Posted by Adam Quinan on April 07, 2012 at 06:55:14 user Adam.
In Reply to: Re: Blyton updated posted by Andy Clayton on April 07, 2012 at 02:46:47:
The gollies were originaly based on characters from the old negro minstrel shows and were quite popular, as toys, untill sensitivities changed in the 1970's.
Remember BBC TV's Black and White Minstrel show which ran from 1958-78? The male singers and dancers were all in blackface make-up and the women were white. It was hugely popular, a "whiteface" version was tried in the late 1960s when protests first started but it flopped.
Thanks Wikipedia for the dates.