After hearing about the controversy in the UK behind using the term "Golliwogg", I wikied it and learned a few things. I first heard of 'Golli' dolls on 'Cash in the Attic' where they found a doll that was considered a treasure. Clearly the image is muched loved. But nothing can be cut and dry, can it? For instance, I love the Mammy image even though she represents the twisted idea that black women were blissfully ignorant, inherantly happy to be in servitude, completely lacking in sexuality...all things white women were not. I think I embrace it because it represents blacks' struggle. I wear it like a badge. Maybe as a passive confrontation, I don't know. Mammy is part of our American history that is filled with so much ugliness, but still its ours to live with.
One thing that surprises me are the staunch advocates of these images. All I can say to them is that yes, you may have grown up with these images and they remind you of your loving, cosy, nurtured childhood, but these images are borne from ignorance, fear and hatred of non-white people. Yeah, that's heavy and maybe you think this is just the way things are, but call it what it is. Stop defending prejudice.
Golliwogg
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searchGeorgie with Robert's old Wolly, pen and wash (2008). The golliwog is best known as a children's toy.
The "Golliwogg" (later "Golliwog") is a character of children's literature created by
Florence Kate Upton in the late 19th century, inspired by a
blackface minstrel doll which Upton had as a child in
America. The character, depicted in the books as a type of
rag doll, was reproduced, both by commercial and hobby toy-makers as a children's toy. The toy was known as a "golliwog", and had great popularity in North America, Britain, Europe and Australasia, into the 1960s. While home-made golliwogs were sometimes female, the golliwog was generally male. For this reason, in the period following
World War II, the golliwog was seen, along with the
teddy bear, as a suitable
soft toy for a young boy.
The toy golliwog has become a collector's item. However, the image of the doll has become the subject of heated debate. One aspect of the debate in its favor argues that it should be preserved and passed on as a cherished cultural artifact and childhood tradition, while opponents argue it should be retired as a relic of an earlier time when
racism against
black people was blatant.
Contents[
hide]
[
edit] History
Florence Kate Upton was born in 1873 in
Flushing, New York, the daughter of English parents who had emigrated to the United States three years previously. Following the death of her father, she moved back to
England with her mother and sisters when she was fourteen. There she spent several years drawing and developing her artistic skills. In order to afford tuition to art school, she illustrated a children's book entitled The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. The 1895 book included a character named the "Golliwogg", who was first described as "a horrid sight, the blackest
gnome", but who quickly turned out to be a friendly character, and is later attributed with a "kind face". A product of the
blackface minstrel tradition, the character was classic
"darkie" iconography. The Golliwogg had jet black skin; bright, red lips; and wild, woolly hair. He wore red trousers, a shirt with a stiff collar, red bow-tie, and a blue jacket with tails — all traditional minstrel attire.
Florence Kate Upton's Golliwogg in formal
minstrel attire in Golliwogg and Friends in 1895.
Golliwogs for sale, in 2008, in the
Home CountiesUpton's book and its many sequels were extremely successful in England, largely because of the popularity of the Golliwogg. Upton did not trademark her character, and its name, spelt "golliwog", became the generic name for dolls and images of a similar type.
[1] The golliwog doll became a popular children's toy throughout most of the 20th century, and was incorporated into many aspects of British commerce and culture; for instance, some of
Enid Blyton's books feature them, often as a villain and sometimes as heroes. Upton's Golliwogg was jovial, friendly and gallant.
[1] but some later golliwogs were sinister or menacing characters.
The Black and White Minstrel Show, a
blackface musical show which ran for many seasons on UK television and stage, had performers blacked up as golliwogs, with white-ringed eyes, as in the original
Minstrel show tradition.
The golliwog contributed enormously to the spread of 'darky' iconography in Europe. It also made its way back across the
Atlantic in the form of children's literature, dolls, children's china and other toys, ladies' perfume, and jewellery.
British
jam manufacturer
James Robertson & Sons used a golliwog called
Golly as its
mascot from 1910, after John Robertson apparently saw children playing with golliwog dolls in America. Robertson's started producing promotional Golliwog badges in the 1920s, which could be obtained in exchange for tokens gained from their products. In 1983, the company's products were
boycotted by the
Greater London Council as offensive, and in 1988 the character ceased to be used in
television advertising. The company used to give away golliwog badges making up different sets, such as playing jazz instruments, or with sports equipment, or other such themes. The badge collection scheme was retired in 2001.
In a statement reported by the BBC, Virginia (Ginny) C Knox, previously brand director for
Robertson's and now Chief Operating Officer of the Culinary Brands Division of RHM, told the Herald Newspaper in Scotland in 2001 that the decision to remove the Golly (Golliwogg) symbol from Robertson's jam and marmalade jars was taken after research found that children were not familiar with the character, although it still appealed to the older generations. "We sell 45 million jars of jam and marmalade each year and they have pretty much all got Golly on them," said Ms Knox. "We also sell 250,000 Golly badges to collectors and only get 10 letters a year from people who don't like the Golliwogg image".
[2]. Today, Robertson's Golliwog badges remain highly collectible, with the very rarest sometimes selling for more than £1,000, and even comparatively common and recent badges being worth £2.00–£3.00.
[
edit] Golliwog as "racist" insult
After the publication of Upton's first book, the term "golliwogg" was used both as a reference to the children's toy and as a generic, racist term for
blacks. In Britain and the
Commonwealth, "golliwog" perhaps became "
wog," a
racial slur applied to dark-skinned people worldwide, including
Africans,
Southern Italians,
Greeks and other
Mediterranean people,
Native Americans,
Middle Easterners,
Hispanics, and
Indians.
