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Gonk

Furry creature toy

Gonk
Summary

Furry creature toy

Gonks are novelty toys and collectables originating from the United Kingdom in the 1960s.

Created by English inventor Robert Benson, the toys gained popularity and were owned by celebrities including Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers. The Gonks' signature features include a small, spherical body, a furry texture and two googly eyes. Some Gonks had outfits such as those of Merseybeat rockers and were marketed as collectibles. They were popular with children and their success was attributed to how they "can be made from almost any material and of any size." The appearance of some of these toys has been compared to the op art movement.

Gonks from a late-1970s [[Australia]]n fairground event.

Redesigned gonks (cylinders rather than spheres) were introduced into Australia by Tony Bell in the 1970s. They were sold in skill testers and fairgrounds across New South Wales and Queensland.

History

Londoner Robert Benson invented the original toys that achieved popularity in the United Kingdom in the 1960s.

Gonks are featured in the title sequence of Gonks Go Beat, a 1965 science-fiction film created by exploitation film director Robert Hartford-Davis.

References

References

  1. Macdonald, Iain. (May 12, 1964). "Just a Crazy Mixed up Gonk". [[Evening Times]].
  2. (1973). "Toy Making". [[Drake Publishers]].
  3. (November 25, 1965). "'Living Dolls for Christmas". [[The Beaver County Times]].
  4. (28 October 2009). "Cheaper toys 'are Christmas hits'". [[BBC News]].
  5. (October 1964). "Going, Going, Gonk". [[Newsweek]].
  6. Raiffe, Bruce S.. (2005). "Gund". Arcadia Publishing.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

novelty-items stuffed-toys 1960s-toys 1970s-toys
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