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2007-2024
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Miscellaneous Items
As well as the Guinness Book of Records and associated publications,
collectors are often interested in related paraphernalia. We have (or
know of) many such items, so we'll exhibit a few on this page if there
is no natural place for them elsewhere on our site.
TV Shows
We have very few items
in our collection from the many Guinness World Records TV spectaculars
that have been broadcast in various countries around the world. One item
of interest:
1979: Entrance
ticket for "The New and Spectacular Guinness Book of World Records
Television Special" filmed at California State University for ABC Television
in April 1979
Christmas Cards
As far as we know,
Guinness Superlatives sent Christmas cards to contributors, collectors
and others every year. We have a few of these, the best of which are the
following:
1975:
"Guinness Superlatives Limited wishes you the Happiest Merriest
Whitest Brightest Greatest Christmas"
Our
card is signed by David Hoy and Norris (McWhirter).
1979: "The 12 Days of Christmas (And where to read about
them)"
Our card is signed by Beátrice (Frei), Alex Reid, Peter Matthews and
Norris (McWhirter).
The front of the card has the classic 12 Days of Christmas, and the
books mentioned are: "Guinness Guide to Steeplechasing", "Winners
and Champions", "Music Facts & Feats", "British Hit Singles",
"Guinness Book of Records", "Guide to Waterways", "French Country
Cooking", "Book of Antiques", "Animal Facts & Feats" and "Guide to
Field Sports".
2014: "Celebrating 60 Years" (Will 2015 be a
record-breaking year for you?)
Directors' Special Editions
Thanks to Iain McWhirter and Gordon Nutbrown, we have discovered that
Guinness Superlatives produced specially bound editions for the
directors of Guinness Superlatives, Redwood Press and Redwood Burn
between the 15th edition in 1968 and the 28th edition in 1981. The
images below show the editions that we know were produced, and are
undoubtedly (with provenance) very rare bindings.
Guinness World of Records
In June 1984, the Guinness World of Records exhibition opened at the
Trocadero in Piccadilly, London. The exhibition was one of a number of
similar shows around the world and, as well as featuring world records,
included a section dedicated to British achievements. When it opened,
entry was £2.50 for adults and £1.50 for children though additional
revenue was, of course, brought in by selling promotional items and
books in the exhibition shop.
As well as a number of souvenir brochures from the exhibition (1984,
1987,
1989
and 1993)
we have some related items:
Prior
to its opening in 1984, pre-opening leaflets (right) were
distributed to advertise the exhibition. They used the slogan, "You've
read the book - now visit the show!" and listed the various
sections which visitors would see:
The Human World, The Animal World, Our Planet Earth,
Structures and Machines,
Sports World, World of Entertainment and British
Innovation and Achievement.
The leaflet pictured far left is believed to date from around 1990,
whilst the leaflet near left is from 1988.
A preview tour and buffet lunch for invited guests took place on
Tuesday 12th June, 1984. At this launch party, guests were given a
Guinness Medal (below) which says, "To Mark the Opening of
Guinness World of Records, Trocadero, Piccadilly, London,1984".
The standard medals (below, right) are the adult and child medals
available after the opening.
A
window sticker ("I have entered the ... Guinness World of Records")
was also presented:
We also have a money-off voucher (below), which was given out with
the original press releases in 1984, and a London Underground
Journey planner from mid-1989 [689/41423/1000M(7403A)]
(right) advertising the exhibition.
Another unusual advertising piece in our collection is a 61cm by
28cm poster from the London Transport Authority, probably dating
from the late 1980s.
Such exhibitions offered visitors the opportunity to buy badges,
medals, patches, spoons, bookmarks, glasses, paperweights and other
souvenirs; we'll feature a selection of these as we come across
them:
(Mug) |
(Paperweight) |
(Bag keyring) |
(Bag keyring) |
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(Postcard) |
(Tea Towel) |
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(Erasers) |
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Guinness World Records
Experience, Orlando
Guinness World Records
Experience Thimble |
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Beer Mat |
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Guinness Bank of Knowledge
In
the late 1970s (possibly 1978), Guinness Superlatives started a
reference service in conjunction with James Service Limited. Entitled
"The Guinness Bank of Knowledge", the service offered a telephone
information line for journalists from "newspapers, magazines, radio and
television". A call to the service would put the journalist in touch
with an expert who would draw on his knowledge (and information from the
Guinness Book of Records and the
Guinness Book
of Answers) to answer questions in 34 subject areas. It appeared
that many of the experts were, in fact, the authors of the Guinness
Facts & Feats series of books.
