A HOOK grandmother is on a mission to bring back a now controversial toy from the 1960s.

Charlotte Nightingale, a retired midwife from Ghana, is defying convention to sell the ‘golly dolls’ in an effort to reclaim black heritage, as well as raising money for charitable causes.

‘Gollynomics’ launched last year with the famous dolls hoping to bounce back to life to support sustainable development in Accra, Ghana.

The 65 year old is hoping that people will rethink the taboo over the toys, and is currently selling them at fairs, school fetes and village shows.

In one of the more heart-warming instances a mother bought a doll for her toddler, Oliver, who was smiling ear to ear as he walked away with the doll.

But as he walked away, he started to cry, and when his mother asked why, the three-year-old said, “I want the Big Golly – the talking one!”

Her ‘Bring Golly Back’ campaign, in which she sells the dolls in pinstripe trousers and red jackets for between £12 and £17 has so far raised more than £2,000.

All funds raised by Charlotte, go towards funding education and agricultural projects in West Africa.

The reaction to her campaign has been “more than 90 per cent positive”.

She added: "Since the adoption of the Golly to support our fundraising objectives, there has been a significant increase in interest in our Ghanaian education and farming programmes.

“Sales of Gollies at fairs are beyond our wildest expectations. With such increased awareness of our work, the donations have increased too. “

The mother of three says her irritation and desire to bring the dolls back is that they were banned, when there are several degrading fundraising images used by charitable organisations.

“These relentless humiliating images are infinitely more offensive, and they offend 101 per cent of black people.”

She says that the fact that people who grew up with a golly doll and want to speak affectionately about it are branded racist is also an irritant and the vast majority of black people are not aware of the furores surrounding the dolls.

Golly Dolls were originally made by mothers for their children in west Africa and the tradition of the dolls then made its way to the US during the slave trade.

The dolls were called golly, a variation of dolly, by children, and became popular toys in the UK, with jam manufacturer Robertson’s using a golly as a mascot from 1910.

The English author Florence Kate Upton created the name Golliwog for a character in one of her books, inspired by a golly doll found in her attic.

However from the 1960s, the doll began carrying racist connotations, partly because of the negative portrayal of golliwog characters in some literature, as well as the racist abbreviation of the word.

Charlotte is hoping the increasing interest in her dolls and support for support systems in Ghana will mean the dolls start to shake off their negative connotations and can once again be seen in a positive light.

Visit gollynomics.com.