Le Golliwogg

I think I remember seeing this at my grandmother's house when I was very little. The bottle looks very familiar. Then again, it may have been on her decor shelf of statues and figurines. Just seen this bottle on episode of Antiques Roadshow while waiting at my son's doctor's office.

This is the most wonderfully warm perfume. My Great Auntie had a bottle on her bureau. The hair was real fur, a good quality. When I attented the Worlds Fair in NYC during 1965, I think, I visited the French Pavilion. One could test perfumes and then order. They came out of a chute. You did not see the packaging until you paid for and received the perfume. I loved the Golliwog, which seems mostly Amber, anyway, I was surprised to see ths same bottle as my Auntie had. I bought another small bottle of Vigny "Heure Intime" (innocuous bottle) in San Francisco c. '68. Both are heavenly scents and I do wish someone would ressurect the formula. As for the bottle design, I see it as a celebration of Afro-Art and for you kill-joys who see hate & evil everywhere, you know who you are, tough tittles. Signed, Josephine Baker.

Lots of people arriving here just to comment on the bottle, to play the Lorax and speak for their "non-white friends." I'm a non-white so I will go ahead and put my two cents on this thing I've never smelled since the discussion is heading that way and we all seem to value free speech here. There's a Wikipedia page on the Golliwog character that's easily accessible if anyone would like to read its history. It's one of many caricatures of black people that had its heyday in the early 20th century, although it's not nearly as well-known today as other archetypes such as mammy, pickaninnie, etc. As with the mammy character, the Golliwog wasn't a cultural piece that sought to completely demonize black people. Instead, it inflated many stereotypes, even innocuous ones. Mammy for instance was seen as a caregiving figure, someone nurturing to care for white children. Golliwog was a character in children's stories, and was depicted as a friendly companion to genteel Dutch dolls. However, there is a reason why these archetypes are considered racist today. Caricatures are meant to exaggerate attributes of people for a grotesque effect. Not every caricature does this in a racist way, but the black archetypes of the early 20th century certainly do, because they primarily focus on those attributes that marked black people as alien from polite white society. Mammy may be seen as a caregiving figure, but she was not an equal to her mistress or the children she cared for. Just the same, the Golliwog was invented by an English author to be a companion for her other characters, but she made sure to describe the doll as "a horrid sight, the blackest gnome" when introducing the character. To dismiss these characters as not racist, as completely innocuous, is to ignore history and the role these archetypes played in alienating black people in an already segregated society. I don't expect this review to be taken well by the Fragrantica community, but I wanted to contribute something to the commentary since the discussion seems to have been revived.

I know this will get deleted, but I can't help but respond to the profound ignorance of the last review. "killjoys"? This bottle is a racist depiction of African and African descended people. End of story. BUT as a vintage object, it is of a time, a time that has passed, and collecting it and commenting on it as an object from another era, and commenting especially on the perfume inside is completely valid here. In fact, many African Americans do collect this type of object or souvenir as a way to reclaim what was once used pejoratively against them as a people and make it their own, much like Black use of "the N word." BUT I think if you are too uninformed to know the historical/social/political significance of a thing that IS offensive to many people, you should not advertise it by saying stupid, dismissive things about their informed views, and ending with "tough tittles" (btw, WTH?) It's one thing to not know, but it's another thing altogether to not know and not care. That's willful ignorance, and I'm embarrassed for you. Your lilly-White self DOES NOT get to tell people of color what they are allowed or not allowed to be offended by. And while I'm at it, let me address the genius who wants to know why he wasn't allowed to use this as his avatar, and why, if it so offensive, it is even here for review. It's here because it's a fragrance. But hopefully, people are intelligent and educated enough to know that the character the bottle depicts is racist, and represents what was acceptable IN ANOTHER ERA by people who were ignorant. Let's say you are a WWII enthusiast. You go to ebay. You find some memorabilia that depicts Hitler. Maybe you buy it because you are a present-day White supremacist. Hopefully not. More likely you may buy it just because that era fascinates you, even as you are probably disgusted by crazy-ass Hitler, the man. BUT YOU WOULD PROBABLY NOT USE HITLER AS YOUR EBAY AVATAR.

At first site, this Golliwog bottle just looked like a clown to me. And contrary to popular opinion, I think clowns are cute (the cute / playful ones) Due to the Fragrantica Golliwog 'drama', I looked up Golliwog on Wikipedia because I didn't know why there was so much fuss over a d@mn clown. That led me to wonder if there was something more ("sinister", perhaps?) to my beloved Raggedy Ann. I didn't know Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls were based on storybook characters. I just knew they are adorable. When I had my childhood bedroom decked out in all things Raggedy Ann, I didn't know that her name came from a story about a "tramp." When I continued to collect them into adulthood, I did not realize that the characters were used for anti-immunization propaganda. Again, I just thought they were cute. I'm generally PRO immunization (note: generally), actually. Am I supposed to stop thinking that they are cute now? Ain't gonna happen. Thinking something is cute doesn't make someone a racist, holding racist beliefs does. Just something to chew on.