Other Media
Whilst Guinness Records are mostly associated with the series of records
books, over the years a number of records-related products have been
produced in other media. Of course, there have been many TV shows (and
the famous World Records exhibitions), but there are a number of
consumer products worth collecting if you come across them.
Video:
Several video cassettes showcased some Guinness records, such
as: "The Guinness Video of Records" (left) from Virgin Vision in
1988/1989 (VVD 429); "David Frost presents The Best of The
Guinness Book of Records Volume 1" (right) from Guinness Books
and the Daily Mail in 1986; and "Guinness Book of World Records"
(far right) from VidAmerica, Inc. in 1985 (VidAmerica #7066).
Other videos contained footage from shows such as the UK's BBC
Record Breakers series with Roy Castle (BBCV 5487, 1994).
CD-ROM:
A number of CD-ROMs entitled "The Guinness Disc of Records" were
produced for a variety of platforms from around 1990 onwards.
The copy pictured left is the 1991 DOS Edition for PCs. It was
published by UniDisc, Inc. and distributed by Britannica
Software, Inc. The copy on the right was distributed by
Compton's New Media for the Macintosh SE in 1990 or 1991. The
copy far right is the second edition produced for the Commodore
Amiga in 1993.
CDTV:
Another variant of the CD-ROM editions was the Guinness CDTV
Book of Records, produced by Commodore in the 1990s. The copy
pictured left is the first edition from 1991.
CD-ROM:
In the 1990s, Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. produced the
Guinness Multimedia Disc of Records. The 1993 MS-DOS edition is
pictured left. The "big box" edition
(1994, right) came with a special
Grolier copy of the Bantam 1994 Guinness Book of Records.
The 1993, 1994 Macintosh, 1995 German Macintosh and 1996 editions are shown
below.
DVD:
In 2004, a 2-disc interactive DVD game was produced by Zoo
Digital Publishing to celebrate the "50th Anniversary" of the
book.
VideoNow
PVD:
From 2005, a Hasbro (Tiger Electronics) personal video disc.
Nintendo
- Guinness World Records the Videogame: In 2008, a
collection of 36 mini-games was produced by TT Games Publishing Ltd and
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the Nintendo Wii
(left) and the Nintendo DS (below). We have English, German and French versions for the DS.
We also have a promotional poster for the Videogame.
View-Master
3D: With the assistance of Sterling Publishing, GAF
Corporation produced a three-reel View-Master "Guinness Book of
Records" set in 1978 (Packet J24, left). The pack contained a
small 16-page booklet with photographs, additional information
and a brief quiz.
Cassette
Tapes: In 1979, Ivan Berg Associates (Audio Publishing)
Limited produced two Mindbender Quiz audio cassettes (GC1),
based on the
1980 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. The cassettes
came in a 171x122mm box with a small instruction sheet. Each
game was introduced and explained by Norris McWhirter.
8-track
Cartridge: An audio tape (for the 2-XL robot) produced for
Mego Corp., New York, N.Y. 10010 (© Sterling Publishing Co.,
1978).
What was the longest frankfurter ever made? Who was the
shortest woman who ever lived? What is the world's hopscotch
record? Hundreds of challenging questions from the "Guinness
Book of World Records" for hours of fun.
Film:
At least 3 reels of Super 8mm film ("Guinness Book Of World
Records") were produced in the 1970s. The films included "unique
motion pictures of World record human achievements in sports,
nature, science!". Our copy is Volume 1 produced
by Big Fights Inc. Home Movie in 1977.
Stage:
In early 2003, Guinness World Records and M4 Entertainment Ltd.
presented the Officially Amazing Science Live! theatre
show. Sadly, the show - which was scheduled for 47 venues across
the UK - closed before the end of its tour.
