Golliwog
The Golliwogg (later golliwog) is a ragdoll-like, children's literary character created by Florence Kate Upton in the late 19th century. The Golliwogg was inspired by a blackface minstrel doll Upton had as a child in America. Historically very popular in Europe, the doll has become the subject of a great deal of controversy— particularly with ever-increasing ethnic diversity of the resident European population— over whether it should be considered a cherished cultural artifact or a racist insult.
The child of English parents, Upton moved to England at the age of fourteen, and 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 and a Golliwogg. The 1895 book included a character named the "Golliwogg", who was described as "a horrid sight, the blackest gnome". A product of the racist blackface tradition, the character was classic darky iconography. The Golliwogg had jet black skin; bright, red lips; and wild, wooly hair. He sported red trousers, a shirt with a stiff collar, red bow-tie, and a blue jacket with tails — all traditional formal minstrel attire.
Upton's book and its many sequels were extremely successful in England, largely because of the popularity of the Golliwogg, which became the generic name for dolls and images of a similar type, spelt "golliwog". In 1899, the original illustrations for Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo showed Sambo as a golliwog. The golliwog 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 golliwogs would be portrayed as sinister, and even menacing characters.
The golliwog contributed enormously to the spread of darky iconography in Europe. It also made its way back across the Atlantic in the form of children's literature, dolls, children's china and other toys, ladies' perfume, and jewelry.
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 as offensive, 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 the decision to retire Golly was simply a commercial decision and had nothing to do with accusations of racism. Today, Robertson's Golly badges remain highly collectable, with the very rarest sometimes selling for more than £1,000, and even comparatively common and recent badges being worth £2.00–£3.00.
After the publication of Upton's first book, the term "golliwog" was used both as a reference to the children's toy and as a generic, racist term for blacks. In England and its colonies, the word "wog", generally thought to be derived from "golliwog", became an ethnic slur applied to dark-skinned peoples worldwide, from Africa and the Caribbean to Australia and India. The term "golliwog" is still used, albeit rarely, as an extremely offensive racial epithet.