Mr Whoppit

Mr Whoppit was the teddy bear mascot of Donald Campbell, the land and water speed record holder.

As was his father Sir Malcolm Campbell, Donald Campbell was highly superstitious. 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. One of his wife Tonia's tasks was to hand Whoppit to him on entering the cockpit.^[1]

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 was killed during a record attempt on Coniston in 1967, whilst driving the jet hydroplane Bluebird K7. Campbell's body wasn't recovered, although Mr Whoppit floated free and was found almost immediately (Campbell's body was finally located and recovered in 2001).

Campbell also named one of his dogs 'Whoppit'.^[1]

Gar Wood and his brother George also kept teddy bears tied to their raceboat engines. ^[2]

Mr Whoppit's origins

'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.^[3] In 1956, Merrythought manufactured a 9-inch tall Woppit bear wearing a red felt jacket^[4] and one of these was given to the (adult) Donald by his close friend Peter Barker.^[5] 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'.^[6] 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.

With Gina Campbell

In later years, Donald's daughter Gina Campbell also adopted Whoppit as a mascot for her own water record-breaking attempts.^[6] These led to Whoppit's third high-speed crash.

In 1995 she offered him for auction, together with other Campbell memorabilia, although he failed to reach the reserve and remains in her possession.^[7] 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. ^[8] In 2001, Whoppit and Gina Campbell returned to Coniston together for Donald's funeral.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Tonia Bern-Campbell (2002). My Speed King. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0750929316. 
2. ^ J. Lee Barrett (1986). Speed Boat Kings. Hardscrabble Books. ISBN 0915056216. 
3. ^ Steve Holland (2007). Woppit.  http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2007/06/woppit.html
4. ^ Collecting character bears.  http://hubpages.com/hub/Collectable-Teddy-Bears
5. ^ Tremayne, David (2005). Donald Campbell: The Man Behind the Mask. Bantam Books. ISBN 0553815113. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Leyla Maniera (2003). Christie's Century of Teddy Bears. Pavilion. ISBN 1862055955. 
7. ^ "Fred the bear's hero, Mr Woppit". http://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/110707-fred-fiat-bears-hero.html. 
8. ^ Daniel Foggo (19 June 2001). "Campbells feud over Bluebird wreck". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1320944/Campbells-feud-over-Bluebird-wreck.html. 
9. ^ "Gina Campbell bringing Mr Whoppit to attend Donald's funeral service in Coniston, 2001" (Photo). 12 September 2001. http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidambridge/2562947374/.