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Clarence Colestock was apparently the favorite grandson of Mrs. Wesley Gray, a family friend of the noted American poet James Whitcomb Riley. It was Riley who wrote the poem "Little Orphant Annie". Notice how Riley spelled orphan. This was an old fashioned, colloquial spelling. Riley used it to emhasize the rustic somd of his poetry. His Annie character was based on a legendary Hoosier figure. There is quite a history to the poem. Riley originally entitled it "The Elf Child" when he wrote it (1885). An the original text was "Little Orphan Allie has come to our house to stay." Apparently a typesetter misread Riley's handwriting and "Allie" appeared as "Annie." Riley insisted it be changed when he noticed the error. The publisher informed him that the edition was selling very well, so Riley decided to accept the typo. His Little Orphan Allie was actually a real person--Mary Alice (Allie for short) Smith. She had come live with the Riley family about November 1861. Later Mary Allice married John Wesley Gray and lived with him in Hancock County, on the National Road whre Riley had grown up. This Gray was the Riley's inspiration for that poem. The comic strip "Little Orphan Annie" was loosely based on Riley's poem. It was for many years one of the most popular American comic strips. The comic strip in turn inspired the Broadway musical and film "Annie". Mrs. Gray's grandson apparently looked much like Mrs. Gray when she was a little girl the same age and inspired the Riley poem. Clarence seems to have been about 6 years old when this portrait was taken, probably in Indianapolis, Indiana. The photo is undated, but I would guess some time in the 1890s. Clarence wears a sailor suit sith a huge wide-brimmed hat. Clarence's knee pants sailor suit seems fairly standard. This is obviously summer wear for the boy. It is a light-colored suit, but not white. I'm not sure what color it was. The most destinctive aspect of Clarence's sailor suit is his very large sailor scarfe. Many American boys (less commonly European boys) wore large floppy bows at the time, but the scarfe here seems abnormally large. He wears knee-length knee pants with long black stockings.
James Whitcomb Riley is one of the best known and loved American poets. He is commonly referred to as the "Hosier Poet" because of his association with Indiana and "down-home" style he cultivated. He grew up in Greenfield, Indiana. He began his literary career writing poems in Indiana dialect for the Indianapolis Journal. His poems were often either humorous or rather sentimental, For a while he was known as the "National Poet" aat a tome when America was becoming an industrial naation, but many looked back nostalgically on their rural roots.
Mrs. Mary Allice Wesley Gray was a family friend of James Whitcomb Riley. As a child, Mary Allice (Allie for short) Smith. She had come live with the Riley family about November 1861. Later Mary Allice married John Wesley Gray and lived with him in Hancock County, on the National Road whre Riley had grown up.
It was Riley who wrote the poem "Little Orphant Annie". Notice how Riley spelled orphan. This was an old fashioned, colloquial spelling. Riley used it to emhasize the rustic sound of his poetry which collonly used Indiana dilect. His Annie character was based on a legendary Hoosier figure. There is quite a history to the poem. Riley originally entitled it "The Elf Child" when he wrote it (1885). An the original text was "Little Orphan Allie has come to our house to stay." Apparently a typesetter misread Riley's handwriting and "Allie" appeared as "Annie." Riley insisted it be changed when he noticed the error. The publisher informed him that the edition was selling very well, so Riley decided to accept the typo. His Little Orphant Allie was actually the real life Mary Allice Smith who had stayed with his fammily years earlier.
Clarence Colestock was apparently the favorite grandson of Mrs. Wesley Gray. Mrs. Gray's grandson apparently looked much like Mrs. Gray when she was a little girl the same age and inspired the Riley poem. Clarence seems to have been about 6 years old when this portrait was taken, probably in Indianapolis, Indiana. The photo is undated, but I would guess some time in the 1890s. Clarence wears a sailor suit sith a huge wide-brimmed hat. Clarence's knee pants sailor suit seems fairly standard. This is obviously summer wear for the boy. It is a light-colored suit, but not white. I'm not sure what color it was. The most destinctive aspect of Clarence's sailor suit is his very large sailor scarfe. Many American boys (less commonly European boys) wore large floppy bows at the time, but the scarfe here seems abnormally large. He wears knee-length knee pants with long black stockings.
Harold Gray crated the popular Little Orphan Annie comic strip. Given that he has the same last name as
Mrs. Wesley Gray, it would seem that there is a family connection, but we do not yet have actual details on this. Harold seems to be about the same age as Clarence here and perhaps was was probably dressed like him. Wheter the two knew each other, we do not know. A researcher writes us, "I am interested in reports I have seen about Clarence inspiring Harold Grau to create the comic strip. You see this all stems from a couple of nebulous quotes that I've run across while doing my research. In one instance, Harold Gray created a character called "Little Orphan Otto". This character was a boy who had blonde curly hair. Upon seeing this characterization, Gray's editor commented, 'The boy looks like a sissy. Put a skirt on the kid and call her Little Orphan Annie.' There has also been referenced that Harold Gray was not only inspired by Riley's poem, but also by "a picture which has hung in a Philadelphia gallery. Unfortunately, for me, both of these quotes are often times repeated by several sources, but none have actually been able to tell me their original source." [Jones]
The inspiration for Little Orphan Annie, at least the title, was the James Whitcomb Riley poem "Little Orphant Annie". Riley's inspiration was a little girl he knew--Wesley Gray. Her favorite grandson, Clarence Colestock, is said to have looked much like her at the time she inspired Riley. Harold Gray (1894-1968) created this popular strip. Annie along with Shirley Temple helped to keep up the national spirit during the Great Depression (1929-39). Gray's morality tales of perseverence, independence, and courage helped to make newspaper strips and indespensible part of the American newspaper. Clothes were not a major feature of the strip. Annie always wore a red dress. I'm not sure if there were any important boy characters or how they were dressed. The comic strip in turn inspired the Broadway musical and film "Annie".
Jones, Brigette. E-mail message, April 29, 2009.
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