Robertson's CCT computation method.svg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Robertson's is a British brand of marmalades and fruit preserves that was founded by James Robertson in 1864. The firm was run as a partnership until 1903, when it was incorporated as a limited company - James Robertson & Sons, Preserve Manufacturers, Limited. It produces the "Golden Shred" marmalade, a recipe created in 1874 and registered as a trademark in 1886, among other products. Robertson's received their first
Royal Warrant A royal warrant is a document issued by a monarch which confers rights or privileges on the recipient, or has the effect of law. Royal warrant may refer to: * Royal warrant of appointment, warrant to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a r ...
from King George V in 1933.


History

James Robertson of
Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; sco, Paisley, gd, Pàislig ) is a large town situated in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Located north of the Gleniffer Braes, the town borders the city of Glasgow to the east, and straddles the banks of the White Cart Wate ...
, Scotland was born on 16 January 1832 in Niddry Street, Paisley. He started life working in the local thread mills at the age of eight. During a long down turn in the silk trade, in 1847 Robertson's parents decided to apprentice him to a local grocer, Gibson & Craig, wine spirit and tea merchants at 107 High Street in Paisley. This redefined James' future. Only at this late stage did he learn to read and write: attending night classes at Seedhill School.Made in Scotland, Carol Foreman In 1859 he started in business in his own right as an independent grocer at 86 Causeyside Street, Paisley. In 1864 Robertson bought a barrel of Seville oranges, which are known for their bitter taste. They did not sell well. Not wanting to see her husband waste money, Mrs Robertson made a sweet tasting marmalade, which they perfected in 1874. They rented factory space at Thrushgrove and the resultant clear and tangy marmalade was branded as "Golden Shred"; it became a commercial success. In 1880 Robertson bought land at Stevenson Street in Paisley and built a three-storey, custom-made marmalade factory. The couple had developed a method to remove the bitterness of the orange, while retaining what Robertson called "the highly tonic value of the fruit". It is asserted that this same process is used in the present day to give Robertson's preserves a distinct flavour. So popular was the product, that in 1864 a separate company was formed to lease a factory on Stevenson Street to meet increased demand. Jam and
mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and often beef suet, usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Mincemeat formerly contained meat, notably beef or venison. Many modern recipes replace the suet with vege ...
were soon added to the range. In 1891 the company built a second English-based factory to meet southern demand, at Droylsden, Manchester. In 1900 a third factory was built in Catford in London. In 1914 a fourth factory was created at Brislington near Bristol. In 1903, James Robertson & Sons, Preserve Manufacturers, Limited was incorporated to run the business. The famous Robertson's Golliwog symbol (not seen as racially charged at the time) appeared in 1910 after a trip to the US to set up a plant in Boston. His son John bought a golliwog doll there. For some reason this started to appear first on their price lists and was then adopted as their trade mark. In 1914 James Robertson died aged 83. He had 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 of appointment by King George V in 1933,
King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
and also by
Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...
. The original factory in Paisley is now a housing estate, St. Andrew's Court, with the street itself named Robertson's Gait. In 2007, owner Premier Foods announced the closure of the factories in both
Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...
and Droylsden by the end of the year, with the group's UK jam production all concentrated on Hartley's plant at Histon, Cambridgeshire. The Droylsden factory was demolished in 2010 and only the small building which housed the electricity mains transformer remains on an otherwise derelict site. In the 1920s a Robertson's factory was built in Water Lane, Brislington, Bristol. This was expanded and became the largest jam factory in Europe, and was served by its own branch railway line. The factory was eventually closed in 1981 with manufacturing transferred to Droylsden. The Paisley factory closed in 1979 and in 1981 the company was bought by Avana Foods. In December 2008, Premier Foods announced that it would discontinue jam in the UK under the Robertson brand in 2009. This removed the internal rivalry between two of their products: Hartley's jam and Robertson's jam. The Robertson's label was retained to focus on the marmalades: Golden Shred and Silver Shred. The Hartley's name was concentrated on the jam range. In 2012, Premier Foods sold its sweet spreads and jellies business to US multi-national Hain Celestial for £200 million. For the first time in its 150-year history Golden Shred is no longer a British brand. In 2013 James Robertson and Sons Ltd, first incorporated in 1903 was dissolved. In 2015, James Robertson and Sons Ltd was incorporated by James Robertson's great-great-grandson (also James Robertson).


