Golliwog Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Florence Kate Upton's Golliwogg

The Golliwog or Golliwogg is a blackfaced African American caricature created in the late 1800s. It is relatively unknown in the United States, but was historically very popular in Europe. Since the 1960s, the doll has become the subject of a great deal of controversy, with Europeans attempting to decide whether it is a valuable cultural artifact or a racist insult.

The first Golliwogg was created by Florence Kate Upton, an American born of English parents. When Upton moved to England at age 14, 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. The 1895 book included a character named the "golliwogg", who was described as "a horrid sight, the blackest gnome". The character had black skin, red lips, red pants and a red bow-tie.

The book and its many sequels were extremely successful in England, largely because of the popularity of the Golliwogg. In 1899, the original illustrations for Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo showed Sambo as a golliwogg. The golliwogg doll became a popular children's toy well into the 20th century, and was incorporated into many aspects of British commerce and culture; for instance, some of Enid Blyton's books feature them. Although Upton's Golliwogg was jovial and friendly, later Golliwoggs would be portrayed as sinister, and even menacing characters.

The Golliwog inspired a famous piece by Claude Debussy entitled "The Golliwog's Cakewalk".

The 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 golly badges in the 1920s, which could be exchanged for tokens gained from their products. In 1983 the company's products were boycotted by the Greater London Council and in 1988 the character ceased to be used in television advertising. It was dropped altogether in 2001, and replaced with Roald Dahl characters; Robertson's claimed that this was simply a commercial decision, and had nothing to do with accusations of racism. Robertson's Golly badges remain highly collectable, with the very rarest sometimes selling for more than £1000, and even comparatively common and recent badges being worth £2-£3.

The British racial epithet wog is possibly derived from golliwog.

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