Golly!
Because of this
Police released three suspects yesterday....This might have been a big story, except that they were golliwogs.
The dolls were seized from the window of a shop on suspicion of causing “alarm, harassment or distress” under Section 5 of the Public Order Act when West Mercia police received a complaint from a passer-by. They were returned to the custody of shopkeeper Donald Reynolds, owner of Pettifer’s hardware and general store in Bromyard, Herefordshire, after an investigation.
A police spokesman said that no further action was being taken but that Mr Reynolds had been advised not to display them “insensitively” in future.
my daughter is going to be getting one of these, in pretty short order ....
& if anyone & I really do mean ANYONE has a phuquing problem with that, they are welcome to pop down to Free Market Towers and discuss it with me & Mrs FM over a few No. 6 shot 'pursuaders'!
Comments
I bought one last year down at Longleat - in the shop there next door to the Late Lord Bath's Nazi memorabilia....
Posted by: The Englishman | March 9, 2006 9:35 PM
HA!I saw those in a window in York when last I was over the pond, and was shocked to my core.
Here in the USA in the South, you just don't see them. At all. I was just amazed that you could display those anywhere.
Now I see that you can't.
Pity.
Lamont
Posted by: Lamont Cranston | March 9, 2006 9:42 PM
In the 1980's my mother collected a whole set of these little chaps by sending in MacRobertsons jam labels or some such.
Little enammeld Gollie badges, doing all sorts of different thigs (driving, skiing, flying etc)
On a visit one day, I made some sort of humourous reference to them. My mother, not to be outdone, had them mounted and gave them to me for my birthday.
I now wear them occasionally when I know I will meet someone who will be particularly outraged by my lack of sensitivity :-))
Posted by: Tony from Australia | March 10, 2006 12:09 AM
Hah, I used to have a golliwog when younger... but that was in the pre-PC days of course :P
Posted by: rhys | March 10, 2006 1:03 AM
Lamont
You most certainly can display golliwogs in GB. The Old Bill 'advising' you not to display them is not an order from a court. The Old Bill should be 'advised' that they are still public servants (whatever Blair's wet dreams may be) and they are 'advised' to sod off sharpish.
Posted by: Pete_London | March 10, 2006 8:44 AM
Pete_London,
Alas, with Mr Blair's new uber-liberal legislation the police can arrest people for any offence even dropping litter. Thus when they advise one that one's actions might be likely to cause "alarm, harassment or distress" and one tells them to bugger off one has provided them with sufficient grounds to haul one off to the nick for a few hours (actions likely to cause a breach of the peace and actions likely to cause alarm, harassment or distress).
This is how NuLabour is working tirelessly to make Britain a better place.
Kinda makes me glad I live in Africa. At least the megalomaniacal, kleptomaniac, despots down here don't pretend to be doing it for the good of the people.
RM
Posted by: The Remittance Man | March 10, 2006 10:13 AM