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Robertson's is a British brand of
marmalade Marmalade (from the Portuguese ''marmelada'') is a fruit preserves, fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It also has been made from lemons ...
s and
fruit preserves Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...
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 including "Silver Shred" a lemon marmalade launched in 1909; "Mincemeat", a traditional Scottish style
mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped apples and dried fruit, distilled spirits or vinegar, spices, and optionally, meat and beef suet. Mincemeat is usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Traditional mincemeat recipes contain meat, notably beef ...
made from raisins, peel, sugar and beef suet; and "
Bramble ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. I ...
Jelly", a traditional Scottish style jam, strained of its seeds. Robertson's received their first Royal Warrant from King
George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...
in 1933.


History

James Robertson of
Paisley, Renfrewshire Paisley ( ; ; ) 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 Water, a tributary of the River ...
, 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 Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...
him to a local grocer, Gibson & Craig, wine spirit and tea merchants at 107 High Street in Paisley. This redefined Robertson's future. Only at this late stage did he learn to read and write, attending night classes at Seedhill School.Carol Foreman, ''Made in Scotland'' He married Marion McFadyen on 15 June 1856. 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 orange The bitter orange, sour orange, Seville orange, bigarade orange, or marmalade orange is the hybrid citrus tree species ''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'', and its fruit. It is native to Southeast Asia and has been spread by humans to many parts of th ...
s, 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 Marmalade (from the Portuguese ''marmelada'') is a fruit preserves, fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It also has been made from lemons ...
, 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. Jam and
mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped apples and dried fruit, distilled spirits or vinegar, spices, and optionally, meat and beef suet. Mincemeat is usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Traditional mincemeat recipes contain meat, notably beef ...
were soon added to the range. In 1891 the company built a second English-based factory to meet southern demand, at Droylsden,
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, run by James' second son William. In 1900 a third factory was built in
Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, run by James' youngest son David (1870–1948). In 1914 a fourth factory was created at
Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath, Somerset, Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislingto ...
near
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
. In 1903, James Robertson & Sons, Preserve Manufacturers, Limited was incorporated to run the business. The famous Robertson's
Golliwog The golliwog, also spelled golliwogg or shortened to golly, is a doll-like character, created by cartoonist and author Florence Kate Upton, which appeared in children's books in the late 19th century, usually depicted as a type of rag doll. I ...
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 Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. 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 (1859–1937) 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 George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...
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 In ...
and also by Queen Elizabeth. John's eldest son David (b. 1893) took over the chairmanship on his death. 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 Catford factory was closed in 1970, and the Paisley factory closed in 1974, and is now a housing estate, St. Andrew's Court, with the street itself named Robertson's Gait. In 1981 the loss-making company was bought by Avana Foods, who also closed the Bristol factory, concentrating production in Droylsden. The brand was owned by Rank Hovis McDougall from 1987, alongside premium brand
Frank Cooper's Frank Cooper's is a British brand of marmalades and jams owned by Hain Daniels. Frank Cooper's is known primarily for its "Oxford" Marmalade and holds a Royal Warrant. The brand was created by Sarah Cooper in 1874 and as of 2012 is a brand ...
, prior to the purchase of the entire RHM business by
Premier Foods Premier Foods plc is a British food manufacturer headquartered in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The group owns many well-known brands, including Mr Kipling, Ambrosia (food), Ambrosia, Bird's Custard, Angel Delight, Homepride cooking sauces, J. Lyons ...
in 2007. Shortly after the takeover 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 Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...
and Droylsden by the end of the year, with the group's UK jam production all concentrated on
Hartley's Hartley's is a British brand of marmalades, jams and jellies. Founded by Sir William Hartley in 1871, Hartley's products are manufactured at Histon, Cambridgeshire, England. The brand was formerly owned by Premier Foods, until it was sold a ...
plant at
Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which runs eas ...
,
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...
. 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 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 Hartley's is a British brand of marmalades, jams and jellies. Founded by Sir William Hartley in 1871, Hartley's products are manufactured at Histon, Cambridgeshire, England. The brand was formerly owned by Premier Foods, until it was sold a ...
name was concentrated on the jam range. In 2012, Premier Foods sold its sweet spreads and jellies business to US multi-national
Hain Celestial Group The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. is an international food and personal-care company based in the United States. Its products include natural foods and organic personal-care items. Founded in 1993 as Hain Food Group, it changed its name to Hain Cele ...
for £200 million. 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).


Main products

* "Golden Shred" – a traditional orange marmalade made from bitter Seville oranges, coming in thick cut, thin cut and shredless ("Golden Shredless") * "Silver Shred" – a lemon marmalade launched in 1909 * "Mincemeat" – a traditional Scottish style
mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped apples and dried fruit, distilled spirits or vinegar, spices, and optionally, meat and beef suet. Mincemeat is usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Traditional mincemeat recipes contain meat, notably beef ...
made from raisins, peel, sugar and beef suet * "
Bramble ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. I ...
Jelly" – a traditional Scottish style jam, strained of its seeds


Marketing


Golly branding

Just before
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, 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 The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, England, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of 19,000 in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses involved in the ...
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 A brooch (, ) is a decorative jewellery item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gem ...
-based collector series, by the early 1930s the Golly had appeared in little fruit designs, many of which were worn as
jewellery Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...
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 The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...
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, 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 insisted that they did not retire the Golly because of the pressure of
political correctness "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...
in the 1990s, but simply for commercial reasons. The brand director at Robertson's commented:


Sponsorship

In the 1970s, Robertsons sponsored Clare Francis 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 author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...
-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 l ...
. These included the Big Friendly Giant, 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 proprieto ...
. This collectables scheme ended in 2006.


Paddington Bear

In 2010, Robertson's featured the fictional
Paddington Bear Paddington Bear (though his name is just Paddington; the "Bear" simply serves to confirm his species; and also known as Paddington Brown for some sources) is a fictional character in British children's literature. He first appeared on 13 October ...
, 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''.


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 Premier Foods brands Companies established in 1864 Marmalade Food brands of the United Kingdom British royal warrant holders Race-related controversies in advertising and marketing