The controversial sa国际传媒済olliwogsa国际传媒� dolls are off the shelves at a Langley British-imports store for now, and the owner said hesa国际传媒檚 not sure hesa国际传媒檒l order more.

sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e sold out,sa国际传媒� said Greg Bowles of Black Pudding imports.

The dolls sparked a complaint from Surrey resident Taylor Walker, who told the Langley Times Advance she was startled to see the dolls for sale during a visit to the store Sunday.

Walker, whose father is black, said the imported British-made black dolls, which have eyes rimmed in white, big red lips and frizzy hair, were offensive.

Bowles and co-owner Linda Hazelton insisted the dolls werensa国际传媒檛 racist.

READ MORE:

Following the story about the incident, which drew a great deal of comment on social media, Bowles said the store received some harassing messages, as well as a lot of support.

sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e harassing other stores now,sa国际传媒� Bowles said.

He said hesa国际传媒檚 not planning to re-stock the dolls at this point. The ones in the store recently were part of an order from 2015. Bowles said he wasnsa国际传媒檛 sure it made business sense to order more.

Golliwog dolls are based on a character in an 1895 childrensa国际传媒檚 book called The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg by British author Florence Kate Upton, who described the character as sa国际传媒渢he blackest gnome.sa国际传媒�

It was a popular childrensa国际传媒檚 toy in many European countries, but in recent years has become a magnet for controversy, with critics saying the doll was based on blackface worn by white performers who crudely stereotyped black people.

According to a number of historical sources, the doll inspired the racial slur sa国际传媒渨og.sa国际传媒�

Because of that, Hazelton and Bowles said, the toys are now called sa国际传媒淕ollysa国际传媒� dolls.

The Ferris State University sa国际传媒淛im Crow museum of racist memorabiliasa国际传媒� website said Golliwog dolls were the sa国际传媒渓east known of the major anti-black caricatures in the United States.sa国际传媒�

Like us on and follow us on .