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Original poster

Would you know what the answer was if I asked you what a gonk is?!

262 replies

Fiftyandmore · 06/12/2020 16:50

My dc have just fallen about laughing, and assured me they've never heard of these. Maybe it's an age think. Anyone know what I mean?

OP posts:
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38
that1970shouse · 07/12/2020 03:49

@SenorFrog

Rick
Yes, these are gonks.
BlackCatShadow · 07/12/2020 03:56

Who knew honks were so controversial!?

I also think of the fluff balls with eyes and paper feet stuck on.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonk

BlackCatShadow · 07/12/2020 03:57

Honk = gonk obviously

MadameMiggeldy · 07/12/2020 04:11

Never heard of them in all of my 42 years until today by sheer coincidence. Someone in a fb sewing group I’m in was making & selling them. By them I mean pointy hats covering eyes and giant noses

GiantKitten · 07/12/2020 04:56

60s gonks (I’m a 50s baby).
The hideous little plastic figures with coloured hair are trolls to me, from my kids’ childhoods (80s/90s babies).
The things with tall pointy hats & noses are things with tall pointy hats and noses Grin

Would you know what the answer was if I asked you what a gonk is?!
Jenasaurus · 07/12/2020 05:08

Thats what I used to have and called a gonk as a child

Would you know what the answer was if I asked you what a gonk is?!
Jenasaurus · 07/12/2020 05:10

@AlizarinRed

Yes, I had one.DM knitted one from a pattern from Woman magazine it looked like the pic but knitted- I think it prob went to be raffled at Scout annual pre-Xmas jumble sale (quite a big deal then) . I'm 60s.
Thats Humpty from Play school
HopesMama32 · 07/12/2020 05:11

Anyone else thinking that when something was strange and funky looking they just called it a gonk? Hence why there's lots of different ones now? Lol
Im 35, the coloured haired dolls were trolls ( you can still get trolls atm but they wary slightly!) And the Christmas ornaments with hats over their eyes were gonks

OHolyTights · 07/12/2020 05:13

Yes, I had a gonk as a child. He was a marvelous clash of red and orange long fun fur, with googly eyes and a piece of felt on his base. He was very good at making your hair stand on end with static electricity. I haven't seen a photo of him on this thread, but Humpty is definitely not a gonk and nor is a troll, a viking or a ball with a label on.

Jenasaurus · 07/12/2020 05:16

I used to collect gonks, fluffy with googly eyes

I also collected happy gang bunnys like this one

Humpty wasnt a Gonk he was an egg, hence him sitting on a wall and have a great fall lol

Would you know what the answer was if I asked you what a gonk is?!
PhilCornwall1 · 07/12/2020 05:21

@Darklane

These are gonks that I remember from back in the seventies when they were all the rage. I made a couple for my dcs
Just shy of 50 here. This is what I'd call a gonk. All the other pictures are trolls (had a troll too, with orange hair!)

I had one as a child, kept having to be stitched up by my mum, as the stuffing kept coming out!! It will still be in their loft too.

OHolyTights · 07/12/2020 05:23

A gnome is not a gonk either.

The most similar is the black and orange chappy on the left of SenorFrog's picture.

The expression 'Bad Hair Day' was made for all gonks.

PhilCornwall1 · 07/12/2020 05:24

@Cloudhopping

This is what I remember as being a gonk. I’m 49.
That's Humpty from Play School isn't it?

God showing my age there!! 🤣🤣

BestIsWest · 07/12/2020 06:38

@GiantKitten

60s gonks (I’m a 50s baby). The hideous little plastic figures with coloured hair are trolls to me, from my kids’ childhoods (80s/90s babies). The things with tall pointy hats & noses are things with tall pointy hats and noses Grin
Yes, these are gonks.
Graciebobcat · 07/12/2020 06:46

I'm 45, and recognised the word but didn't know what they are, though I recognised some of the photos as trolls, not gonks. I was at first thinking about these, but realised quickly they are "Chads."

Would you know what the answer was if I asked you what a gonk is?!
CeeceeBloomingdale · 07/12/2020 06:54

Mid 40s, a gonk is the plastic naked trolls with coloured hair to me (as per picture OP posted)

HopeTheHeraldAngelsSing · 07/12/2020 07:24

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ on request of its author.

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/12/2020 07:34

I'm 65.we had trolls (Scandinavian with plastic bodies and all the hair) in Primary school which was early to mid 60s. Gonks (Humpty type cloth things) came in while I was at secondary school late 60s /early 70s and were used as mascots e.g. they often had them on University Challenge. The fluffy toilet roll things were after my time and I've no idea what they were called but they weren't the original gonks.

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/12/2020 07:35

By the way, this was in the South East, about 30 miles from London.

WiseOwlWan · 07/12/2020 07:42

Yes, location maybe, I'm in Ireland, some Scottish connections and a gonk is the little wooden figure with a spear. Not a plastic doll with coloured hair!

Fifthtimelucky · 07/12/2020 08:14

@Rockbird

This a gonk (70s baby)
That's definitely what I think I of as a gonk. I had a similar one in the 1970s but mine was turquoise.
LostInTheColonies · 07/12/2020 08:27

I'm with you OP! I had a gonk in the early '70s that looked just like your pic but with long blue hair that stood up vertically. I'm 52. There are things around now that look very similar, marketed as trolls.

I do rather like the look of those elfy things with big hats though...

Marmite27 · 07/12/2020 08:28

It’s a gnome type thing

Tempusfudgeit · 07/12/2020 08:55

Depends. Is it your gonk or your lucky gonk? Vegetable rights and peace, man!

ThatDamnKrampus · 07/12/2020 09:40

[quote PassataQueenofBritain]@ThatDamnKrampus That's your conk![/quote]
😂 oops! Thanks!