Blanket Annie

Blanket Annie was a street person who frequented the Playhouse Square area in the early - mid 1970's. I gave her some spare change a few times back then, as did some of my co-workers. There was an overpowering odor about her, so you really didn't want to get too close. She wasn't the most pleasant person, she probably suffered from some kind of mental illness. Some people in the area gave her food and money, but she was sort of beyond help. They wouldn't let her inside the Royal Castle at 17th, the odor would chase the patrons out of that small space. The people that worked there, Doris and Larry, would give her free food, but they wouldn't let her inside, and that was also true about the Best Steak House that was on the same block. A few months after this article, Annie was found frozen to death in a box behind the Gulf station at 17th & Chester.

 From the Plain Dealer, October 5, 1974.

 From the Plain Dealer, October 11, 1974.