The late Ann Baker of Riverside, Calif. is founder of the breed.

A white Angora-type female, Josephine who often had kittens, but they were all wild. Josephine was run over by a car and left lying by the side of the road for a couple of days.  Ann firmly believed that Josephine was "genetically manipulated", resulting in future kittens being loving, relaxed, "floppy" and unable to feel pain. Today, this belief is rejected as a fallacy as the Ragdoll feels pain the same way as any other breed of cat.  As far as the "floppiness" is concerned, kittens and cats from any breed could present this trait.

The Ragdoll was first recognized as a pure breed in 1965 by NCFA (now defunct). Following that Ann did nothing to further the Ragdoll. Fortunately, a new breeder team bought a pair from Ann and realized the breed had to be shown and accepted by the various associations in the fancy.  Ragdolls are accepted today in all associations. However, some Associations do not allow Ragdolls in certain patterns to compete.