The Golliwogs

The golliwog, also spelled golliwogg or shortened to golly, is a doll-like play character, created by cartoonist and author Florence Kate Upton, which appeared in children's books in the late 19th century, usually depicted as a type of rag doll. It was reproduced, both by commercial and hobby toy-makers, as a children's soft toy called the "golliwog", a portmanteau of golly and polliwog, and had great popularity in the Southern United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia into the 1970s.