Guinness Record Book Collecting

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.

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:

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:

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.

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:

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A rather unusual (and rare) paper placemat from 1967/68, printed by Brady, Walters ^ Co., Ltd., Marlborough Road, London N.19:

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
1990 - First Day Cover from Russia depicting the 1988 Guinness Book of Records (the first year that the book was published in Russia).
1996 - First Day Cover from Switzerland dated June 27th 1996, celebrating a record set on 22nd June for the "largest living stamp".
1996 - A different First Day Cover from Switzerland dated June 27th 1996, with additional record information.
1996 - A postcard from Switzerland dated June 22nd 1996, again stamped on 27th June.
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".
1996 - Special card from Switzerland commemorating the same event as the first day covers above.
1997 - First Day Cover from New Zealand dated 12th October 1997, celebrating the "World's Most Southern Winery".
2001 - Miniature sheet with a Gibraltar stamp celebrating the Queen's 75th birthday (issued 12th November 2001)
2002 - "Reptiles" miniature sheet from the British Virgin Islands (issued June 17th 2002).
2002 - Miniature sheet from the British Virgin Islands - "Smallest Lizard".
2002 - "Mammals" miniature sheet from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
2002 - Miniature sheet from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands - "Largest live Pinniped".
2002 - "Planet Earth" miniature sheet from Tristan da Cunha (Longest reef, biggest island, biggest desert, longest rivers, highest mountain and most remote inhabited island).
2002 - Miniature sheet from Tristan da Cunha - the "World's most remote inhabited island".
2007 - First Day Cover from New Zealand dated 10th October 2007, again celebrating the "World's Most Southern Winery".
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).
2008 - Sheet produced for the "fastest printing of a postage stamp" on 29th June, 2008 by the Austrian postal service (UEFA Euro 2008 Championship).
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.
2014 - Togo Republic Billy Karam "Record du Monde Guinness" miniature sheet
2014 - Togo Republic. Billy Karam "Record du Monde Guinness" miniature sheet
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".
2017 - Sierra Leone. Billy Karam "Guinness World Record holder for the largest collection of model cars and dioramas" miniature sheet

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.
Guinness Books - badge showing the original logo of Guinness books, so pre-1986.
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".
Guinness Book of World Records 1957 - 1997 - enamel badge of unknown origin. The badge shows the cover of the 36th US Edition from 1996.
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).
Mouse Mat - Guinness World Records Mouse Mat The World's Largest Hand.
Aufsesser Premium Bier - Model MAN truck (Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld) with Guinness World Records 2001 logo.
Brauerei Reichold - Limited edition model Scania truck (No. 8 by Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld) with Guinness World Records 2001 logo.
Brauerei Stadter - Limited edition model truck by Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld, with Guinness World Records 2001 logo.
Guinness World Records Yo-Yo - free when a copy of the 2002 edition was purchased from WHSmith.
Brauerei Stadter - Limited edition Scania model truck by Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld, with Guinness World Records 2001 logo.
Brauerei Reichold - Model Magirus Sirius truck (No. 46 by Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld) with Guinness World Records 2004 logo.
Brauerei Reichold - Model Faun L8 truck (No. 49 by Grell Werbemittel, Bielefeld) with Guinness World Records 2004 book.
Bedlam Cube - Guinness World Records Day, 9th November 2006. Danny Bamping assembled the 13-piece Bedlam Cube puzzle in 11.03 seconds.
Guinness World Records Der Kalender 2008 Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN: 978-3-411-12578-4
Guinness World Records SchülerKalender 2009/2010 Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN: 978-3-411-14086-2
Guinness World Records Yo-Yo - from late 2009 or early 2010.
Guinness World Records Birthday Card - produced by Marks and Spencer plc in 2010.
Guinness World Records 5-disc DVD set - produced by Crest Media in Spain in 2010.
Guinness World Records Unleashed Promotional DVD - produced by truTV in 2013.
Guinness World Records - "Officially Amazing" Moleskin Notebook (2014)
Guinness World Records - The Power of Japan (Japanese) Amazon Japan print-on-demand edition 2014 (ISBN: 978-4-7771-2620-0)
Guinness World Records 2015 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2014). 185x140mm. ISBN: 8009117798079.
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.
Guinness World Records 2017 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2016). 185x140mm. ISBN: 8009117890308
Guinness World Records 2019 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2018). 185x140mm. ISBN: 8009117958169
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.
Guinness World Records 2020 School Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2019). 185x140mm. ISBN: 8009117987565
Guinness World Records 2022 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2021). 185x140mm. ISBN: 8058263073745
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
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
Guinness World Records business card holder Another interesting item is this metal business card holder, produced for Guinness World Records representatives.
Guinness World Records 2023 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy 2022). 185x140mm. ISBN: 80582631125352
Guinness World Records 2023 Postcard A 148x210mm postcard of the artwork for the 2023 edition.
Guinness World Records 2024 Notebook A 210x148mm notebook with 52 lined pages.
Kids Set a Record! Leaflet A leaflet promoting record attempts for "most times to hit a target with a paper aircraft in three minutes".
Guinness World Records 2024 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy April 2023). 185x140mm. ISBN: 8058263168755
Guinness World Records 2025 Diary (Italian) Franco Cosimo Panini Editore S.p.A. (Modena, Italy). 183x135mm. Price: €14. ISBN: 8058263201827
Guinness World Records 2025 Pre-release Sampler A 16-page sampler for the 2025 edition with sample pages and launch details.

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.
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.
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.
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.

If you know of any other school editions, please let us know.

Company Gifts and Promotions

In 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.