to the official website of the Golly Checklist, the established collector’s guide to all Robertson’s Golly material.

Since its introduction in 1991 the Golly Checklist has been the gold standard by which to identify and record your golly collection. Despite the lack of accurate records at Robertson’s, the vast majority of the history of the Robertson’s Golly has now been pieced together and is available for collectors to enjoy in a range of formats exclusively from our online shop.

Over 30 years of meticulous research has made the current Checklist more complete than ever, but such was the scale of the marketing by Robertson’s that previously unknown items still regularly turn up. The research area is the page to get involved, report new items and see what areas are currently being investigated.

Research is performed by a small group of experts in each area of the hobby who are always glad to hear from people who may have any new discoveries.  

Happy hunting

The Golly Guide by Colin Dodds is the recognized authority on all genuine Robertson’s Golly related material with details on thousands of items covering badges, pendants, adverts, shops display items, tableware, games, puzzles, figurines, jeans patches, key rings, school equipment, clothing, jar lids, signs, tokens and much, much more.

For those new to the hobby, the Guide contains advice on what to look out for, how to take care of your collection and how to avoid the reproductions. High-quality enlarged images make it easy to identify each item and a grading system for the badges is also included which gives useful advice on rarity.  

Please note that although some of the rare collectors items can be  very valuable, you will find no price list in any of our material. This is a deliberate policy: such a list would be out of date almost immediately and all dealers would use it regardless of condition. A badge in mint condition will always be more desirable than the same badge with chipped or missing enamel. Over time you will quickly build up a good idea of what each item is worth from own research.

The World’s Most Successful Mascot

The UK preserve manufacturer – James Robertson & Sons – was founded in 1864 and adopted the ‘golly’ image as their mascot early in the twentieth century. In the 1920’s a badge-collecting scheme was introduced that quickly became a marketing phenomenon and within a few decades the company was the largest preserve manufacturer in the world.

At the height of their popularity the company had annual sales of jams and marmalades in the tens of millions of jars, and besides badges their marketing machine turned out thousands of promotional items that helped maintain this success for over 80 years. The Robertson’s Golly was always given a bright and cheerful appearance indulging in various sporting, musical or general past times, as such they make wonderful display items and have a wide appeal amongst devoted collectors across the world.

The iconic status of the Robertson’s Golly means that genuine items are always very popular. Although Robertson’s were aware of this appeal they were in the business of selling jam, and so accurate records were not kept. This task was left to their devoted army of collectors – which was led by the leading authority on the Robertson’s Golly, Colin Dodds. 

The Robertson’s Golly - the most successful mascot the world has ever seen!