Dig that Darlie…hey wait a minute
When I first came to China I discovered Darlie. My friend (Shug from episode 2) told me, it was called Black Man Tooth Paste in Chinese. I thought how funny and shrugged it off. Shug refuses to use it, and he jokingly said I should be ashamed of myself for using it. I then asked him about the name Darlie, he had no clue. Suddenly, it dawned on me, “this stuff used to be called Darkie. Shug expressed a little doubt over the whole idea, but he knew inside it made too much sense. I went home and googled it. Sure enough, I found a picture of a old tube of it with a black face character on it. Some might see this as an outrage back in the States, a relic of Jim Crow times. I don’t have a big problem with it though, after all we still use Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, and we can’t forget the Cream of Wheat man. I suspect that Mrs. Butterworth is Afro-British, look at her on that bottle!?!?!
I needed to understand why it is called Black Man tooth paste, so I asked one of my Chinese friends,and she gave me some insight. She told me that Chinese people think that Black people have really nice teeth. She further explained that the contrast between dark skin and perfect white teeth makes them look especially attractive.
Just today, one of my student said when I smiled,”his teeth are so white” in Chinese. I should have told her I use Darlie.
March 21st, 2006 at 7:43 pm
I wonder if that means that Chinese people think that white people have the ugliest teeth.
March 25th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
I really enjoy your podcasts and posts. It’s so nice to read some fresh humor on China.
March 27th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
Yes, it used to be called Darkie, until it was bought by Colgate and they got some flak for it. Here in Taiwan we also have the “White Man Toothpaste”.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Yeah, the name “darkie toothpaste” was the idea of one of the founders of this toothpast company when he was in the US and saw Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer. He was a Brit business man that then went to Hong Kong and started making his toothpast. Now, a taiwanese company bought the rights and now they are making a “white man toothpast”. Perhaps as an inside joke aimed at the original creator.
April 11th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
When I lived in Asia it was still called “Darkie”. I still have a tube somewhere. People never believe me until I show them.
April 12th, 2006 at 3:46 am
Believe it or not but Darlie happens to be my mothers name. She thought for 63 years it was original, not so it seems.
April 13th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
thought i’d comment on this website since i came across it when i googled “darlie.” not sure how all these rumors started regarding the founder of darlie coming to the US and seeing al jolston. the founders of darlie were too poor to travel to the US (they lived in china in the 1920s) and had never seen a “black person” (in person) before when coming up with the name. the founders had only seen a “black person” in a magazine and noticed how beautiful and white their teeth looked and that’s how the name was born.
April 16th, 2006 at 4:27 am
>>thought i’d comment on this website since i came across it when i googled “darlie.” not sure how all these rumors started regarding the founder of darlie coming to the US and seeing al jolston. the founders of darlie were too poor to travel to the US (they lived in china in the 1920s) and had never seen a “black person” (in person) before when coming up with the name. the founders had only seen a “black person” in a magazine and noticed how beautiful and white their teeth looked and that’s how the name was born.
And do you have any sources? The company was started by two British men named Hazel and Hawly.
http://www.wholepop.com/features/oral/strange.html
“Apparently its founder had come to the US in the 1920s and seen Al Jolson in his blackface show, and had been impressed with how white Jolson’s teeth looked.”
April 19th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
yes i do. it’s my family’s business.
April 19th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
Word of mouth from an anonymous internet poster does not constitute a “source”. I posted a reliable source. You didn’t. The End.
April 20th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
alright, chill out, it’s not a fight. i just came across this blog, read what was on the page and commented on something that i know to be false. but you’re totally right, i’m an anonymous person and you have no idea who i am. and no i don’t have an internet source to sight, and i’d rather not disclose private information about my family. you can either choose or not choose to believe me. but again, i’ll say that darlie was started by my great-grandmother and her sons. when they named the toothpaste, they didn’t realize that it would be offensive.
however, i would like to comment on your source. the quote you provide says “apparently its founder…” the definition of “apparently” means “Appearing as such but not necessarily so.” the word connotes doubt, meaning that this information might not be valid.
April 21st, 2006 at 12:17 am
When the toothpaste changed name from Darkie to Darlie , how did the Darlie get chosen, was it by chance or does it mean something to the owners? My mother would like to know as she was named Darlie in 1943 and had never come across anyone or anything else with her name.
April 21st, 2006 at 1:17 pm
>>however, i would like to comment on your source. the quote you provide says “apparently its founder…” the definition of “apparently” means “Appearing as such but not necessarily so.” the word connotes doubt, meaning that this information might not be valid.
Wrong. You are clearly missrepresenting the way this word was intended to be used by the original source. Look at the most common uses of the word i.e. the first two definitions at dictionary.com. For someone that would BS and equivocate over something as trivial as this tells me something about this person. You are clearly a fraud. I don’t know why and what reason you have for BSing over this little issue. What is your alterior motive? Pray tell what is your motivation.
April 24th, 2006 at 7:17 am
son of darlie, i asked my mom why they chose the name darlie, and she said…”because the name is close enough. The ad at that time was a cartoon, I think, the k jumping out and the l coming in.”
whiffenproof, i’m sorry but i still don’t agree with you regarding the word “apparently.” whatever the intentions of the authors of the article, to me, the word connotes doubt and does not mean that it is fact.
to answer your question on motivation… to me, race/ethnicity is an important issue, and in fact, every job i’ve ever had, every policy project i’ve ever worked on, every cause i’ve ever fought for, has always focused on one theme… equality and equity. i believe that every person, regardless or race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, etc. should receive equal treatment. and i cannot accept issues such as racism, homophobia, inequality of the sexes, etc.
therefore, it bothers me to know that people out there think that my great-grandmother and her sons (including my grandfather) were intentionally racist, that they named a product that they knew would intentionally hurt a group of people.
i remember, when i was younger, my mother read an article in people magazine about a museum that was opening up in chicago (i think it was the dusable museum of african american history) and how, included in their collection of KKK gowns, they also had darkie toothpaste displayed. and my mother wrote a letter to the museum curator saying what i just said in the posting, that the founders of darlie had never intentionally meant to be racist. the family had never seen a black person before. they had had found this logo in china when they started the company and thought the contrast of black and white emphasized the white teeth. that’s why they picked it. no discrimination in mind.
i’m not arguing that just because the intention of racism isn’t there that it makes it alright. in fact, i think that it was good that they changed the name and if i actually had any say in the matter, i’d change the chinese name as well. whether the intentions were good or bad, i believe that if the name is hurtful, it shouldn’t be used.
however, i don’t want people making the mistake that the name was chosen intentionally to be racist or discriminatory.
April 24th, 2006 at 1:29 pm
Just admit it. I caught you in a bold-faced LIE. You were exposed. That’s not the issue. The issue is WHY would anyone makeup a story like yours?
April 25th, 2006 at 10:18 am
you said it yourself, “why would anyone makeup a story like yours?” if i didn’t have any connection to darlie, i wouldn’t be wasting my time searching for stories of it on the web.
May 13th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
To the The Wiffenpoof:
stop BS ing and making things up.. u know nothing about darlie and just shut up!!!! Most people who live in HK would know that Darlie is not owned by 2 english man called Hawley and Hazel.. do your research before u write anything next time.