Turn-of-the-Century Grotesque

The Golliwogg books, beginning with The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a “Golliwogg” (1895), were extremely popular annual Christmas offerings from Longmans, Green until 1909. Aware of the annual anticipation, reviewers sometimes expressed a “Here’s another Golliwogg book, it must be Christmas” resignation about them, occasionally shaking their heads over why the Golliwogg had taken over nursery life in the way that it had. But in spite of this prominent position in turn-of-the-century English children’s literature, present-day histories of children’s literature pay surprisingly little heed to the Golliwogg books. ¹ Given that the books had remarkable illustrations and influenced other works both technically and thematically, they were the first English picture books with a black protagonist, they had ubiquitous spin-off toys, greeting cards, games, dolls, and household items (“fortunes were made from the Golliwogg”), and the series inspired Claude Debussy’s popular Golliwogg’s Cakewalk and considerable affection from those who were raised in its era, this lack of critical attention is unfortunate. ² That the Golliwogg books are perceived as icons of racism as well helps to explain critical reticence but failure to study the Golliwogg seriously distorts its era in children’s literature, an era in which interchange between children’s culture and the adult avant-garde was particularly marked. The notable popularity of the Golliwogg motif when seen in its context suggests that this particular series said something significant to thinking adults as well as to children, that in its day it embodied the “spirit of the age.”