Robertson's

Robertson's is a UK 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 among other products.

This article is about the British marmalade and jam company. For Robertson's (disambiguation), see Robertson's (disambiguation).
Robertson's
Product typeFood
OwnerHain Celestial Group
CountryUnited Kingdom
Introduced1864
Previous ownersRank Hovis McDougall
Premier Foods
Websitewww.robertsons.co.uk
Robertson's Jam Factory in Droylsden
James Robertson founder of Golden Shred circa 1890

History

James Robertson of Paisley, Renfrewshire, 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.[1]

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 later perfected. 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 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.[2] 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 were soon added to the range.

In 1891 the company built a second English-based factory to meet southern demand, at Droylsden, Manchester.[2][3] 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 politically incorrect at the time) appeared in 1910 after a trip to the USA to set up a plant in Boston. His son John brought 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 and also by the present Queen Elizabeth.[3]

The marmalade was sold in an opaque earthenware jar until the 1930s and only then was it placed in glass jars. It received Royal warrant of appointment from King George V in 1933.[4]

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 and Droylsden by the end of the year, with the group's UK jam production all concentrated on Hartley's plant at Histon, Cambridgeshire.[3] 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.[3][5]

In 2012, Premier Foods sold its sweet spreads and jellies business to US multi-national Hain Celestial for £200m.[6] 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.[7]

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 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" (the name being the children's interpretation of doll), he thought it would make an ideal mascot and trade mark for the Robertson's range of products.[8] 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.[3]

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 the present day 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.[9]

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[10]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.[3]

Sponsorship

In the 1970's, 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.[11]

Discontinuation of Golly

Robertson's officially 'retired' Golly in 2002. The company had found that Golly was, on the whole, no longer popular with the children of families, 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 in the 1990s, but simply for commercial reasons.[3] The brand director at Robertson's commented:[12]

We are retiring Golly because we found families with kids no longer necessarily knew about him. We are not bowing to political correctness, but like with any great make we have to move with the times

World of Roald Dahl

In 2001, the Golly collectables were replaced by seven Roald Dahl-created characters,[3] as illustrated by Quentin Blake. These included the Big Friendly Giant, Matilda, James and the Giant Peach, and Willy Wonka. This collectables scheme ended in 2006.

Paddington Bear

In 2014, Robertson's started a sponsorship deal tied-in to the Paddington movie, including a limited edition version of Golden Shred. [13]. The partnership was continued for the sequel, Paddington 2.

gollark: Oh, wait, we could just actually use rails *and* ice maybe?
gollark: Well, I can construct them *eventually*. And we could use tunnel boring machines, but then someone would have to clear up the rails.
gollark: (well, packed ice)
gollark: With ice. We wanted a cool name.
gollark: Through the Nether.

References
  1. Made in Scotland, Carol Foreman
  2. "The Old Jam Factory". WillIam McDonald. Archived from the original on 2013-11-05. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  3. "Robertsons Jam to disappear". The Daily Telegraph. 7 December 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  4. Made in Scotland, Carol Foreman
  5. "Mark Ritson on Branding: Premier gets out of a jam". Marketing Magazine. Brand Republic. 9 December 2008.
  6. "Premier Foods 'in sticky situation' after jam sale to Hain Celestial". foodmanufacture.co.uk. William Reed Business Media. 23 August 2012. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  7. http://letslookagain.com/tag/history-of-robertsons-jam/
  8. Marcus Dunk, Updated: 5 February 2009- "How the golliwog went from innocent children's hero to symbol of bitter controversy" Archived 12 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine ...in 1910, John Robertson of jam manufacturing family James Robertson & Sons saw some children playing with a golliwog doll and decided it should be the company's mascot. at dailymail.co.uk, accessed 5 April 2018
  9. "Robertson's golliwogs". Revealing Histories: Remembering Slavery. Revealing Histories. Archived from the original on 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  10. "Here Comes Golly". Biblio.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 November 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  11. Lively Lady: What goes around, comes around, again. "Robertson’s G" (the story of the yacht) Archived 2018-04-13 at the Wayback Machine at livelylady.org, accessed 12 April 2018
  12. "Robertson's Golly retires" Eurofood 30 August 2001
  13. Weston, Shaun. "Robertson's limited edition Paddington Bear Golden Shred marmalade". FoodBev. FoodBev Media. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
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