Beer Mats
Collectors of beer mats (tegestologists) have a wide range of
Guinness beer mats to collect. In the early 1960s, Guinness produced
some beer mats celebrating "5 Million Guinness daily" and "Guinness
- Him Strong", which had records from the Guinness Book of Records
on the reverse.
We also have a later beer mat - "Guinness The record breaker" -
with a set of 12 questions on the reverse and the hint, "You'll find the
answers in the Guinness Book of Records".
A series of 10 beer mats advertising the 1982 German edition had world
record questions on the reverse, together with the number of the page in
the book where the answer could be found:
We also have a beer mat from 1996 advertising the chance to win a copy
of the
1997 German edition.
Placemat
A rather unusual (and rare) paper placemat from
1967/68, printed by Brady, Walters ^ Co., Ltd., Marlborough Road, London
N.19:
Stamps and First Day Covers
A number of stamps - and first day covers - related to the Guinness Book
of Records (and to records themselves) have been produced over the
years. We have a selection of these and there are others available, so
this is an interesting part of collecting record-related items:
1974 -
First Day Cover
depicting the record for "the shortest scheduled flight"
from the 21st Edition.
Flown in BN 2A Islander G-AWNR
From Westray to Papa Westwray (sic)
Loganair flight No. LC 501
Flight time: 69 seconds
Pilot: Capt. Andy Alsop
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1990 - First Day Cover
from Russia depicting the 1988 Guinness Book of Records (the
first year that the book was published in Russia). |
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1996 - First Day Cover
from Switzerland dated June 27th 1996, celebrating a record
set on 22nd June for the "largest living stamp". |
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1996 - A different
First Day Cover from Switzerland dated June 27th 1996, with
additional record information. |
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1996 - A postcard from
Switzerland dated June 22nd 1996, again stamped on 27th
June. |
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1996 - An oversize
First Day Cover from Switzerland dated June 27th 1996, with
a block of four stamps celebrating the record set that day
for the "largest living stamp". |
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1996 - Special card
from Switzerland commemorating the same event as the first
day covers above. |
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1997 - First Day Cover
from New Zealand dated 12th October 1997, celebrating the
"World's Most Southern Winery". |
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2001 - Miniature sheet
with a Gibraltar stamp celebrating the Queen's 75th birthday
(issued 12th November 2001) |
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2002 - "Reptiles"
miniature sheet from the British Virgin Islands (issued June
17th 2002). |
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2002 - Miniature sheet
from the British Virgin Islands - "Smallest Lizard". |
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2002 - "Mammals"
miniature sheet from South Georgia and the South Sandwich
Islands. |
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2002 - Miniature sheet
from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands - "Largest
live Pinniped". |
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2002 - "Planet Earth"
miniature sheet from Tristan da Cunha (Longest reef, biggest
island, biggest desert, longest rivers, highest mountain and
most remote inhabited island). |
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2002 - Miniature sheet
from Tristan da Cunha - the "World's most remote inhabited
island". |
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2007 - First Day Cover
from New Zealand dated 10th October 2007, again celebrating
the "World's Most Southern Winery". |
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2007 - Two sheets of
stamps from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
commemorating the 2007 Guinness Record for the mass games
(Arirang) at the May Day Stadium. The stamps are believed
to represent:
Prelude (Arirang), Chapter 1 (Arirang Nation), Chapter 2
(Songun Arirang), Chapter 3 (Arirang of Happiness), Chapter
4 (Arirang of National Reunification) and Finale (Arirang of
Prosperous and Powerful Nation). |
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2008 - Sheet produced
for the "fastest printing of a postage stamp" on 29th June,
2008 by the Austrian postal service (UEFA Euro 2008
Championship). |
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2010 - Two sheets
produced to celebrate the "Splendid Peonies most stamps in
one series" record. The record was confirmed at the Luoyang
Peony Festival in Luoyang City, Henan Province, China on
10th April, 2010. We have 2 different 5x2 sheets and 17
different 4x4 sheets. |
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2014 - Togo Republic
Billy Karam "Record du Monde Guinness" miniature sheet |
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2014 - Togo Republic.
Billy Karam "Record du Monde Guinness" miniature sheet |
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2014 - A Gaza Post
Office stamp (miniature sheet) from November 2014
celebrating the record (now surpassed) for "The most
people running 100 metres in a 12 hour relay". |
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2017 - Sierra Leone.
