Press Releases
JACKSON’S IS PROUD TO BE YELLOW!
12nd June 2004
A BUILDERS’ merchants is backing a campaign to encourage Lincolnshire people to take pride in their long-standing nickname.
Locals in the area have long been known as Yellow Bellies and there are dozens of suggestions about how they acquired the affectionate title.
Among the many theories mooted over the years is the possibility that people living in the fens often caught malaria which turned their skin yellow. Another view is that drivers of the Lincoln-to-London stagecoaches wore yellow waistcoats and were given the nickname by Cockneys.
And of course the most unlikely explanation is that Yellow Belly refers to a cowardly person so named after a Lincolnshire regiment once allegedly retreated from the enemy.
Whatever the truth of its origins, the name has well and truly stuck and Lincolnshire people are now being urged to celebrate the fact.
BBC Radio Lincolnshire has launched a car sticker campaign to encourage locals to acknowledge the name and Lincoln-based Jackson Building Centres has given its support.
The company, which has 19 branches throughout the East Midlands, is displaying the slogan “Proud to be a Yellow Belly” in scores of its vehicles which make daily trips around the region and the company is keen to encourage other motorists to join in.
Jackson’s marketing manager Colin Bartleet said: “I think the people of Lincoln should stick together and show everyone what we are made of - and in particular what a great sense of humour we have.”