A TOY seller who made national headlines after being banned from selling golliwogs has insisted the controversial toys have done more to promote tolerance than cause problems.

Enid Blyton expert VIv Endecott was reflecting on the year that saw her pull out of Boscombe’s vintage market rather than agree not to sell the toys.

Ms Endecott also revealed that she could give a presentation locally during Black History Month.

She runs the Ginger Pop in Corfe Castle and Eileen Soper’s Illustrated World, based on the work of Blyton’s most famous illustrator, in Poole.

She told the Daily Echo: “Somehow, within two generations, the golliwog has gone from being the toy that represented the quintessential spirit of childhood to persona non grata.

“As someone who is mixed race, I have always regarded people who are colour prejudiced as totally irrational. I have more understanding of those people who are worried about cultural differences with recent immigrants, but doubtless it was the same for the hunter-gatherer locals when the Neolithic farmers arrived.”

She added: “I suspect that before the era of multiculturalism, the process of integration happened a lot faster, and part of the process of integrating is in understanding when someone is being rude to you, and when they are not, which is where the poor golliwog gets dragged into the argument.

“I know from experience that if someone wants to be a bully, then they will use whatever they can to make life unpleasant for their victim. For example if the victim is a red-head, they may call them ‘marmalade’. However, it is the bully that society needs to deal with. There is no sensible argument for removing marmalade or golliwogs from shop shelves just in case someone abuses them. As far as I can see, to do so is to give some credence to the bullies and I hate to see bullies win.”

She quoted the art historian Sir Kenneth Clark, presenter of the seminal TV series Civilisation, who described the original Victorian golliwog as “an example of chivalry, far more persuasive than the unconvincing Knights of the Arthurian legend”.

She added: “I actually believe that despite the bullying, on the scale of things, golliwogs have done far more to promote tolerance in Britain than cause discord.”

And she revealed that after debating the issue with her, “the Dorset Race Equality Council has suggested that I give a presentation about golliwogs during Black History Month”.

Bournemouth council’s equality and diversity manager, Sam Johnson, told the Daily Echo shortly after the golliwog row: “I personally didn’t find them racist – I was born in the UK and brought up with them. Neither did I think Miss Endecott was racist.

“The decision I was making wasn’t a moral issue. It wasn’t a case of something being legal or illegal. Given that there are strong views on both sides of the debate, it was about whether it would be appropriate for the council to be associated with the sale of golliwogs.”

He added: “Taking all the facts and the views of the local race equality council into account, I thought it was something we shouldn’t associate ourselves with.”

History of the golliwog toy

There are various accounts of how the word “golliwog” originated.

One is that Egyptian labourers working for the British in Victorian times had to wear armbands bearing the letters WOGS for Working on Government Service.

Egyptian children played with black ragged dolls which the British took back as gifts.

In fiction the toy dates from 1895 and US author Florence Kate Upton’s book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. Some time after this, the term gained currency as a racial insult in the US. James Robertson and Sons used the golliwog as its mascot from 1910 and Enid Blyton incorporated the character into her Noddy stories, though in recent times, publishers have dropped them from the books.