{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O49227"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O49227/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O49227","accessionNumber":"B.1381-1999","objectType":"Soft toy","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"","physicalDescription":"Soft toy golly made of fur fabric and chennile. There is a hexagonal label attached. The toy has been burn tested down its back, with a smaller amount on the front. ","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Chad Valley Company Limited","id":"A1123"},"association":{"text":"manufacturers","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"fur fabric","id":"x30594"},{"text":"chenille","id":"AAT227801"}],"techniques":[{"text":"machine stitching","id":"x29587"},{"text":"burning","id":"AAT228062"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Fur fabric, chennile","categories":[{"text":"Racism","id":"THES282155"},{"text":"Soft toys","id":"THES274376"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"YVA","id":"THES48593"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LAYDOWN","id":"THES384170"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"soft toy","id":"AAT211332"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"Yes-racial-stereotyping","note":"Object is a golly doll. (HT)"}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Harborne","id":"x32351"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1970-1978","earliest":"1970-01-01","latest":"1978-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the Palitoy Company","dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","value":"838","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"'Made in England by Chad Valley Company Ltd'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"printed","position":"label","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"label; printed"},{"content":"'1665'","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"test number, hand written on label","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"test number, hand written on label"}],"objectHistory":"This soft toy golly is a burn test sample produced by Palitoy as part of their manufacturing processes.\r\n\r\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.  \r\n\r\n ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Soft toy, golly, Chad Valley, England, 1970s","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Attribution note: numbered tested sample\nReason For Production: retail\r\nManufactured before Chad Valley merged with Palitoy under General Mills UK in 1979. ","productionType":{"text":"Mass produced","id":"THES48863"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["B.1381-1999"],"accessionNumberNum":"1381","accessionNumberPrefix":"B","accessionYear":1999,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2000-11-07","availableToBook":false}}