Enid Blyton's 'Noddy' golliwogs fuel race row in Britain

London, Oct 31 : A shop dedicated to Enid Blyton, the famous children writer, has come under fire, after it started selling golliwogs.

Viv Endecott, who owns the 'Ginger Pop' shop in Dorset village, has received complaints urging her to stop selling the rag dolls.

However, Endecott defends herself, insisting that the dolls are nothing but mere soft toys synonymous with Enid Blyton's characters like Noddy.

Endecott, who is of Indian origin revealed that she has faced racism, and she does not have ay such motive behind the dolls.

The owner also revealed that there is a great demand for dolls in the village, as she has already sold 500 odd dolls, and inspite of complaints she would not remove the dolls.

The 47-year-old received an anonymous complaint note, which she has put on public display.

"The note had been pushed under the door one night. I felt annoyed, mainly because whoever wrote it didn't put their name to it. I thought the best way to gauge people's reaction to it was to place the note in the window alongside some golliwogs and the general reaction has been 'is that for real? Around here it is accepted that a golliwog is a soft toy associated with Enid Blyton. I genuinely think most people don't associate them with black people," The Sun quoted Viv, as saying.

"There is plenty of real racism to get worked up about than to argue over the merits of a soft toy. I suffered real racism at school so I don't need any lessons on it," she added.

ANI