A. Robertson's will be issuing no more Golly brooches, nor giving approval for any more to be made by anybody else. The final one to be made with their approval was Sara's Badge which continues to be available through 2004. Robertson's have replaced the Golly scheme with a Roald Dahl scheme and this site will carry News of any issues which are planned.

• Join one or more of the Golly Clubs
• Use one or more of the on-line auctions
• Join one or more of the Yahoo! groups
• Your local newspapers. Try requesting items or just looking for sales/wanted ads.
• Attend a swapmeet. Details can be found on the What's On section.

Q. Before August 2001, I saw James Robertson and Sons products outside the UK, but they did not have a Golly token on them. Why was this?

A. James Robertson and Sons only ever used the Golly image in some parts of the world including the U.K. and Australia but not the U.S.A. nor Canada. Hong Kong used the Golly image up until recently, however, since its return to China, the Golly image was removed from the jars. Merchandise was only shipped within the UK from James Robertson & Sons, or within Australia from Riviana, therefore the tokens have no purpose in other countries.(Thanks to Jan Ross for the update on Hong Kong)

A. In August 2002, Riviana confirmed they had no more Golly badges or other merchandise available. Riviana Foods are the Australian distributers of Robertson's jam. Some work has been done in determining which number Gold Farewell and Santa & Rudolph badges were issued in Australia. They now run the Roald Dahl badge scheme in place of the Golly scheme.

• Brooch Box
  As sold by Robertson's. This was made of cardboard and opened out like a book. The inside was covered in black felt. This was withdrawn in the late 1980s as it proved impractical to send through the post, often getting crushed.
• Golly Scroll
  As sold by Robertson's. It is made of red felt with a green border, has a cord for wall hanging and a 'Golly Brooch Collection' title with the Golly logo. This was first advertised in the 1993/94 leaflet for £2.89. By the time the 1996 leaflet was issued it was no longer being promoted. In 1998 stocks were dwindling. There was a possibility that they would use this as an opportunity to design an alternative but we were told there was no hope of a wooden cabinet as that would be too costly. However, in October 2000, it was promoted once again in the Gollympic leaflet, this time at the reduced price of £2.
• Wooden framed glass fronted display cabinet
  I have heard of these being made by collectors. I believe they can also be bought already made.
• Printers Tray
  An ingenious idea one collector has used is to mount an old printer tray on the wall, put pads inside with felt on top and a Perspex cover.

(Ingenious Collector – Mike Howell)

• Home made
  Another resourceful collector has come up with the idea of covering a piece of polystyrene foam with velvet and then stuck pins into it.
• How jewelers do it
  I have questioned jewelers' shops about displaying brooches. They take a piece of thick card and glue foam to the one side. They then cover the whole thing with velvet. The brooches are then pinned into the velvet-covered foam.
• In a Picture Frame
  1. Materials
     Felt for background, picture frame (available in hardware stores, supermarkets, Boots, etc)
  2. Tools
     Drill, scissors, pen
  3. Method
     Dismantle picture frame, make holes in backing board for golly pins to sit in (allowing golly to lie flat), cover board with felt, position gollies over the holes, re-assemble.
     1. Unfasten picture frame as per instructions supplied with it.
     2. Lay out gollies face up on the backing board, position as desired for best display. Because of the pin, they will not lie flat but will be tilted to one side.
     3. Mark position of the pin on backing board (hold golly tilted with fingertip, run pen along the pin & round ends – this does not have to be dead accurate, the position can be adjusted when making the hole).
     4. Drill out the marked pin area: drill a hole at each end then drill out holes in between and join holes together by pressing the drill against the gap in between.
     5. Check golly will lie flat in the desired position. Enlarge hole as required to achieve this. The hole need not be a neat fit, it will have to accommodate the felt as well (see below).
     6. After making holes for all the gollies, cut a piece of felt about 2" longer & wider than the backing board to use as background. Lay across the board overlapping the edges evenly all round.
     7. Position all the gollies over the holes to make up the display. Carefully place the glass on top and press down. Carefully press the frame surround into position around the display; the overlapping edges of the felt will protrude through the back.
     8. Make any final adjustments from behind the display by tweaking the pins (the felt will stretch a little) and gently tugging the edges of the felt.
     9. Re-fasten the frame as per instructions supplied with it.
     10. Place on parlour wall / on top of grand piano / amongst valuable heirlooms, assume smug expression and await gasps of "gosh they're cute / how ever did you do that / I had one once but my baby brother swallowed it / etc"
  (Instructions, idea and humour courtesy of the one and only Golux – thanks Golux!)
  
