The Story Behind the Name: Fuzzypeg and my love of Folk Art
- Katharine Ricks
- Feb 19
- 4 min read
If you’re wondering about the inspiration behind the name of my shop, it’s time to meet Fuzzypeg!
He’s a darling little hedgehog and one of the woodland characters from the beloved Little Grey Rabbit series of thirty or so children’s books by British author Alison Uttley, first published in 1929.
The Little Grey Rabbit stories feature a cast of woodland characters which centre round gentle and motherly Little Grey Rabbit herself who lives with boastful, but kind Hare and vain, but affectionate Squirrel. Fuzzypeg is the son of Milkman Hedgehog and his wife. He is very curious and adventurous and always getting into scrapes. Then there are treasure-hunting Moldy Warp the Mole, Wise Owl, Brock the Badger, Fox, Speckledy Hen and several more.
Their world is full of tales of nature, friendship, fun and happiness. The stories are beautifully illustrated by Margaret Tempest who brings the characters to life, painted in soft colours that evoke simpler times gone by.
The name Fuzzypeg is very significant and special to me. Back in the 1960s, my mother chose the name Fuzzypeg for her children’s clothes shop in Woodbridge, Suffolk. I think Mum chose this name because he represented the fun and innocence of being a child and a world that children could relate to, myself included.
When I decided to fulfil my dream of selling folky and colourful things that I love, it was obvious to me that I should call it after my mother’s original shop. This because I was so involved in that shop during all my growing up years it feels very much part of me and keeps my memories of Mum alive. But also because I feel that Fuzzypeg, a little hedgehog depicted as a mischievous child, represents my love of folk art. To this day, I love any animal-related object, story or picture that has a human quality and is child-like, colourful and simple. And after doing a bit of digging on the net it turns out that this is a common trait that goes back centuries!
The word for attributing human characteristics to non-human forms e.g. animals, everyday objects, forces of nature is called anthropomorphism. Bit of a mouthful to say that! This comes from the verb anthropomorphize, itself derived from the Greek ánthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος, lit. "human") and morphē (μορφή, "form"). Apparently this is an innate tendency of human psychology and has occurred since ancient times in storytelling.
Most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals or other non-human forms as characters. They are common in folklore, fairy tales, myths and legends from the earliest ancient examples set in a mythological context, to the great collections of e.g. the Brothers Grimm and Hans Andersen.
The earliest presence of talking animal characters are, of course, in Aesop’s Fables, (c 550 BC). These had a significant impact on talking animal stories throughout history and they became a genre in its own right by the late 19th century, when we see the fantastic characters in Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Caroll, 1865), the Beatrix Potter books (1902), and eventually back to Fuzzypeg and his friends in the Little Grey Rabbit stories from 1929 onwards.
Folk art has long been a reflection of the stories, beliefs, and traditions of communities and it also brings the inanimate and the animal world to life through anthropomorphism. Folk art is full of creatures that talk, wear traditional clothing, play musical instruments, or engage in human activities.
This is evident in the carved wooden toys of Eastern Europe, where bears, rabbits, and hedgehogs appear dressed as farmers or villagers. Not unlike Fuzzypeg and his family! Similarly, German and Swiss cuckoo clocks feature lively woodland creatures with expressive faces, bringing an element of storytelling into everyday life.
Even in textiles and ceramics, we see this human touch. Traditional Scandinavian and Eastern European embroidery often depicts animals with human-like features, symbolizing traits such as bravery, cunning, or protection.
The act of giving human qualities to animals and objects helps us to bridge the gap between nature and humanity. By seeing ourselves reflected in animals and objects, we can more easily relate to the world around us. Morals and cultural values are easier to grasp when embodied by a familiar animal or animated object.
For me, folk art also carries a deep sense of nostalgia, evoking memories of simpler times, childhood stories, and timeless traditions. This sentiment is especially true in the tales of Fuzzypeg and his friends. When selecting folk art toys, decorations, and homewares for FuzzypegFolk, I always consider how each piece can tell its own story of the past while also preserving that playful and enduring charm.
Meanwhile Fuzzypeg lives on at FuzzypegFolk. Mum had a connection with Margaret Tempest, the illustrator of the Little Grey Rabbit books, because she lived locally in Ipswich, just a few miles from Woodbridge. When Mum asked her if she could use the name Fuzzypeg, she kindly agreed and also had made a wooden shop sign depicting the little hedgehog. This hung outside and was much loved by the children who came to the shop. I still have this sign and am having it carefully restored so it can hang outside my shop, FuzzypegFolk, when it opens in April.
