Saw the above pic on a digital screen in the window of the local
Job Centre office as I was passing one day and decided to take a photo of it. (Lucky I had my camera with me.) I think it's cute and thought you might too. Any Crivs still got their childhood teddies? Just wondering.
22 comments:
I recall having an orange teddy at one point.
Do you ever miss him, CJ?
I don't think so but I had a number of teddies over the years. I had a golliwog too.
So you integrated your golliwog with your teddies - inclusivity and diversity in action. And to think some people would call you a racist for having a golly. They just don't think it through, do they?
It seems golliwogs are now officially banned by the BBC, Kid. There's currently a series on Radio 4-Extra called Richard Herring's Objective, originally broadcast in 2011, in which comedian Richard Herring discusses such topics as the public attitude to people in wheelchairs or the public's attitudes to the upper-class. The first series from 2010 looked at such subjects as the St. George flag (very topical), the Hitler moustache and Dolly the Sheep. Anyway the first episode of Series 2 was about golliwogs but that episode has been excluded from broadcast in this repeat run so a subject that was deemed acceptable for radio in 2011 is no longer acceptable it seems.
I had several cuddly toys. A monkey with long arms and legs with velcro fasteners which wrapped around your torso and an opening in the back for your hand to operate his mouth which had a squeaker for maximum adult irritation. An Orville the Duck, a Womble, a red Spider hand glove puppet (mentioned before I think, like Itsy and Bitsy from 'Paperplay'), various teddies and a Golly (which incidentally I never thought of as a person with different coloured skin to myself - it was just a cuddly toy). Sadly I don't have any now, I can't remember who had them but I know they all went together and yes I do miss them. My older brother has his original teddy bear which he took to NZ when he emigrated. I mentioned the other day that I now have the Grumpy Disney plush toy so that's good enough for me.
I also had a small ventriloquist puppet which was bought for me as a cheaper alternative to the Mr Parlanchin that I constantly asked for. Have you seen one of those, Kid? His face is the stuff of nightmares but they sell for around £100 to £200 now so not so nightmarish after all.
The lyrics to the title song of the 1966 Sal Mineo epic come to mind:
Warm were his eyes, but now they're cold
That's why my cries can't be controlled
He was just another toy, another toy to love and then destroy
Tell me, who killed teddy bear?
Doesn't anybody care
That I miss him
Ridiculous, isn't it, CJ. (That's really a statement, hence no question mark.) On Channel 8 (which might just be a Scottish channel, dunno) there's a disclaimer before every old comedy programme like Rising Damp and Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, which had the word 'poofs' bleeped out, but 'B@st@rd' was left in. Crazy.
I remember how disappointed I was when my mother told me I was too old for teddies when I asked her where my two were. Fair enough I suppose, after all, I was 27. No, I was maybe about 4 and I still think about them every now and again. I hope there's a toy Heaven, where we'll all meet up again at a future date.
There'll be many a grown-up child-at-heart who feels the exact same, HCB. I'll have to see if I can listen to the song on YouTube.
I have a wee bear ( 4 inches ) that I keep in my car. I bought it as a fun present for my mum around 1990 when she saw it in a shop window and thought it was cute. It's been with me for 35 years and has been in 6 cars. Every time I see it I think of my mum and I have actually even given thought to what I'll do with it when I pop my clogs .
That's a nice wee story about your mum that's sure to put a smile on Crivvie's faces, McS. As for what you'll arrange for wee ted before you fall off the twig, that's what I fret about in regard to my vast accumulation of stuff. They're like children to me.
Yeah I am also looking at what to do with my comics as well. I think I will eventually get rid of most of them in a few years only keeping a select few that bring back memories
I never did have a teddy bear in my stuffed animal/dolls collection of early childhood.
I do still have two much repaired Golliwogs, which were not inappropriate toys around 1950, indeed I remember my mother winning them for me at seaside amusement park. They now reside in a carton in a garage. I'm afraid to handle them as limbs drop off and my mother is no longer around to resew them.
In today's woke world they are considered wildly inappropriate, but then most people have never read;The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a "Golliwogg" so are not aware of them being positive role models.
Thing is with me, McS, I have too many comics that bring back loads of memories, so which ones do I get rid of? Aye, there's the rub.
Yeah, I don't see the problem with them, T47. Many a child at one time had a golliwog and they loved them to bits. Where's the racism in that? I've got a small golly (a few inches) that I bought (brand new) only a few short years ago, which usually hangs on my wall.
Thankfully I don't need to worry about the fate of my possessions after I'm gone because I've already divested myself of much of them and what remains will be re-used or given to charity I hope.
But neither do you have any wonderful cherished treasures to make your journey through life all the more bearable, CJ.
I've still got a few things, Kid, and I've still got all my memories.
Memories can fade over time, alas, without tangible reminders to prompt them, CJ.
Kid, hope you're faring well? I have three Ted's stored away safely, one being a classic Sooty. If you Crivs like Golli's, then there's a tearoom shop at Goathland, North Yorkshire Moors (Heartbeat village) that will float your boat. On my last visit 2024, they were selling wall to wall Golliwog characters and merch of all colours, with Union Jack and St George's emlems. Unfortunately they've been branded on Tripadvisor by the professional victim brigade, 'the most racist shop ever!' I personally found it nostalgically glorious and bold, and like most rational people, never perceived them as anything but a cute character.
Soldiering on, AAW, ta for asking. I've got some Sooty stuff, including a glove puppet and a Sooty hot water bottle cover - and other things. Back in the day, some black kids also had golly dolls and neither them nor their parents seemed to consider them racist. Right, time for beddy-byes for this tired kiddy-winkle.
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