Billy Karam "Guinness World Record holder for the largest
collection of model cars and dioramas" miniature sheet |
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Other Items
Throughout its history, Guinness has been extremely good at marketing
its products, both for itself or in association with others. Guinness
Superlatives, and latterly Guinness World Records, have also been very
active in this area. We have accumulated a few items produced for
promotional purposes, and some of these will be documented here.
Le Livre des
Records Playing Cards - produced by Lacroix Associates
(Quebec) to advertise Gros Gin Geneva "As de Pique" ("Ace of
Spades"). Each card has a recipe for a Gin-based cocktail
and a record from the Denoël Livre des Records. Date
unknown, but the records appear to be from the
1975 edition. |
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Guinness Books
- badge showing the original logo of Guinness books, so
pre-1986. |
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Guinness World
Records Ladies' Watch - a wristwatch, presumably from
the early 1980s, with the Guinness Records logo on the case.
The case also says, "Water Resistant. Base Metal Bezel.
Stainless Steel Back. GS 11. Japan." The face has the code
"WM911".
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Guinness Book of
World Records 1957 - 1997 - enamel badge of unknown
origin. The badge shows the cover of the
36th
US Edition from 1996. |
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Guinness World
Records Globe - number of globes were produced by
Guinness World Records for different markets. We know of
globes for the USA, UK and elsewhere. Ours is a 12" globe,
produced for the UK by Tecnodidattica Ligure S.p.A. in Italy
(date unknown). |
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Mouse Mat
- Guinness World Records Mouse Mat The World's Largest
Hand. |
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Aufsesser
Premium Bier - Model MAN truck (Grell Werbemittel,
Bielefeld) with Guinness World Records 2001 logo. |
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Brauerei
Reichold - Limited edition model Scania truck (No. 8 by
Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld) with Guinness World Records
2001 logo. |
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Brauerei
Stadter - Limited edition model truck by Grell
Werbemittel, Bielefeld, with Guinness World Records 2001
logo. |
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Guinness World
Records Yo-Yo - free when a copy of the 2002 edition was
purchased from WHSmith. |
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Brauerei
Stadter - Limited edition Scania model truck by Grell
Werbemittel, Bielefeld, with Guinness World Records 2001
logo. |
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Brauerei Reichold -
Model Magirus Sirius truck (No. 46 by Grell Werbemittel,
Bielefeld) with Guinness World Records 2004 logo. |
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Brauerei Reichold -
Model Faun L8 truck (No. 49 by Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld)
with Guinness World Records 2004 book. |
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Bedlam Cube
- Guinness World Records Day, 9th November 2006. Danny
Bamping assembled the 13-piece Bedlam Cube puzzle in 11.03
seconds. |
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Guinness
World Records Der Kalender 2008
Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN: 978-3-411-12578-4 |
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Guinness
World Records SchülerKalender 2009/2010
Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN: 978-3-411-14086-2 |
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Guinness World
Records Yo-Yo - from late 2009 or early 2010. |
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Guinness World
Records Birthday Card - produced by Marks and Spencer
plc in 2010. |
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Guinness World
Records 5-disc DVD set - produced by Crest Media
in Spain in 2010. |
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Guinness World
Records Unleashed Promotional DVD - produced by truTV in
2013. |
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Guinness
World Records - "Officially Amazing" Moleskin Notebook
(2014) |
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Guinness
World Records - The Power of Japan (Japanese) Amazon
Japan print-on-demand edition 2014 (ISBN: 978-4-7771-2620-0) |
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Guinness
World Records 2015 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2014). 185x140mm. ISBN:
8009117798079. |
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Guinness
World Records 2016 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2015). 185x140mm. ISBN:
8009117860127. We also have a
copy with an alternative cover (far right). ISBN:
8009117854218. |
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Guinness
World Records 2017 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2016). 185x140mm. ISBN:
8009117890308 |
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Guinness
World Records 2019 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2018). 185x140mm. ISBN:
8009117958169 |
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Guinness
World Records 2019 Goody Bag In 2018, Guinness World
Records produced a Goody Bag for special gifts and
promotions. Our bag contains copies of the three 2019 books
(signed by their respective editors), an "Officially
