Honoring Annalee’s Birthday

February 11, 2020 would have been Annalee Thorndike’s 105th birthday. Each year to celebrate, Gracie Blackey, Annalee’s Director of Design, does something special to honor this very special occasion. Gracie has worked for Annalee Dolls for 43 years. She was Annalee’s assistant in the Design Department. This year she purchased some old fashioned candy, because Annalee loved candy! Her father actually owned a candy store in downtown Concord, New Hampshire, when she was a young girl. Gracie wrote up a snippet about this part of Annalee’s history and posted it near a basket of nostalgic candy at Annalee’s Gift Shop in Meredith for all to enjoy in celebration of Annalee’s birthday!

Inside the candy bowl there are a variety of Squirrels Peanut Butter Bars, Sesame Crunch, Caramel Nips, and even some Mary Janes. As Gracie remembers, “these are all candies Annalee brought in for us and told us how much she liked them.” Peach Blossoms were another favorite!

Happy Birthday Annalee!

“In remembrance of Annalee on her birthday, I have gathered a few of the candies she enjoyed enough to share with us throughout the years. She loved candy! Her dad, Emerson Davis, was a candy maker and ran a candy store in Concord, near the state house.

As a very young girl she would walk about a mile and a half – down the street and across the state house lawn to her father’s shop where she knew there was a never-ending supply of candy canes, licorice, and Jack Frost Sugar. Her mom would pin a slip of paper with her name and address to her so she would be returned if lost!”