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Anonymous
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We eventually binned shit like this when it offended members of our community.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1136016/How-golliwog-went-innocent-childrens-hero-symbol-bitter-controversy.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... versy.html</a>
How the golliwog went from innocent children's hero to symbol of bitter controversy
By Marcus Dunk for MailOnline 16:54 14 Jan 2015, updated 01:21 05 Feb 2009
For most people, the golliwog will always be associated with Robertson's Jam - the brand's smiling mascot and a comforting reminder of childhood.
But times have changed and he is now persona non grata, a symbol of reviled racist stereotyping.
This transformation would have come as a shock to his 22-year-old creator, Florence Kate Upton, who struck upon the character that would make her name in 1895.
Born into an eccentric English family who had recently emigrated to the United States, Florence studied as an artist in New York, and after her father died in 1889 found work as an illustrator.
But after a trip to London to visit relatives in 1893, Florence decided to stay in England and, hoping to raise money for further art tuition, began to formulate an idea for a children's book.
Stuck for a main character, her aunt, with whom she was staying in Hampstead, North London, found an old battered black-face rag doll in the attic.
As soon as Florence saw him, she knew she had found her protagonist. 'As the Golliwogg has always seemed to me to be telling me his own biography, so in the same way he must have told me his own name,' she later said.
'I picked him up from the table in my studio, and without intention of naming him, without the idea of a name passing through my mind, I called him 'Golliwogg'.'
It was a completely invented name and one that at the time had no negative connotations.
By 1894 the first story, The Adventures Of Two Dutch Dolls And A Golliwogg, was completed and was published the following year.
In this tale, the Golliwogg was initially described as 'a horrid sight, the blackest gnome', but turns out in fact to be good, loveable and brave, with a 'kind face'.
Dressed in red trousers with white shirt and a blue coat, he proved an instant hit with the British public, and Florence and her mother Bertha (who wrote the words that accompanied the pictures) proceeded to publish a whole series of Golliwogg adventures.
Twelve more books were published over the next 14 years as the Golliwogg bravely travelled the globe with the Dutch Dolls, Peg and Sarah Jane, in pursuit of adventure.
Never the most commercially astute of families, Florence and her mother failed to trademark the Golliwogg character, and after the books had proved such a hit in Britain and then Europe, Australia and, to a lesser extent, the United States, toy companies jumped on the bandwagon. Slightly changing the name, they released a flurry of 'Golliwog' dolls, toys and badges.
These dolls proved enormously popular and only the Teddy Bear was more coveted by children in the mid 20th century. Companies across Europe now began producing the dolls, including the German company Steiff, whose original golliwog dolls from 1908 now sell for more than £10,000.
Then, in 1910, John Robertson of jam manufacturing family James Robertson & Sons saw some children playing with a golliwog doll and decided it should be the company's mascot.
Golly first appeared on the Paisley firm's labels that year, and in the 1920s the company began producing Golliwog badges and enamel brooches which could be claimed by collecting tokens from jam jars.
Featuring golliwogs playing sports and involved in various activities, the badges remained sought after throughout the 20th century. 'He's still very popular,' said a Robertson's spokesman in 1999.
'Each year we get more than 340,000 requests for Golly badges. Since 1910 we have sent out more than 20 million.'
As more golliwog toys, watches and dinner sets were produced, the figure became part of everyday life and began to pop up in numerous children's books.
It was in some of these stories, however, that they fell foul of the unpleasant racist stereotyping that has made the golliwog such a contentious figure in recent years.
Children's author Enid Blyton is seen as a major culprit, after portraying golliwogs in her Noddy stories as naughty thieves who once pinched Noddy's prized yellow car.
Meanwhile, the word 'wog' began to be used as a derogatory word for black people.
First popularised during World War II, it was uttered by some British soldiers as a slur against North Africans and other dark foreigners, and its meaning spread to include anybody with even slightly swarthy skin.
The origin of 'wog' is hotly disputed - acronyms such as Wily Oriental Gentleman are suggested derivations, but more likely is that it was adapted from the already well-known golliwog.
However, a few years ago, a study by academics at the Bolton Institute supported the view that 'wog' had a separate derivation and that 'the golliwog, it seems, was not in origin a racist icon'.
By the 1960s, both the use of the term 'golliwog' and the dolls themselves were under increasing attack. Seen at best as racially insensitive and at worst as racist and vicious, golliwogs were gradually removed from public life.
In 1983, the Greater London Council banned Robertson's products from its jurisdiction, and in 1988 the character was no longer use in TV advertising.
The Enid Blyton books' negative use of the character was toned down and, after holding out for many years, even Robertson's Jam was forced to jettison Golly in 2002, a decision that was obviously taken with the greatest reluctance.
'We sell 45 million jars of jam and marmalade each year and they have pretty much all got Golly on them,' said a spokesperson for the company at the time of the change.
