I was looking at my SILs Christmas Tree. "Do you like Arthur's Gonk?" she said. "Where?" I said and she pointed out the little chap at the front. "I wouldn'tcall him a gonk" I said. There followed a family discussion about the term "gonk".
I first heard the term in the 1960s when a guy called Robert Benson started selling these plump little toys with 'Beatle haircuts'. Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney both possessed them and in 1965 there was even a Gonk Musical/film [Gonks Go Beat] Gonks popped up everywhere back then - when Playschool started on BBC, there was a toy called Humpty, and he was officially declared to be a gonk. The Simplicity Pattern company brought out a sewing pattern, and one Christmas, cousin Gill and I each received one, made by our Auntie Edie in velvet [hers green, mine red]
They were cuddly, 10" in circumference - great for throwing around.
I have no idea where mine went. After my chat with Marion I decided to research the whole world of Gonks. It seems that by the 1980s, those little pompom bugs used for marketing were often called gonksThey have much in common with the larger soft toys. So how did this term get to be used for a gnome like creature?
About twenty years ago, I knitted a load of little Christmas ornaments from a pattern which I found in a magazine. They were called Korknisse. The article explained that Nisse were Norwegian gnomes.
Very cute little characters, each one was just a wine cork in a jumper and hat. I sold them off at 50p each at a charity fundraiser I was involved with.
Meanwhile, every Christmas, IKEA bring us Swedish decorations, and
hygge, and describe their brand of gnomes as
tomte. When did these chaps get to be rebranded as
gonks? The Range are selling craft paper this week called
Gonk Christmas. It does seem to be the new name for the gnomes
But why?
What was wrong with
gnomes, or the Scandi translations
nisse, and
tomte?
Why didn't Mr Benson copyright his gonk name?
What do you call them?
Gnomes! The loyalty factor. I was a gnome before I became an elf. In the Brownies, you understand.
ReplyDeleteI understand completely [I was a pixie, then an elf]
ReplyDeleteGonks are definitely the round critters; trolls are those horrid naked plastic figures with long hair; and these delightful bearded chappies are gnomes. There! I have pronounced. Let it be so!! :-) Love FD x
ReplyDeleteI spent ages making little felt jackets for my friends trolls - but never possessed my own [.my mum objected to their nakedness! ]
DeleteGnomes defo. Gonk is a silly name presumably based on the fact that only a nose is really visible. I was interested to learn about the Gonks movie and the original ones. Kx
ReplyDeleteYou're too young to remember the original gonks, K!
DeleteI have a vague memory of a gonk-like something made out of a matchbox that everyone had to have circa 1966? No idea where that memory came from - very odd
ReplyDeleteDon't recall the matchboxes...
ReplyDeleteIn our house they are called geenomies ie gnomes but our daughter was an avid reader who sounded out the word the first time she saw it and the name has stuck! Some people also call them trolls but that’s definitely not right! Catriona
ReplyDeleteI'm sure geenomies have good chromosomes! We have family words like that - but I'm always pleased to find young avid readers, and often their interpretation of a word is much more fun. I remember asking Mum what "merrin-gues" were made of. And being confused by the motor racing spelled Grand Prix but pronounced GromPree. It's the silent letters, and imported words which catch us out!(ps thanks for email pictures)
DeleteI didn't know Humpty was a gonk, mind you I always just thought of him as Humpty when I was a child ... gosh I didn't like Hannibel the doll (off topic, sorry).
ReplyDeleteTo my mind gonks were the little plastic dolls with a mop of brightly coloured hair that sat on top of my pencil. I think of the modern 'gonks' more as gnomes.
Many children found the doll creepy, I understand. I called the hairy pencil toppers 'trolls'
DeleteHaven't heard that word in years. I would call your SIL decoration a Gnome. I thought gonk's were fluffy things?
ReplyDeleteYes, the early ones were often velvet or fur fabric
DeleteThey're definitely gnomes!
ReplyDeleteWe bought our Grandson one like Arthur's, but had to get a blank one and I stitched his ‘old English and very unusual' name on it myself. As I'm not much of a needlewoman, this was very much a labour of love!
My mum used to collect tiny Gonks with sticky bases, the dashboard of her car was covered in them!
Well done for "personalising" the gnome
DeleteGnomes for sure, unless Scandinavian..... Gonks are those round things like Humpty on Playschool!
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
😊
DeleteI remember having a gonk. He was big and round, his bottom half was tartan. I have no idea what happened to him as he was certainly too large to simply get lost !
ReplyDeleteI love the Korknisse you made, no wonder they sold well! JanF
These things are often discarded in a mad moment of tidying up, when one applies those "Is it useful or beautiful? does it spark joy?" questions. I am afraid that Bob's "Samuel S Snake" went that way back in the 1980s, but he has never forgotten him. I must find a photograph
DeleteI too knitted Korknisse and they're currently decorating my mantelpiece as they do most years. This year I've added mini knitted jumpers to my collection, thanks for the pattern!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found it useful! Happy Christmas🎅
DeleteSuch a pretty little fellow, some people like gonks and others go mad for elves I don't have either!
ReplyDelete😉
ReplyDeleteNever heard of gonks and the others you've mentioned (except for the trolls); I'd say the one you show in the first photo is a gnome.
ReplyDeleteThe 1960s gonks were a peculiarly British thing, I'm not surprised you haven't come across them!
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