My ever-useful *Collector's Encyclopedia of Dolls* (Coleman & Coleman, 1968) has no entry for "heart," skipping straight from "Head" to "Heath, Almon" (who got a design patent in the early 1920s). Hearts are not mentioned in the long article on rag dolls (but in 1906 there was a company that made early portrait dolls by using your child's photograph as the face! Now that, I do find creepy!) However, the entry for Raggedy Ann doesn't even mention the books, so the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence; all encyclopedias have their limits. Most rag dolls through history have been homemade, so some such tradition could have existed in a particular geographic location.
I flashed on something, too, when I read the above; but I quickly realized that I was remembering, not a real doll, but a storybook. I thought at first it was Rumer Godden, but on reflection I'm sure it was newer. So I trotted on over to my own website, where I have a little section on "Dolls in Literature," and found that I had completely failed to list this when I read it, so that was no good. What I'm remembering was a faux-Victorian story with two orphan girls, one of whom supported them both by delicately embroidering hearts onto dolls, as the final touch for a high-end doll maker; these were not rag dolls, but bisque- and china-heads with sawdust stuffed bodies (which isn't at all how it was done; I think one reason I didn't bother to put this on the webpage must have been irritation at the author's not bothering to research Victorian doll manufacture before composing the story).
The Japanese line of Kewpies had red heart-shaped stickers rather than the shield on the German line, and the Steadfast Tin Soldier melted into the shape of a heart. The interiors of dolls were popular places to hide small treasures (silverware, jewelry, military secrets) during the American Revoloution and Civil War. This is all I'm getting. It's a nice idea, and I think I might do it if I ever execute my vague plan to make a rag doll for my neice, but without a firm reference from somewhere, heart-talismans inside rag dolls will have to remain only a nice idea.
I usually align my bed so that I can't look through the door should it be open, which is fine in my home, not so good on hols and visiting other people.
