Robertson's: Difference between revisions

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Robertson's is a UK brand of marmalades and jams that was owned by RHM until that company's takeover by Premier Foods in March 2007. It produces the "Golden Shred" marmalade among other products.

History

James Robertson of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland started life working in the local thread mills. Then apprenticed to a local grocer, hoping this would give him a better future.

In 1859 he married Marion McFadyen, and started up in business as a grocer at 86 Causeyside Street in Paisley, where his wife started making marmalade in the back of the shop to sell. I 1864 a separate company was formed to lease a factory on Stevenson Street in the south of the town to meet increased demand. Jam and mincemeat were soon added to the range. In 1891 the company built a factory at Droylsden, Manchester.

In 1914 James Robertson died aged 83. He had featured in the public life of Paisley, having been a member of the council, a magistrate, a school director, and the manager of a savings bank, as well as belonging to a variety of philanthropic societies. His eldest son John succeeded as company chairman, establishing the firm as a leader in the preserves industry. Robertson’s were awarded royal warrants by King George V in 1933, King George VI and also by the present Queen Elizabeth.

The original factory was based in Paisley is now a housing estate, St. Andrew's Court, with the street itself named Robertson's Gait. The factory at Droylsden closed in 2008, and was demolished in 2010.

In December 2008 Premier Foods announced that it would discontinue jam in the UK under the Robertson brand in 2009, in order to focus on Robertson's Golden Shred Marmalade and its more successful Hartley's jam brand.^[1] Premier is committed to the Robertson's Marmalade brand in the UK, and retains its successful jam, lemon curd, mincemeat and marmalade products under the brand outside the UK.

Marketing

Gollywog branding

It was in America, Just before World War 1, John Robertson (son of James Robertson) was on a tour of the United States. Whilst on a visit to the backwoods he noticed many young children playing with little black rag dolls with white eyes, made from their mothers' discarded black skirts and white blouses. Intrigued by the popularity of the "Golly" (the name being the children's interpretation of doll), he thought it would make an ideal mascot and trade mark for the Robertson's range of products. Accepted by the company, Golly was first shown on Robertson literature in 1910, on items such as labels and price lists.

Collectables series

In the mid-1902s, skilled enameller H. Miller from Birmingham's jewellery quarter approached the company with the idea of enamelled "mascots". Miller produced the first design, a Golly golfer in 1928.

Developed as a brooch-based collector series, by the early 1930s the Golly had appeared in little fruit designs, many of which were worn as jewellery because of their high quality. More sporting designs followed, including country cricketers and footballers with footballs in team colours. 1937 saw the Coronation Golly, complete with Union Jack on its chest.

In 1939 the scheme was discontinued as the metal was needed for the war effort, but by 1946 the Golly was back again. The Golly pendant with chain was introduced by popular demand in 1956. In the 1970s, the design of all Gollies changed from the old Golly with "pop eyes" to the present day Golly with eyes looking to the left. The words "Golden Shred" were removed from his waistcoat, his legs straightened and smile broadened. At about the same time a range of 11 Footballer and 12 Musician Golly figures were produced in pottery, standing about 2.5" high. These were eventually discontinued however.

The Robertson Golly was not only limited to badges. There were Robertson Golly dolls, china, Golly games for children, even Golly clothing. At the start of the 1980s the hard enamelled badges were replaced with cheaper to produce acrylic badges, but this did not affect their popularity.

When production stopped in 2001, over 20 million Gollies had been sent out.

Discontinuation of Golly

Robertson's officially 'retired' Golly in 2002. The company had found that Golly was, on the whole, no longer popular with the children of families, although the scheme was still successful with adult collectors.

Robertson's always insisted that they did not retire the Golly because of the pressure of "political correctness" in the 1990s (the caricature is now generally considered to be racist), but simply for commercial reasons. Virginia C "Ginny" Knox, then brand director at Robertson's commented:^[2]

We are retiring Golly because we found families with kids no longer necessarily knew about him. We are not bowing to political correctness, but like with any great brand we have to move with the times

World of Roald Dahl

In 2001, the Golly collectables were replaced by a seven Roald Dahl-created characters, illustrated by Quentin Blake. These included the Big Friendly Giant, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and Willy Wonka. This collectables scheme ended in 2006.

Present day

Due to their high-quality manufacture until the introduction of the arylic badges in the 1980s, the appeal of the Robertson's collectables series lasts to the present. They were avidly collected not only in the UK but many Asian countries, who also had the token offers. The rarer pre World War II badges exchange hands for high prices when they appear on the market. One major collector has produced a comprehensive interactive CD-Rom illustrating thousands of Robertson Golly premiums produced over the years.

References

External links

• Gollycorner, the history of the Robertson's Golly
• "Golliwogg.co.uk" An independent guide to Golliwogs - "Golliwogs & Robertson's Jam"
• [1] History of a racist symbol from the Guardian