Research
The history of the Robertson’s Golly has been extensively investigated since the 1980’s and the vast majority of items have now been catalogued in the Golly Checklist, which is widely recognised as the authoritative guide to all items connected to the Robertson’s Golly.
These range from the scarcest prototypes of which only a single example is known to exist, to items which were produced in their tens of thousands. Many were made in connection with the badge collecting scheme whilst others were produced for a particular audience such as the crew of the minesweeper HMS Crichton or Robertson’s own sales reps. The Checklist has been produced with the help of some of the world’s leading collectors – too numerous to mention individually – and the work is still ongoing. Despite significant research we don’t claim to know everything about the Robertson’s Golly.
Robertson’s retained their famous mascot for over 80 years and sold their products as far afield as Australia and Malaysia so it’s not surprising that there are still unrecorded items out there and we are always happy to hear from collectors and answer additional queries (although regrettably we are unable to offer a valuation service).
Get Involved
In the course of our research we often encounter items which pose more questions than they answer. The team behind the Golly Checklist maintain a list of active research topics which they intend to investigate in future time permitting or when additional items are found which provide some of the answers.
We make no secret of these topics which are all in the Research Log below. Additional detail are in the individual Research Notes. Click on the arrows next to each topic to download. We encourage anyone who wishes play an active part in the development of the Golly Checklist to undertake and submit their own research in these areas or suggest new topics to be added.
To suggest a new research topic please contact us
Report an Item
You, the collector, can help by reporting anything you feel needs to be added or amended using the form below. A photograph or digital image is vital to really see what is being described. Please supply clear images of front and reverse of all items.