Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Happy Birthday to my good friend, Andrew :)

Andrew and I have a really neat and interesting history. Technically, we met in 1989. He is a HUGE Collector and Historian of Raggedy Ann and Andy. (You think I have a big Raggedy Ann collection? You should check out Andrew's Collection!) In 1989, Andrew currated a museum exhibit in honor of Raggedy Ann's 75 Birthday at the Oakland Museum. I was 18 or 19 at the time, and it was the first time I had ever heard of or seen anyone else's collection of Raggedy Ann & Andy. It had quite an impact on me. One weekend, during the exhibit, Andrew and the Museum hosted a "Sharing" Session in a theater for people to share their stories and dolls. I went, of course, and Andrew would tell me years later that he remembered me because: a) I was significantly younger than anyone else there (most people were adults/seniors) and b) I'm Chinese (Raggedy Ann is so very Americana..)

Anyhow, when I moved to San Francisco 10 years ago, Andrew had just published his first book about the history of Raggedy Ann & Andy and their Creator, Johnny Gruelle. He had advertised the book in "Rags Magazine, which I of course subscribed to. Because I was a "starving student" at the time, I asked if it would be possible for me to meet him somewhere to buy the book from him directly, rather than paying for shipping. As we spoke over the phone, I think he remembered me from the Museum Exhibit, and offered to have me meet him at his house. We got along so well immediately, and have been great friends ever since.

here's some neat "Trina Chow Trivia": My family and I bought "My Condo" from Andrew 7 years ago! He lived her for 10 years prior to selling it to us. The neighbors joked that as he moved his dolls out, I moved mine in :)