Tidbits Remembers THE LITTLE THINGS

It’s the little things that count, right? This week, Tidbits focuses on some things in the category of “little” and adds some interesting stories to go with them. Follow along and enjoy!

• Cartoonist Harold Gray debuted his comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” in August of 1924 in the New York Daily News. The name was borrowed from poet James Whitcomb Riley’s 1885 work “Little Orphant Annie.” The 10-year-old orphan had unruly, curly red hair, wore a red dress, and frequently used the phrases “Gee whiskers” and “Leapin’ lizards!” Her financial benefactor was Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks and his mean-spirited wife. Five months after Annie’s debut, a puppy rescued her from a gang of vicious boys. Unable to keep the dog, whom she had named Sandy, Annie gave him to a restaurant owner. But in a May, 1925 strip, Sandy rescued Annie once again, this time from gypsy kidnappers. The dog then became her own and the two thereafter became a permanent pair.

• Little Orphan Annie was almost Little Orphan Otto, but when Harold Gray saw that of the 43 strips in print in 1924, only three of them featured females in a prominent role, he made the switch to Annie.

• Little Orphan Annie was so popular that it also earned its own radio show. It was later produced as a Broadway musical in 1977, and made into five different movie adaptations.

• Although it was a comic strip, Gray used “Little Orphan Annie” as a platform to reflect his political views, inserting comments about his dislike of organized labor unions, FDR’s New Deal and Communism, as well as his staunch anti-racism views. The strip occasionally contained rather violent content, including muggings, knives, and street gangs, leading a few newspapers to suspend it until that type of content was dropped.

• After an 86-year run, “Little Orphan Annie” appeared in papers for the last time on June 13, 2010. At the time, fewer than 20 newspapers were still running it, one of which was the New York Daily News, the original debut paper, which had carried the comic for its entire span.

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• One of the most popular works of fiction in the late 19th century was “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was the rags-to-riches tale of young Cedric Errol, who, living in poverty with his mother, inherited an earldom and a sizable estate from his grandfather. The book launched a fashion fad, the Fauntleroy suit, a black velvet jacket and matching knee pants, along with a fancy blouse with a lace or ruffled collar. There have been upwards of 20 film adaptations of the story, beginning in 1914 and continuing until 2012.

This vintage photo shows a fashionable young lad posing in a Fauntleroy inspired suite.

• In 1934, Ruth and O.D. McKee expanded their small bakery by taking over another operation, offering small cakes for a lower price than the competition. Over the next two decades, the company went national, selling Nutty Bars, Swiss Rolls, Zebra Cakes, and Banana Twins, along with a new invention – two oatmeal cookies sandwiched together with fluffy creme filling, dubbed appropriately, the Oatmeal Creme Pie.

• Within just ten months of the debut of oatmeal crème pies, 14 million cakes had been sold. In 1960, the McKee Baking Company introduced a family-sized carton of 12 individually-wrapped cakes for 49 cents. That same year, the company needed a creative logo for the box and O.D. decided that the face of his little granddaughter Debbie would be perfect for the box, and hired illustrator Pearl Mann to create Debbie’s portrait. Debbie’s image has endured on the packaging of Little Debbie snacks for more than 60 years, with very few changes.

• Little Debbie was so successful that a 45 RPM vinyl record of the Little Debbie jingle on one side and the reading of a children’s story on the flip side was released. In 1969, the company unveiled Moon Crunch Snacks in commemoration of the 1969 moon landing.

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• In 1982, Little Debbie cakes were named as the official snack of the 1982 World’s Fair held in Knoxville, Tennessee. A Little Debbie doll introduced in 1985 celebrated the 25th anniversary of the brand. The 50th anniversary in 2010 brought a national “Little Debbie Look-Alike Contest,” prompting more than 900 children to submit photos in hopes of winning a $5,000 scholarship.

• So where is the real Little Debbie today? Debra McKee-Fowler serves as the company’s Executive Vice-President and board member, overseeing sales of upwards of $800 million annually from the more than 75 varieties of Little Debbie snacks.

• Kids have been reading Little Golden Books since 1942, when Western Publishing released the first 12 books of the series for 25 cents each. Included in the initial offering were such well-known titles as “Three Little Kittens,” “Mother Goose,” “The Little Red Hen,” “Scuffy the Tugboat,” and “The Poky Little Puppy,” all in a 42-page format, printed in either two or four colors. “The Poky Little Puppy,” which was the one-billionth Little Golden Book printed, is the top-selling children’s book of all time. The series has expanded to include more contemporary subjects such as Sesame Street, Disney, Barbie, Power Rangers, and even Star Wars. That 25-cent price remained the same until the 1960s, when it was raised to 29 cents. By the 1990s, the books were $1.99.

A little collection of Little Golden Books.

• What child hasn’t heard the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”? The tale about the young girl and the Big Bad Wolf dates back to the 10th century, with many versions relating the account, including the Italian account of “The False Grandmother.” The two best known were written by Charles Perrault, published in 1697, and the fairy tale retold by the Brothers Grimm, printed in 1812, which they called Rotkäppchen, or “Red Cap.” The endings differ among the varying tales, with one finishing with the wolf eating both the grandmother and Red Riding Hood, byt were rescued by a lumberjack, who cut open the wolf’s stomach, freeing them. A kinder, gentler version locks Grandmother in the closet, and Red is rescued from becoming the wolf’s lunch by the woodcutter. The hero also differs between a lumberjack and a huntsman seeking the animal’s hide.