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Soft Toy
1979-1984 (manufactured)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Soft toy figure of cotton, felt and nylon fabrics, stuffed. It has a black fur fabric strip for hair. There is a white label sewn into seam, printed in blue. A hexagonal printed card label is attached at the neck. With the figure is a pressed mild steel guitar (non playing), printed in colours on red and with a red cord.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | cotton, felt, nylon fabrics, fur fabric, card, pressed mild steel |
| Brief description | Soft toy, 'golly,' Chad Valley, English, 1979-84 |
| Physical description | Soft toy figure of cotton, felt and nylon fabrics, stuffed. It has a black fur fabric strip for hair. There is a white label sewn into seam, printed in blue. A hexagonal printed card label is attached at the neck. With the figure is a pressed mild steel guitar (non playing), printed in colours on red and with a red cord. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | mass produced |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given by the Palitoy Company |
| Object history | The original golliwog was a central character in a series of books by Bertha and Florence Upton published between 1895 and 1909. Florence, the illustrator of the stories, based the golliwog on a doll she had acquired in the US in the 1880s. The appearance of this doll was influenced by the Blackface performance tradition. From the late 19th century until the 1960s, the golliwog flourished as a toy. Its image featured on toys, games, textiles and ceramics and was also used by food companies. From the 1970s the golliwog’s popularity began to wane as many British people felt that it promoted racial stereotypes. Part of the Palitoy Archive |
| Production | Reason For Production: retail |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | B.1380:1, 2-1999 |
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| Record created | November 7, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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