I was reading up on Kewpie dolls on Wikipedia, and I stumbled across this:
OK. I had never heard of Billiken dolls, so I had to click the link. I was sorry I did.
This is a seriously evil-looking figure. The creator took out a design patent on it, guaranteeing that they’d all look like her original design.
With their slanted eyes, the figures seem to practically shout “racist”. They were, indeed, promoted as Oriental figures, even though designed by an American. Perversely, there are a lot of these things in Japan, and were there even before the second world war. The Wikipedia page devotes an entire section to these Japanese figures. you can read about the racist associations here:
Has anybody here heard about these figures before? They’re completely new to me.
Random other thoughts:
Original Kewpie dolls have little blue wing stubs on their shoulders. Evidently they’re supposed to be angels or fairies, or something. The name “kewpie” is supposed to derive from “cupid”, so I guess they’re little winged cupids (cupoids?}.
The Strong Museum article says that, shortly after Teddy Bears were introduced, they were seen as a threat to the mothering instinct:
Wow. My grandmother had one of these on a shelf with other assorted tchotchkes. It stuck out from the others because of its unsettling weirdness. I’d forgotten about it for decades, until the picture brought it back. And I had no idea what it was called, or that it was A Thing in the collectible-culture sense, until literally just now.
My grandfather had a boat in the 70s named the Billiken, and it had one of those figures as an informal figurehead (it wasn’t mounted on the bow, but he carried it in the boat and sometimes put it at the bow when anchored). It was only years later that I learned a “Billiken doll” was a thing. I have no idea why he named the boat that or what the appeal was, but I’d guess it was the “good luck charm” aspect.
I don’t remember ever being creeped out by the figure. It was brass or stone, so the features were softer and it wasn’t so obviously creepy or racist. In my memory it looked like this version.
According to sf/fantasy/mystery author Fredric Brown (who traveled at one time with a carnival – and it shows in his stories) those were called “the pickled punks”.
That was also the title of one of his mystery stories, which he later expanded into the novel Madball. (Carny slang for a fortune teller’s crystal ball).
There’s a classic movie where one of the characters says someone was ‘Sitting there, smiling like a billiken.’ I can’t find that exact quote, but that’s how I (mis)remember it. My mind turns to Mister Roberts or South Pacific or Father Goose, but those could be completely off.
I’ve always wanted someone to give me one as a gift (for good luck).
Speaking of ugly dolls, a family friend gave an ‘ugly cat doll’ to my dad in the '70s or early-'80s. I have it now. It’s so ugly it’s cute, and one of my favourite things. Here’s a picture of Goo lounging next to it.
I saw them in Japan before I learned about their US origins. They’re pretty easy to find in Osaka, especially in touristy areas. Tsutenkaku tower has a display of a whole bunch of them in different styles ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Batman to Michael Jackson.
On the fifth floor observation deck is enshrined Billiken, the God of Happiness or “things as they ought to be”. Billiken, a popular American charm doll that came to Japan in about 1910, was enshrined within Luna Park when it opened. When the park closed in 1923, the wooden statue of Billiken went missing. As a part of an effort to revive the tower, a copy of Billiken was made from an old photograph and placed inside the tower in 1979. The statue of Billiken became closely associated with the tower and is a popular symbol of good luck. Each year thousands of visitors place a coin in his donation box and rub the soles of his feet to make their wishes come true.
We’ve had a little plush Billiken in the lobby of our business for about 10 years. I believe it was a gift. I was told it is for good fortune in business and named after Pres. William McKinley. It doesn’t look any more racist than, say, a typical Buddha figure for example.
