By golly!

Dear Diary,

"Hello!"

Today, at morning tea time, Vati and I met up with a man and his doll in the town near our village.  Mahi, a local resident, came with Charlie, his constant companion. Vati had invited them to the cafe so I could meet Charlie.

Mahi told us that his father died about 15 years ago and the death left him very sad.  He missed his father terribly and he was very lonely.  A short while after the funeral, the manager of one of the local thrift shops told Mahi that she had something which might interest him.  She gave him a shoe box and inside was a Golly.  The doll had been untouched in the box for a long time.  When Mahi saw the doll, it was in his words, "love at first sight".  He named the doll Charlie and they went home together.  They have been together ever since.  But don't let size fool you - Mahi told me that definitely Charlie is the boss!

"A" is for Awesome!

Charlie is about 69 years old (I'm 74 so we're contemporaries) and in wonderful condition for his age!     Mahi describes Charlie as his soul-mate; they talk about everything together.  Over the past 15 years they've grown very close to each other.

As they got to know one another, Charley asked Mahi if he could go along with him outside the house. Mahi agreed and now, whenever you see one, you see the other.  Charley travels around in either a carry basket (like in the photos) or in a basket with a shoulder strap. The town is the "district seat" of our district; it's not big nor is it small;  Mani and Charley are a common sight around town.  We've even seen them in the small village where we live. Quite literally, they go everywhere together.  

A mug of cappuccino for Charley and a cup of hot chocolate for me.

No matter where they go, people will stop and talk with both of them.  Charlie is a great ice-breaker when meeting new people or being in a strange environment.  Often, people will speak directly to Charley.  Mahi says that people love Charlie because he is harmless and wouldn't hurt anybody.  I suspect it's a case of "like father, like son".  Mahi says he's never had anything negative said to him about carrying Charley around town with him.  In fact, sometimes people will give Charley small gifts of clothing or jewellery. Recently, Mahi has been in hospital for an operation and all the nurses got to meet Charley!  This isn't Charley's first time on the internet, specifically on the Facebook page for the Wetlands Cafe in Timaru.  Here he enjoys a milkshake at the Wetlands:

Cold and delicious!

Charley was Mahi's first doll but as it often goes, more dolls followed.  Charley has a son, a smaller Golly, named Chucky ("what else?" Mahi asks).  In addition to these two, the dolls at their house number around 50, both boys and girls and all different kinds of dolls.  Mahi has named them all and each doll wears a name tag (how else could he keep track of 50 children?). According to Mahi, each doll is an unique individual.
 

Mahi gave us a brief history lesson about Golly dolls. Their origin is a children's book in which they were called Golliwogs.  They were friendly characters with a kindly face; they dressed in traditional minstrel attire.  The dolls became very popular in England and Mahi believes they came from Italy, brought back with British soldiers returning from WWII. In our more modern cultural society, Golliwogs fell out of favour and were labeled as symbols of racism. Many shops refuse to stock them. The word "wog" is a pejorative term and it was dropped, leaving the name shortened to "Golly".  Mahi explained to us that Charley has gone past the racism of past and present; he simply "goes ahead" in life. To quote Mahi, "Me and Charley love everyone on this planet".

The hat, poncho and jewellery are gifts from local admirers.

When asked if he has any advice for men who play with dolls,  he had the following answer: "Most men who are interested in dolls keep that to themselves out of fear of what others might say.  I think they should just be open about their interest in dolls!"

 

Our world needs more like Mahi and Charley.

A friendly sight in our town.

Thank you, Mahi and Charley, for meeting and speaking with us this morning.  It really was our pleasure!

Hans