Florence Kate Upton

(Mostly from Wikipedia)

I recently came across the name of Florence Kate Upton (1873-1922). Born in Flushing, New York to recently emigrated British parents, her family was creative and slightly eccentric.

Her father, Thomas Harborough Upton, worked as a confidential clerk at the American Exchange Bank. In 1884, they moved to central Manhattan, which was more convenient for her father’s work. The National Academy of Design, located nearby, offered free instruction to anyone who could qualify. Thomas enrolled in evening classes along with 15 year old Florence.

In June 1889 Thomas suddenly died placing the family in financial difficulty. However, Florence’s mother, Bertha, had a trained singing voice and began to give voice lessons at home. Older sister Ethelwyn found work and Florence, 16, worked as a professional illustrator.
Finances eventually stabilised and in 1893 the family paid an extended visit to Bertha’s relatives, the Hudsons, who lived in Hampstead, London. With an established reputation from her published work in New York, Florence had no difficulty finding employment with London publishers. When the rest of the family returned to the US, she opted to stay and began experimenting with ideas to supplement her income so that she could afford further art training.

She began to sketch out ideas for a children’s book, using 'penny wooden dolls' as models. However, without a central character on which to hang the tale, progress came to a standstill. Her aunt, Kate Hudson, found an old toy in her attic that had belonged to the Upton children, left behind from an earlier visit. This toy, which she named Golliwogg, proved inspirational. The first story was produced 1894. Publishers Longmans, Green & Co offered Florence a contract, and The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg was published for Christmas 1895.

During her London stay Florence provided illustrations for The Strand, The Idler and Punch among other activities. After three years work, she returned to New York to attend the Art Students League, then continued studies in Paris and Holland. Returning to London in 1906 to take up permanent residence, she moved to 21 Great College Street in 1910.

Through the years Florence and Bertha collaborated on a total of 13 Golliwogg adventures, the series ending as, over the years, cultural drift caused interest in the series to wane and Florence sought a career as a professional artist. The last of the Golliwogg books was published 1909.

Florence continued to study and paint, concentrating mainly on portraits. She exhibited at the RA, etc, and established a reputation as an accomplished society portraitist. Additionally, she received hundreds of commissions from the families of young soldiers.

Due to health issues, Florence was found unfit to serve in any physical capacity during the Great War but aided the war effort by donating her original dolls and drawings to a fund-raising auction for the Red Cross, conducted by Christies, 1917. The dolls, sold as a lot, funded purchase of an ambulance, christened ‘Golliwogg’, which went to the front and served in France.

Aged only 49, Florence died in her studio on 16 October 1922, from complications following surgery. She is buried in Hampstead Cemetery. For many years her vandalised grave was unidentifiable, with the headstone toppled face-down in the grass. The stone has now been set upright, courtesy of a Heritage Lottery grant, and awaits restoration.

The original Golliwogg and Dutch Dolls resided for many years at Chequers, the Prime Minister’s country estate in Berkshire. They now receive visitors at the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, London.

It is difficult nowadays to appreciate the enormous impact that the Golliwogg had at the height of its popularity. Florence Upton’s friend and biographer, Edith Lyttelton recollected, ‘One of my children, long before we knew who Bertha and Florence Upton were, had a passionate attachment to the doll stories, and a new Golliwogg book was a great excitement in my nursery as in countless others.’

Florence did not patent the character. Recognising a large and profitable market, many toy companies took advantage of the popularity of the books and manufactured the doll, while other writers and illustrators took equal advantage, many changing the nature of the series.

The prolific Enid Blyton chose to depict golliwogs in a number of her stories as rude and untrustworthy or stupid. Other authors took a similar tack. The name "golliwog" came to be used as a degrading term for anyone who wasn’t white-skinned, and new origins were suggested for the word. Florence Upton despaired, ‘I am frightened when I read the fearsome etymology some deep, dark minds can see in his name.’

(My dad sold golliwogs to raise funds for the Red Cross during World War II)