Little Orphan Annie Turns 100
WDCB’s Gary Zidek visits the Lombard Historical Society to check out Leapin Lizards! A Hundred Years of Little Orphan Annie exhibition.
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Little Orphan Annie is turning 100 this year. The precocious, curly-headed 10-year-old first appeared in a comic strip on August 5, 1924. Over the past century, the character has conquered other forms of media including radio, theater and cinema. The Lombard Historical Society is celebrating Annie’s centennial with a new exhibition that looks back at the origins and evolutions of the enduring character.
A photo of Harold Gray in the Lombard Historical Society’s Little Orphan Annie exhibit.
Turns out Little Orphan Annie’s creator, cartoonist Harold Gray, was living in Lombard when the character debuted a hundred years ago. The Annie comic strip debuted in the New York Daily News, a Tribune-owned publication. Two and a half months later, Annie began appearing in the Chicago Tribune. It was then syndicated and picked up by several large papers. The character became so popular, she was soon adapted for radio, stage and movie projects.