[3] In Australia many young people of Greek,
Lebanese and other
Mediterranean descent have adopted the name "wog" as a humorous identifier. An example of this from popular Australian culture is the 2000 movie
The Wog Boy starring the popular actor
Nick Giannopoulos.
In the early 1980s, revised editions of
Enid Blyton's
Noddy books replaced Mr. Golly, the golliwog proprietor of the Toytown garage, with Mr. Sparks.
In September, 2007, retail chain
Zara put a T-shirt on sale in its UK stores with a Golliwog-looking little girl printed in the front[
citation needed]. The design spurred controversy, coming only weeks after the company had been forced to pull a
swastika-emblazoned handbag from its shelves.
[4]On Saturday, June 21, 2008, supermodel
Naomi Campbell pleaded guilty to assault in a foul-mouthed "air rage" incident which occurred on April 3, 2008, where she alleges being called a 'Golliwog supermodel' by an employee of
British Airways. Campbell accused the airline of racism.
British Airways issued a statement denying the allegations made by Campbell, claiming that they "are proud of our diversity", and "have strict policies concerning dignity at work and have long-standing training programs on diversity and inclusion."
[5][6]In February 2009,
Carol Thatcher, daughter of
Margaret Thatcher, was reported to have commented, in an off air conversation at the
BBC, that a tennis player at the
Australian Open reminded her of the golliwog motif seen on jars of jam in her childhood. The comment was considered by the BBC as "wholly unacceptable" and Thatcher was informed that she would no longer be on BBC's
One Show. Soon after, Thatcher promptly stated that it was a silly joke and declined to make an "unconditional apology" as requested by the BBC.
[7]. It has since transpired in the media that it was the
métis French top player
Jo Wilfried Tsonga who was the target of Carol Thatcher's comments.
[8][
edit] Other meanings and In Popular Culture
"Golliwog" was
World War II British naval slang for a
Gauloise cigarette, which had
tobacco that was nearly black in colour.
[9]The American rock group
Creedence Clearwater Revival was known as "The Golliwogs" and under this name they released a number of singles on the Fantasy label before they rose to prominence. Golliwog is also a Slovenian punkrock/hardcore band.
In unofficial military parlance of some countries which has become less common nowadays, the term "golliwog" was used to indicate a piece of equipment that has been tuned, upgraded, and possibly customised to the point where it is no longer similar to the stock item it started as.[
citation needed] The term stems from the fact that although the Golliwog itself was black – its standard form was featureless in a sense – it was always represented as decorated smartly with, for example, ribbons and bows. It could be said to be found always dressed up in finery; no Golliwog was ever seen dressed conservatively.[
citation needed]
The sixth movement of
Claude Debussy's
Children's Corner is titled "Golliwogg's
Cakewalk", inspired by the American dance.
Golliwog is the former name of a popular line of cocoa biscuits in Australia. First released in the 1960s, they were renamed by manufacturer Arnott's in the mid-1990s and are now sold under the name of "Scalliwag".
Golliwog is a solo-single by
ABBA member
Agnetha Fältskog from 1974.
"I Feel Like A Wog" is a song by
The Stranglers from their 1977 album "
No More Heroes".
Contortion; In a rag doll or golliwog act, one or two assistants bend, shake and carry the contortionist in such a way as to convince the audience that the disguised performer is actually a limp, life-sized doll. The act usually ends by stuffing the doll into a small box, after which the performer gets out and takes off the costume.[
citation needed]
Golliwogg is featured in
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as the pilot of an interdimensional ship, along with the Dutch dolls. Golliwogg is said to be a creature made of
dark matter in the book.
Well, my day got a little better. I've done about 38,000 loads of laundry, cooked a bit and have found the energy to post some interesting stuff. See that loveliness above? That's my granola. The little one called me while I was at work yesterday to say she was eating 'my food' and with a full mouth told me 'this stuff is delicious!!' I envisioned chewed up granola spraying the phone and dining room table.
I could not get it off the cookie sheet fast enough. Her little hands were all over it. What, you may ask is in my granola....I will tell you.
AND I GOT BOWLS!!! The one on its side, I got that one because it is small but deep and the pattern is sparse, I love that. The yellow one is Pyrex. Heavenly. I feel about Pyrex and depression glass like I feel about mirrors. I like to think mirrors hold memory's of the images they catch, I think Pyrex and really all old china do the same.
AND I GOT BOWLS!!! The one on its side, I got that one because it is small but deep and the pattern is sparse, I love that. The yellow one is Pyrex. Heavenly. I feel about Pyrex and depression glass like I feel about mirrors. I like to think mirrors hold memory's of the images they catch, I think Pyrex and really all old china do the same.
The bowl with the floral trim is AWESOME. I wish I had a better picture. I will have to google it's stamp....Marlborough-Royal Petal-Grindley......fancy schmancy. That bowl was $6.5o
Those gorgeous mugs are Fitz and Floyd. 5 of them were marked $.99 and one was $.69. Now, I know that was a steal.
This beautiful mess is oat burger fixins. YUM. I got a veggie burger for lunch yesterday and that made it virtually impossible for me to not make some this weekend. I have been wanting to for a long time and I am glad I did tonight. This recipe called for baking. Next time I will definitely fry and not use so much onion. I think I will add some chick peas next time too.......or make chick pea and black bean burgers. The vegetable burger dimension has opened to me and
this is dream material.
I am always surprised at the bright yellow chicken makes when cooked. Next time I make this I will use even less olive oil, or use boneless breasts, and add some green and 
So cute...slightly creepy...
