Golly

Let's talk about Gollies. I've got two more, and I'm getting on with this post rather than stress about not being able to find them. The missing gollies are hand knits, from school galas. The bow tie boy above was a gift to Jack when he was born, and the hand made one on the right was a birthday gift to me. (Thanks again J!!) He is made by Pam Lorimer, a very talented local doll-maker. He came with his own quilt, which is around here someplace. See how he is clutching his own tiny teddy? I love his elegant fingers, his wild hair, and his funky blue/black socks.

Ohh, look. These guys are for sale here.

I had a treasured Golly as a little girl. I called him my walligog (apparently!). I have some old Noddy and BigEars books that belonged to my mother as a child, and my favourite features a naughty golliwog story. Sometime in the eighties, naughty Mr Golly was declared racist and disappeared from the Noddy stories. Noddy and Big Ears weren't allowed to spend the night together any more either as I recall.

Here's a Golly quilt, called "Golly Gosh". You can buy the pattern here. Gollies seem to be popular in the Australian quilt making world.

Are they racist? Well, I can understand they may be seen this way, so we'll definitely call them gollies, and not gollywogs. For me they are a much loved childhood memory, and you should know that I don't have a racist bone in my body.