Yet here, more than a century after the character was born, Gollywog - or the way the word is used - is causing mayhem in a way Florence Kate Upton cannot possibly have imagined.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1136016/How-golliwog-went-innocent-childrens-hero-symbol-bitter-controversy.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... versy.html</a>
How the golliwog went from innocent children's hero to symbol of bitter controversy
By Marcus Dunk for MailOnline 16:54 14 Jan 2015, updated 01:21 05 Feb 2009
For most people, the golliwog will always be associated with Robertson's Jam - the brand's smiling mascot and a comforting reminder of childhood.
But times have changed and he is now persona non grata, a symbol of reviled racist stereotyping.
This transformation would have come as a shock to his 22-year-old creator, Florence Kate Upton, who struck upon the character that would make her name in 1895.
Born into an eccentric English family who had recently emigrated to the United States, Florence studied as an artist in New York, and after her father died in 1889 found work as an illustrator.
But after a trip to London to visit relatives in 1893, Florence decided to stay in England and, hoping to raise money for further art tuition, began to formulate an idea for a children's book.
Stuck for a main character, her aunt, with whom she was staying in Hampstead, North London, found an old battered black-face rag doll in the attic.
As soon as Florence saw him, she knew she had found her protagonist. 'As the Golliwogg has always seemed to me to be telling me his own biography, so in the same way he must have told me his own name,' she later said.
'I picked him up from the table in my studio, and without intention of naming him, without the idea of a name passing through my mind, I called him 'Golliwogg'.'
It was a completely invented name and one that at the time had no negative connotations.
By 1894 the first story, The Adventures Of Two Dutch Dolls And A Golliwogg, was completed and was published the following year.
In this tale, the Golliwogg was initially described as 'a horrid sight, the blackest gnome', but turns out in fact to be good, loveable and brave, with a 'kind face'.
Dressed in red trousers with white shirt and a blue coat, he proved an instant hit with the British public, and Florence and her mother Bertha (who wrote the words that accompanied the pictures) proceeded to publish a whole series of Golliwogg adventures.
Twelve more books were published over the next 14 years as the Golliwogg bravely travelled the globe with the Dutch Dolls, Peg and Sarah Jane, in pursuit of adventure.
Never the most commercially astute of families, Florence and her mother failed to trademark the Golliwogg character, and after the books had proved such a hit in Britain and then Europe, Australia and, to a lesser extent, the United States, toy companies jumped on the bandwagon. Slightly changing the name, they released a flurry of 'Golliwog' dolls, toys and badges.
These dolls proved enormously popular and only the Teddy Bear was more coveted by children in the mid 20th century. Companies across Europe now began producing the dolls, including the German company Steiff, whose original golliwog dolls from 1908 now sell for more than £10,000.
Then, in 1910, John Robertson of jam manufacturing family James Robertson & Sons saw some children playing with a golliwog doll and decided it should be the company's mascot.
Golly first appeared on the Paisley firm's labels that year, and in the 1920s the company began producing Golliwog badges and enamel brooches which could be claimed by collecting tokens from jam jars.
Featuring golliwogs playing sports and involved in various activities, the badges remained sought after throughout the 20th century. 'He's still very popular,' said a Robertson's spokesman in 1999.
'Each year we get more than 340,000 requests for Golly badges. Since 1910 we have sent out more than 20 million.'
As more golliwog toys, watches and dinner sets were produced, the figure became part of everyday life and began to pop up in numerous children's books.
It was in some of these stories, however, that they fell foul of the unpleasant racist stereotyping that has made the golliwog such a contentious figure in recent years.
Children's author Enid Blyton is seen as a major culprit, after portraying golliwogs in her Noddy stories as naughty thieves who once pinched Noddy's prized yellow car.
Meanwhile, the word 'wog' began to be used as a derogatory word for black people.
First popularised during World War II, it was uttered by some British soldiers as a slur against North Africans and other dark foreigners, and its meaning spread to include anybody with even slightly swarthy skin.
The origin of 'wog' is hotly disputed - acronyms such as Wily Oriental Gentleman are suggested derivations, but more likely is that it was adapted from the already well-known golliwog.
However, a few years ago, a study by academics at the Bolton Institute supported the view that 'wog' had a separate derivation and that 'the golliwog, it seems, was not in origin a racist icon'.
By the 1960s, both the use of the term 'golliwog' and the dolls themselves were under increasing attack. Seen at best as racially insensitive and at worst as racist and vicious, golliwogs were gradually removed from public life.
In 1983, the Greater London Council banned Robertson's products from its jurisdiction, and in 1988 the character was no longer use in TV advertising.
The Enid Blyton books' negative use of the character was toned down and, after holding out for many years, even Robertson's Jam was forced to jettison Golly in 2002, a decision that was obviously taken with the greatest reluctance.
'We sell 45 million jars of jam and marmalade each year and they have pretty much all got Golly on them,' said a spokesperson for the company at the time of the change.
Yet here, more than a century after the character was born, Gollywog - or the way the word is used - is causing mayhem in a way Florence Kate Upton cannot possibly have imagined.