A SHOPKEEPER has been banned from selling Enid Blyton inspired golliwogs at a vintage market for fear they might cause racial offence.

Viv Endecott, who sells merchandise inspired by the children’s author, has pulled out of this weekend’s Boscombe Vintage Market rather than agree to the order from Bournemouth council.

Golliwogs in children’s books date from the 19th century and have often been seen as racially insulting. In recent times they have been removed from Enid Blyton’s Noddy stories.

Miss Endecott says the council’s equality and diversity manager told her that, although he accepted she was not racist, the toys could cause offence to overseas students and spark public order problems.

She was intending to take part in the market, which will be part of the Light Night event during Bournemouth Arts Festival by the Sea in the Bournemouth Gardens Pine Walk tomorrow.

“We find that even English students haven’t a clue what they are,” she said.

“When we explain that they are traditional British toys that are both friendly and adventurous – they are very happy to buy them.”

Miss Endecott, who is of mixed race, runs the Ginger Pop Shop in Corfe Castle, where she says she sells hundreds of golliwogs a year.

She also runs Eileen Soper’s Illustrated World, based on the work of Blyton’s most famous illustrator, in Poole.

She said: “It seems to be part of the English psyche to avoid dialogue about race rather than to explain the cultural background of something, and nigh on impossible to challenge those who set themselves up as anti-racists.

“In the case of golliwogs, toy factories were closed in the war years and parents had to make presents at home. Everything was in short supply except for blackout fabric, which is why every child in that era had a golly and these toys were cherished so much.”

A statement from Carol Maund, Bournemouth council’s arts development officer, said: “It is widely accepted in modern society that golliwogs are acknowledged as having racist connotations.

“In the same way that the Queen stopped her Sandringham Estate shop selling golliwogs, the council and the Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival are not prepared to be associated with anything that may be perceived as racist.

“We have spoken to Ms Endecott on a number of occasions, and, whilst we are not suggesting she is in any way prejudiced, we have asked her not to sell golliwogs at the Light Night event.”

How Golliwogs originated

THE golliwog or golliwogg as a children’s character originated with New York author Florence Kate Upton, who described one as “a horrid sight – the blackest gnome”.

She based it on a minstrel doll she had played with as a child.

Golliwogs in Enid Blyton’s Noddy books were badly behaved and sometimes criminal and one derived his name from the N-word which is an extreme racial insult today.

The golliwog became a figure of controversy in Britain when race relations became turbulent in the 1960s. New editions of the Blyton books have replaced them with goblins, while jam manufacturer Robertson eventually dropped the golliwog as its logo.

The debate still rages between those who see them as a grotesque caricature of black people and those for whom they are a lovable childhood toy.

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