Amazing" notebook, a "Big Dreams" notebook, a poster, a
bookmark, a set of coloured pencils, a power bank and a
phone pop socket. |
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Guinness
World Records 2020 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2019). 185x140mm. ISBN:
8009117987565 |
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Guinness
World Records 2022 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2021). 185x140mm. ISBN:
8058263073745 |
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Guinness
World Records 2022 Audiobook (German) Published by
Igel Records. Four CD audiobook with 500 records from the
2020 book read by Cathlen Gawlich and Arndt Schmöle. ISBN:
978-3-7313-1304-5 |
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Guinness
World Records 5 Metre Measuring Tape We have what
appears to be an official Guinness World Records measuring
tape, which comes in a plain white cardboard box. We also
have an A4 clipboard which we believe to be an official
adjudicator's item |
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Guinness
World Records business card holder Another interesting
item is this metal business card holder, produced for Guinness World
Records representatives. |
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Guinness
World Records 2023 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2022). 185x140mm. ISBN:
80582631125352 |
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Guinness
World Records 2023 Postcard A 148x210mm postcard of
the artwork for the 2023 edition. |
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Guinness
World Records 2024 Notebook A 210x148mm notebook with
52 lined pages. |
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Kids Set a
Record! Leaflet A leaflet promoting record attempts
for "most times to hit a target with a paper aircraft in
three minutes". |
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Guinness
World Records 2024 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy April 2023). 185x140mm. ISBN:
8058263168755 |
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Guinness
World Records 2025 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo
Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy). 183x135mm. Price:
€14. ISBN: 8058263201827 |
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Guinness
World Records 2025 Pre-release Sampler A 16-page
sampler for the 2025 edition with sample pages and launch
details. |
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School Prizes
The
Guinness Book of Records was rightly regarded as a serious reference
book in its earlier years. As a result, many schools in the 1950s, 60s
and 70s chose the book as one of the awards in the end of year
prize-giving. We know of several people who received the book as a prize
during their school years. Some schools embossed their copies with the
school badge and motto, and a small number of these have appeared on
auction sites and in second-hand bookshops.
One such copy is a 1958 edition with a school badge embossed in gold on the
front cover. The badge shows a heron, with the motto "Abeunt Studia in Mores"
underneath. Some research shows that this is likely to have come from Wanstead
High School in London. |
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We have a similar school prize edition presented by the Governors of Sir Thomas
Rich's School to P S Booth for chess in 1958. |
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In addition to the above copies, we know of a 1968 edition from Deacon's School
in Peterborough (now the Thomas Deacon Academy). A certificate shows that the
book was awarded by the headmaster to K Clarke (form 5) on the school's speech
day in 1969. |
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In 2010, Jackie and Neil McLeod found an early 1956 copy from Newcastle High
School, which has the motto, "Schola novi castelli nunquam non nova".
This would appear to be from
Newcastle-under-Lyme School. |
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If you know of any other school editions, please let us know.
Company Gifts and Promotions
I n a
similar vein to the School Prize editions, some companies sent copies of
the Guinness Book of Records with company-related inserts to their
customers. One example is from James Fairley Steels, who added the
following sticker to the acknowledgements page of the
1979 (25th)
edition:
Another
such company release was a copy of the
1975
(22nd) edition with a banner promoting Lever Brothers toilet
soaps, including Shield Deodorant Soap (pictured right)
Record Attempts
We tend not to collect memorabilia relating to record attempts, as such
attempts occur fairly frequently and may not be successful. However,
where an attempt appears professionally organised, we may consider
mentioning the attempt on our site.
Thanks to a fellow collector in Australia, we have a flyer for two
record attempts organised by the Australian Motorhoming Lions Club
in Barcaldine, Qld. on the 25th and 26th of
May 2019.
We have a promotional single for the Virgin Media world record
attempt for the most mobile phones ringing in unison (5th September
2001).
In 2018, 3,000 glasses were produced for an attempt to set the world
record for "the longest toast" in Bruges, Belgium. Sadly, the world
record was not achieved, but a new Belgian record of 1,039 was
recorded. We have one of the glasses produced for the record attempt
- our is glass number 2591 of 3000.
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