards from the 1940s are small, and in some cases on postcards to save paper for the war effort. The group scene from the late 1950s is wonderful, but I hate to admit that I still haven't identified every character on the card. The cards of the 1960s were lavish and often opened to full-color interiors. Finally, the last card that Gray created for Christmas of 1967 showed Annie and Sandy with pupils! Harold Gray died May 5, 1968.

Again, I would appreciate any help you can offer regarding the correct year to associate with undated cards. I would appreciate it even more if someone looking at these cards has the one or two I need to complete the set and will either send me a Xerox or sell it to me. Honestly, I never thought I would come this close to completing the entire set. Now that I have, I would really like to finish it and hope that one of you will be able to help me. If you have any questions about the Annie Christmas cards, I would be happy to discuss them with you. I can be contacted at rolsonredoak@bellsouth.net

I hope you enjoy your holidays.

NOTE: To view these images at their original size, click the thumbnail.

Return to the Hogan's Alley main page.

E-mail the editors.

Visit our online store.