{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1247421"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1247421/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1247421","accessionNumber":"B.164-2011","objectType":"Soft toy","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The original 'golly', called 'Golliwogg', featured as the hero of a popular series of books written in the 1890s and early 1900s by Bertha and Florence Upton. Bertha wrote the stories in verse and Florence drew the pictures, using as inspiration her childhood toys - a black leather faced doll she had allegedly acquired at a fair when she lived in the United States, and some wooden dolls. Although it is likely that Florence's toy was based on the Minstrel tradition in the United States, her fictional 'Golliwogg' was a friendly, brave and adventurous character.\r\n\r\nThe books were such a success that it was not long before several types of spin-off merchandise began to appear, including card games and nursery china, and of course soft toys. It was relatively easy to make one's own 'golly' and this example is an early attempt that was then played with by three generations of the same family.","physicalDescription":"Unjointed soft toy made of cotton and stuffed with wood wool. The bottom half of the body is red and the top blue and white checked. The body is rectangular with short legs and arms that stick straight out from the body. The wrists are bands of blue fabric and the hands a dark blue/black felt. The head is black cotton with white and black glass eyes, a mouth stitched in red and white thread and a piece of black rabbit skin glued on for hair\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cotton (textile)","id":"AAT14067"},{"text":"excelsior","id":"AAT12781"},{"text":"felt","id":"AAT14107"},{"text":"fur (rabbit)","id":"x40960"}],"techniques":[{"text":"stitching","id":"x30413"},{"text":"stuffing","id":"AAT231130"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Stitched and stuffed cotton, rabbit fur","categories":[{"text":"Children & Childhood","id":"THES48980"},{"text":"Dolls & Toys","id":"THES48967"},{"text":"Soft toys","id":"THES274376"},{"text":"Racism","id":"THES282155"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"YVA","id":"THES48593"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"SR001","id":"THES340938"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"soft toy","id":"AAT211332"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"Yes-racial-stereotyping","note":"31/01/2025 Object is a golly doll. TBDS."}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1900","earliest":"1895-01-01","latest":"1904-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Patricia Mavroleon","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"30","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The golly was made for Edward McDonald, who was later killed in the First World War. It then passed to his nephew, Edward Lawson McDonald (1918-2007) who passed it to his son James McDonald (b. 1956), the donor's brother. \n\nThe original golly was a central character in a series of books published between 1895 and 1909. Bertha Upton (1849–1912) wrote the books and her daughter, Florence Kate Upton (1873–1922), illustrated them. They based the character ‘Golliwogg’ (as it was originally spelled) on a doll Florence owned as a child growing up in 1880s America. The appearance and clothing of the doll (see B.493-1997) is based on the ‘blackface minstrel’ figure, a 19th-century racial caricature of African Americans. Blackface minstrel shows were performed by white actors and singers, who parodied African Americans by darkening their skins with shoe polish or burnt cork. These portrayals perpetuated many negative stereotypes and were steeped in racism. The shows originated in the USA, with the first widely known blackface character, ‘Jim Crow’, appearing around 1830. Soon after it became popular in the UK, which developed its own blackface traditions.\r\n\r\nFlorence moved to the UK in the 1890s, where the Uptons’ books became very popular. Their Golliwogg character was not copyrighted, allowing multiple representations of the golly to enter the public domain. The character featured in British toys, games, textiles, ceramics and children’s books, and was used as a mascot by the food manufacturer, Robertson’s, from about 1910. From the 1980s the character’s popularity began to wane as campaigners fought against the racist stereotypes that the golly represented. Robertson’s continued to promote the figure as part of a British ‘national tradition’ until 2001, when they stopped using the golly in their branding. \n\r\n[2012/359]","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Stuffed cotton golly soft toy hand made in England in about 1900","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["B.164-2011"],"accessionNumberNum":"164","accessionNumberPrefix":"B","accessionYear":2011,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-27","recordCreationDate":"2012-05-25","availableToBook":false}}