Golly Balloon Badges.

My collection of Golly Balloons is not comprehensive and nowhere near complete ... BUT, many people ask about them so I thought I'd show you what I have.. I've put a ruler on the scanner to show size but some are in inches and some are in centimeters...Sorry about that folks. I guess I'm just lazy :-)

The Golly balloons are numbered 1 to 4 and do exist. They each have their own aviation registration and this is shown on the badges below.

The first Golly Balloon badge is this one. It's a single badge of the balloon Golly I.  This isn't a perfect badge but without paying a lot I got this little chap.  

Measurements across the top of this picture are in inches.

 These are a set of four circular enameled ( and heavy ) badges. On each is a picture of the Golly Balloon.  They show the design of each with IV, II and I being standard balloon shapes. Golly III is a beautiful huge Golly figure and must look spectacular.

You may also notice that the eyes are different on each one. Strange aren't they ?

This badge ( left ) was made for the Albuquerque balloon event in 1998 I think. It is a simple ( and light ) badge in the shape of Golly Balloon III. The measurements at the bottom are in centimeters. Unusually for a Golly badge it has a push pin fastener and not a normal pin.

The badge on the right was also made for a special event. Across the bottom it says TOURS 24 Juin 1995. This is just so different in so many ways. It has a push pin fastener. It features Golly III ( again ) and a non-Golly balloon. The sky is not coloured because the badge isn't solid. The sky area is cut out. It also has a border to it that makes it look a bit like a postage stamp. It's about the same size as a large stamp too. The last thing that I noticed is that the Golly balloon is not featured 'face on' and is almost in profile. It's just lovely and a very noticeable part of my collection.

So, most people looking at this page know me so I guess you're ready for the 'variation' section. Well, all I have is this pair of badges. Look closely ( I hope the picture is good enough ) and you will see that one is pressed in a silver metal and the other is in the more usual bronze. They are , once again, a single push pin and are probably too heavy to wear on light clothing. It's a good job all mine are mounted in a nice frame where they can't wreck my shirts :-) 

This is a shaped badge of all four balloons. It has a 'normal' pin but is still a sizeable piece of metal. Probable the nicest way of displaying the four balloons. I don't know if they are all to the same scale in this badge. My only criticism would be that the rear balloon is a bit obscured.

Unfortunately, I haven't managed to see a Golly balloon but I'd really love to. If anyone out there knows of events ( preferably UK ) that they are appearing at, PLEASE get in touch. 

  This is a special badge produced for the World Hot Balloon Championship at Castle Howard in 1977..Pretty obvious eh?

Its' a heavy badge with a standard fastening, not a push pin and is slightly bigger than the range of white balloon badges shown above. They are quite hard to find but I got mine for a good price quite recently.    

The balloon featured is G-BDFG No. II 

And this is what the balloons look like when they are off the ground. This is a picture that the lovely Liz Prigg sent to me a while ago and this seemed like a good place to put it.  You can also see a good friend of Golly , Rupert the bear, flying below them.