Based on a black minstrel doll Upton played with as a child , the character inspired early 20th-Century dolls by several manufacturers and was used as the trademark of James Robertson & Sons , a British jam and preserve maker , in the early 1900s . Thatcher referred to a tennis player as a `` golliwog '' backstage . Thatcher , the early 1900s , described her comment as a `` joke '' CNN axed her as a contributer from the prime-time television show . Carol Thatcher spokesman : `` The One Show never intended any racist comment ''
Thatcher referred to a tennis player as a `` golliwog '' backstage . Thatcher , the early 1900s , described her comment as a `` joke '' CNN axed her as a contributer from the prime-time television show . Carol Thatcher spokesman : `` The One Show never intended any racist comment ''