History of gollies:
Created over 100 years ago, the tradition of Golly is even older than that of the “teddy bear”. He was first created in England in 1895, by Florence Upton, as a character in her children’s book, “Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls”, in which Golly was just one of a cast of fun toy characters. He proved so popular, she later published “Golly and the Two Dutch Dolls”, along with many other books featuring Golly as the main character. He was a kind and fun-loving personality, who had many exciting adventures with his doll friends.
Around 1910, James Robertson visited the Southern States of America and saw children playing with colourful black rag dolls, made out of scraps of black fabric. He was entranced by them and decided the “Golly” would make a wonderful image for his jam products. “Robertson’s” used the golly logo for over 91 years. People remembered the colourful, happy little dolls they had as children and their enamel golly badges continue to be hugely sought after collector’s pieces.
During the “politically-correct” 1980’s many children’s books fell out of favour. Though the original Golly character was a kindly fellow, always lending a hand to those in trouble, later authors portrayed him as a bit of a rascal, playing tricks on his friends. Consequently his reputation slid and the golly doll began to be considered “politically incorrect.” However, comments like “ I thought you weren’t allowed to sell Gollies”, usually followed by “I had a lovely Golly as a child” were often heard.
Fortunately, over the past few years, possibly encouraged by the centennial celebrations, Golly gifts have again become popular for children and adults.