Family

On 15 June 1856, he married Marion McFadyen. Their eldest son John Robertson (1859-1937) ran the Paisley branch after his father. William ran the Droylsden factory and Daid (1870-1948) ran the Catford factory. In 1937 John's eldest son David (b.1893) took over the chairmanship.


Main products

* "Golden Shred" - a traditional orange marmalade made from bitter Seville oranges, coming in thick cut, thin cut and shredless * "Silver Shred" - a lemon marmalade launched in 1909 * "Mincemeat" - a traditional Scottish style
mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and often beef suet, usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Mincemeat formerly contained meat, notably beef or venison. Many modern recipes replace the suet with vege ...
made from raisins, peel, sugar and beef suet * " Bramble Jelly" - a traditional Scottish style jam, strained of its seeds


Marketing


Golly branding

Just before World War I, 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", 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-1920s, 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. These brooches were given out to people posting in sufficient labels from jars of jam. 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 county 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 a new 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 plaster, standing about 2.5" high. The Robertson Golly was not only limited to badges. There were Robertson Golly dolls, ceramic, Golly games for children, the 1979 illustrated storybook ''Here Comes Golly'' by Gyles Brandreth and 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

The caricature has been described as racist, along with
pickaninnies Pickaninny (also picaninny, piccaninny or pickinninie) is a pidgin word for a small child, possibly derived from the Portuguese ('boy, child, very small, tiny'). In North America, ''pickaninny'' is a racial slur for African American childr ...
, minstrels, mammy figures, and other caricatures of black Africans. The golliwog has been described by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia as "the least known of the major anti-Black caricatures in the United States". Robertson's officially 'retired' Golly in 2002. The company had found that Golly was, on the whole, no longer popular with children, although the scheme was still successful and popular with adult collectors. Robertson's always insisted that they did not retire the Golly because of the pressure of
political correctness ''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
in the 1990s, but simply for commercial reasons. The brand director at Robertson's commented:


Sponsorship

In the 1970s, Robertsons sponsored
Clare Francis Clare Mary Francis (born 17 April 1946) is a British novelist who was first known for her career as a yachtswoman who has twice sailed across the Atlantic on her own and she was the first woman to captain a successful boat on the Whitbread ...
in her entry with her Ohlson 38 yacht
Robertson's Golly
' in the ''Observer'' Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, in which she finished thirteenth overall and set a new women's single-handed transatlantic record.


World of Roald Dahl

In 2001, the Golly collectables were replaced by seven
Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
-created characters, as illustrated by
Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...
. These included the
Big Friendly Giant ''The BFG'' (short for ''The Big Friendly Giant'') is a 1982 children's book written by British novelist Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It is an expansion of a short story from Dahl's 1975 book ''Danny, the Champion of the World'' ...
, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and
Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprietor ...
. This collectables scheme ended in 2006.


Paddington Bear

In 2010, Robertson's featured the fictional Paddington Bear – famous for his love of marmalade – on its jars of Golden Shred marmalade. It teamed up again with the Bear in 2014, tied-in to the ''Paddington'' film, including a limited edition version of Golden Shred. The partnership was continued for the sequel, ''
Paddington 2 ''Paddington 2'' is a 2017 live-action animated comedy film directed by Paul King and written by King and Simon Farnaby. Based on the stories of Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond (to whom the film is also dedicated, Bond having died th ...
''.


References


External links

*
Gollycorner, the history of the Robertson's Golly
An independent guide to Golliwogs - "Golliwogs & Robertson's Jam"
photos of Robertson's Golly badges and collectables
{{British Royal Warrant holders Food manufacturers of Scotland Scottish brands Premier Foods brands Companies established in 1864 Marmalade Food brands of the United Kingdom British Royal Warrant holders