A Question Nobody Could Answer
In the early 1950s, Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness Brewery, attended a shooting party in County Wexford. He and his hosts argued about which was the fastest game bird in Europe, and could not find the answer in any reference book.
Beaver realised the same sort of argument must be happening in pubs across Britain and Ireland every night, with no way to settle it. A book of facts that could solve pub arguments looked like a good promotion for Guinness.
Did you know?
According to Guinness World Records' own account, the books "never did tackle this original question". Their footnote suggests the red-breasted merganser would be the most likely answer.
Creating the Book
The McWhirter Twins
Beaver invited Norris and Ross McWhirter, twin brothers working as fact-finding researchers in Fleet Street, to compile a book of facts and figures. The company that would become Guinness World Records was incorporated on 30 November 1954, and the twins put the first edition together in what they later described as thirteen and a half 90-hour weeks.
First Edition (1955)
The first edition of The Guinness Book of Records was published on 27 August 1955, with a preface by the McWhirters. It went on to become an all-time bestseller.
The Concept
The book catalogued extremes: fastest and slowest, biggest and smallest, longest and shortest, first and last. Anything that could be measured and verified.
The Guinness Connection
The idea only makes sense once you understand pub culture:
- Pubs are debate forums — people argue over drinks
- Arguments drive interest — "who's the tallest person ever?"
- Guinness was everywhere — in virtually every British and Irish pub
- Being the source of truth is good for a brand
Pro Tip
The book started life as a Guinness promotion. It became something much bigger than its original purpose.
From Promotion to Institution
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1955 | First edition published on 27 August |
| 1974 | Becomes the biggest-selling copyright book in history, with sales of 23,950,000 |
| 1999 | Guinness Publishing is renamed Guinness World Records, and the book changes its name to match |
| 2001 | Sold by Diageo (owners of Guinness) to Gullane Entertainment |
| 2003 | 100 millionth copy sold |
| 2008 | Sold to the Jim Pattison Group |
Breaking from Beer
Today Guinness World Records is a separate business from Guinness the beer. They share the name and the origin story, and nothing else operationally.
Records and Beer
Guinness World Records still adjudicates plenty of food and drink records, but it does not accept records that involve drinking alcohol quickly or in quantity.
Warning
Don't attempt speed-drinking "records". Nobody will certify them, and they are dangerous.
Legacy
What started with a missed shot and an unanswerable question became the world's best-known authority on record-breaking, a TV franchise, and a verb. All because Sir Hugh Beaver couldn't answer a simple question, and neither could his book.
The connection to the pub remains. Every time someone settles an argument with "look it up in Guinness", there's a link back to the pint of stout.
Try It Yourself
Next time a debate breaks out at the bar:
- Take out your phone
- Search Guinness World Records
- Settle the argument
- Raise your glass to Sir Hugh Beaver
You're continuing a tradition that started in a field in County Wexford more than 70 years ago. If you need somewhere to have the argument, the community-rated Guinness pubs near you are a good place to start.
Sources
- Guinness World Records: Our story — the shooting party in County Wexford, the McWhirters, "never did tackle this original question"
- Guinness World Records: Timeline — 27 August 1955 first edition; 1974; 1999 renaming; 2001; 2003; 2008
Learn more about the brewery behind the book in our history of Guinness.
