Mr Whoppit | |
---|---|
Team | BP |
Description | Teddy bear |
Mr Whoppit was the teddy bear mascot of Donald Campbell, the land and water speed record holder. Writing in his 2011 book, Donald Campbell: The Man Behind The Mask, journalist David Tremayne described Whoppit as Campbell's "magic talisman".[1]
As was his father Sir Malcolm Campbell, Donald Campbell was highly superstitious.[2][3] Both consulted spiritualist mediums and fortune tellers, Donald also placed his faith in a lucky mascot, Mr Whoppit. He refused to drive unless Whoppit was with him.[2] One of his wife Tonia's tasks was to hand Whoppit to him on entering the cockpit.[4][5][6] Whoppit was noted in 2003 by reporter Frank Bennett as being part of the "threesome" arriving for the 1964 record run – the others being Campbell himself, and his wife. Bennett remarked that the mascot was in the cockpit each time, along with other memorabilia.[7]
Whoppit was with Campbell during his serious crash during a land-speed record attempt at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1960, driving the Proteus Bluebird.
Campbell died as a result of a crash while driving his jet hydroplane Bluebird K7 in a record attempt on Coniston in 1967. His body was not recovered, although Mr Whoppit floated free and was found almost immediately by Leo Villa.[8] Campbell's body was finally located and recovered in 2001.
Campbell also named one of his dogs 'Whoppit'.[4] Another teddy bear mascot was found as a 'wife' for Whoppit, named 'Mrs Whacko',[6] who did not ride with Whoppit but stayed with Tonia and the pit crew.
'Woppit' first appeared as a cartoon strip 'The story of Woppit' about a toy teddy bear, from the first issue of the comic Robin in 1953.[9] In 1956, Merrythought manufactured a 9-inch tall Woppit bear wearing a red felt jacket[10] and one of these was given to Donald by his close friend and manager Peter Barker.[11]
I used to be on the edge of the toy trade when I was at Hulton's because we used to do what was called licensed merchandise for children's comics. Whoppit was a sample from a firm called Merrythought. I had it for a long time on my desk and in 1956, I think, I said, "Don, you ought to have a mascot. I think this one is very appropriate." And he said, "Oh, fine, fine." After that, Whoppit was always there.
On joining the Bluebird team, Woppit acquired a miniature of their "Bluebird" patch sewn to his jacket, later followed by a one-piece flight suit. His name also changed slightly to 'Mr Whoppit'.[12] In 1959, both Campbell and Mr Whoppit were photographed together in Robin.
In the late 1990s, Merrythought re-issued a limited production of 5,000 replicas of Mr Whoppit, with the original red jacket now sporting the Bluebird motif.[13]
In later years, Donald's daughter Gina Campbell also adopted Whoppit as a mascot for her own water record-breaking attempts.[14][12] These led to Whoppit's third high-speed crash.[citation needed] In 1995 she offered him for auction, together with other Campbell memorabilia. He was to sell for about £60,000 but failed to reach the reserve and so remained in her possession.[15][16][17] The decision to auction off Mr Whoppit was a cause of acrimony between Gina Campbell and Donald's widow Tonia Bern-Campbell, which re-surfaced again during the recovery of Bluebird in 2001.[18]