• Using the Golly tea towel
  This involves taking the golly tea towel, two pieces of wooden dowel and sewing a flap over at the top and bottom of the tea towel so as to make a "tube" for each dowel to fit. Then, screw eyes or hooks into each end of the top dowel and tie with cord or chain and hang. The weight of the bottom dowel should keep the towel flat. Then one can pin the badges to the towel.
  (Instructions and idea generously donated by Stephen Senior)
• Pin's Tableau
  Safe Albums have a subsidiary in the UK. They don't have everything on their web site but they will send you a catalogue on request. Roy Brown ordered a Pin's Tableau (tray with felt lining in a hard plastic see-through cover) from their catalogue through the company in Germany which he says "I find excellent for displaying my brooches. It also gives full protection". They also have a wooden cabinet with 6 trays which has a lock.
  (Information thanks to Roy Brown – our man in Germany!)
• Collector's Album
  Dave Delo uses the WH Smiths Collector's albums with the large coin inserts. The albums are about £7 each and the large coin inserts are about £3 for 4 sleeves. Each sleeve has 4 rows each containing 4 coin pockets, and the pockets are big enough to hold even the 1993/1994 brooches. As they are transparent, you can quite easily view the backstamp simply by turning the page.(Thanks to Dave Delo – prices circa June 2001)
• GollyBC Discussion
  This discussion has also been continued on GollyBC and is accessible to members.

A. If you have ordered anything from Robertson's lately you should have had a delivery note document with it. On it there is a box headed 'Customer No'. The number in this box is your customer number and the one you should quote when ordering. It is also printed on the address label of any goods you receive from them. Unless you are intending to collect the new Roald Dahl brooches, it seems likely that the customer number is of little value anymore to the Golly brooch collector.

Q. What is the best way of expanding/starting my own Robertson's Golly brooch collection?

A. My recommendations are: –

1. Colin Dodds' books and CD guide are excellent reads and will give you a great insight into what is available to collect – variations and all! It will also help you spot genuine Robertson's brooches.
2. If it is important to you that your badges retain their value, always try and ensure you buy genuine Robertson's badges in the best condition that you can find and/or afford.
3. eBay is accessible and easy to use. It is a great source of Golly Badges. Make sure you study the going price for the badges you are after before you start bidding for badges. There is a helpful link to eBay from the Related Sites section which focus' on Golly Badges. Make sure you know what you're buying and remember that convenience can come at a price! Also make sure you study the rating of the seller before you buy from them.
4. To look for second hand Golly brooches join the Badge Collectors Circle. They have lots of second hand brooches. Also there is a very good swapmeet they hold at Quorn in October each year which is a great opportunity to see badges in the metal rather than just seeing them on-line.
5. There is a very successful on-line Yahoo! Group called GollyBCII which is well worth joining – it's free! As well as trading between members via the Internet, there are opportunities to meet your fellow members and swap in person via the Sunday Lunch Club.
6. If you are just starting a collection I would recommend starting with the cheaper/more common badges e.g. the later sets that Robertson's issued. It will give you a chance to practise the points above before going for the rarer badges. It is less costly to make a mistake on the cheaper badges!

Q. How do I know what is a fair price to expect to pay for/sell a brooch?

A. Pricing second hand brooches is not that simple – they do not have a fixed price. People are prepared to pay different prices depending on how much they want a brooch. I try not to discuss prices as brooches are far too expensive and dealers are the only ones that benefit from setting price expectations. Once a price is declared – no one is going to sell one for less. However, one thing I can tell you from monitoring auctions is that there can be a 100% variation from one month to the next – who says what price is right? The only reasonable route is to monitor prices (via postal auctions if necessary or ebay) yourself and pay what a badge is worth to you.

Q. How do Centura and RHM relate to Robertson's?

A. Robertson's were owned by Tomkins up until August 2000. The Tomkins Group wished to concentrate on their engineering interests and so formed Doughty Hanson & Co in August 2000. RHM Europe is divided into several sections of which Centura foods is one. It is Centura foods that Robertson's belong to and appear on their compliments slips.
(Thanks to Ruth Doyle for spotting the sale of RHM Europe to Doughty Hanson & Co)

Q. I own some Jelly Baby badges. Are they a full set and how do they relate to Robertson's.

A. The Jelly Babies were issued by Robertson's in conjunction with Trebor Bassett in 1993. The badges had to be ordered from Robertson's. Basset made a jam called, "Bassett's Jelly Babies Baby Bigheart's Blackcurrant Pure Fruit Seedless Jam".

The characters are called:-

• Baby Brilliant (brown with a B on the chest)
• Baby Bigheart (green, both fists clenched against the chest)
• Baby Bubbles (yellow)
• Baby Boofuls (green, sitting with legs apart and crying!)
• Baby Bumper (orange)
• Baby Bonny (pink/brown, crawling on all fours with bonnet on)

Q. I have a "Sweet Nell" badge. Was this issued by Robertson's?

A. No, it was issued by a competitor. Several other producers of jam and marmalades issued enamel brooches. 'Sweet Nell' was used by Nell Gwynne Marmalade in an attempt to compete with Robertson's Golden Shred, which reportedly had more than 50% of the marmalade market at that time. The Owners of Nell Gwynne, Crosbies Preserving Company, were bought out by Robertson's in 1965.

Additional GollyBC Discussions

There are also some additional discussions from GollyBC members which are worth reading.

Q. Should Golly brooches be left in their bags?
A. GollyBC discussion.

Q. Should Golly brooches be cleaned?
A. GollyBC discussion.

Q. How can I get insurance for my collection?
A. GollyBC discussion.

Offer Application Address (U.K.)

	Usual Address
	Golly Promotions Unit
	James Robertson & Sons
	Fitzroy Street
	Manchester
	M43 6DR

S I T E    M A P

Golly Corner: F.A.Q. / revised May 2012

Photographs & Text Copyright Liz Prigg © 1998–2012