{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O49195"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O49195/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O49195","accessionNumber":"B.1510-1999","objectType":"Doll eyes","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"white and black eye button for use on Golly dolls","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Chad Valley Company Limited","id":"A1123"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"Dolls","id":"THES274380"},{"text":"Doll-playing Accessories","id":"THES411473"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"YVA","id":"THES48593"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"H","id":"THES296970"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Sample Threads and Buttons","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"England","id":"x28826"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1970-1979","earliest":"1970-01-01","latest":"1979-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"B.1511-1999","id":"O49196"},"association":""}],"creditLine":"Given by the Palitoy Company","dimensions":[],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The 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\t \r\n\tFlorence 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. \r\n\r\nPart of the Palitoy Archive","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Chad Valley, English, 1970s.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Attribution note: sample","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["B.1510-1999"],"accessionNumberNum":"1510","accessionNumberPrefix":"B","accessionYear":1999,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-25","recordCreationDate":"2000-11-06","availableToBook":false}}