Famous Brand Names & Their Origins Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Dedication

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Contents

  Introduction

  Part I: Food & Drink

  Chapter 1: The Pantry

  Chapter 2: Thirst Quenchers: Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic

  Chapter 3: The Tuck Box

  Chapter 4: The Fridge and Freezer

  Chapter 5: Unbranded Generics

  Part II: House & Home

  Chapter 6: Appliances, Gadgets and Everyday Consumables

  Chapter 7: Health, Hygiene and Household Cleaning

  Chapter 8: The High Street and Beyond

  Chapter 9: The Toy Cupboard

  Chapter 10: Travel and Recreation

  Sources

  Acknowledgements

  Guide

  Cover

  Dedication

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Contents

  Introduction

  Part I: Food & Drink

  Chapter 1: The Pantry

  Chapter 2: Thirst Quenchers: Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic

  Chapter 3: The Tuck Box

  Chapter 4: The Fridge and Freezer

  Chapter 5: Unbranded Generics

  Part II: House & Home

  Chapter 6: Appliances, Gadgets and Everyday Consumables

  Chapter 7: Health, Hygiene and Household Cleaning

  Chapter 8: The High Street and Beyond

  Chapter 9: The Toy Cupboard

  Chapter 10: Travel and Recreation

  Sources

  Acknowledgements

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  For Margaret and Gavin, two unique brands originating in the Thirties.

  First published in Great Britain in 2016 by

  Pen & Sword History

  an imprint of

  Pen & Sword Books Ltd

  47 Church Street

  Barnsley

  South Yorkshire

  S70 2AS

  Copyright © Kathy Martin 2016

  ISBN: 978 1 78159 015 7

  PDF ISBN: 978 1 52670 186 2

  EPUB ISBN: 978 1 52670 185 5

  PRC ISBN: 978 1 52670 184 8

  The right of Kathy Martin to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

  Typeset in Ehrhardt by

  Mac Style Ltd, Bridlington, East Yorkshire

  Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd,

  Croydon, CRO 4YY

  Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Transport, True Crime, and Fiction, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.

  For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact

  PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

  47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England

  E-mail: [email protected]

  Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

  Contents

  Introduction

  Part I: Food & Drink

  Chapter 1

  The Pantry

  Chapter 2

  Thirst Quenchers: Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic

  Chapter 3

  The Tuck Box

  Chapter 4

  The Fridge and Freezer

  Chapter 5

  Unbranded Generics

  Part II: House & Home

  Chapter 6

  Appliances, Gadgets and Everyday Consumables

  Chapter 7

&nbsp
; Health, Hygiene and Household Cleaning

  Chapter 8

  The High Street and Beyond

  Chapter 9

  The Toy Cupboard

  Chapter 10

  Travel and Recreation

  Sources

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  If the world sometimes seems to be changing with terrifying rapidity, surely there is a small measure of reassurance to be found in the knowledge that many of our most popular consumer brands have been with us for generations. In the supermarkets, in our homes, on the high street and in our leisure time we repeatedly come into contact with products bearing names that our forebears would recognise.

  Imagine, if you will, a genteel lady from the late Victorian era finding herself transported by a time machine into the present. Bewildered by twenty-first century technology, astonished by our medical advances and very likely appalled by modern dress and behaviour, she may well require something to steady her nerves: a calming cup of Twinings tea, perhaps, or, should a stronger beverage be required, a restorative glass of Guinness. Since both brands were well-established in her day, their familiar presence might leave her sufficiently emboldened to catch up on world events. She could do this by glancing at a copy of The Times, already well-established in her own day or, for a lighter read, by perusing the latest issue of The Lady which was first published in 1885. Of course all the aforementioned products looked rather different in her era but the point is that our intrepid time traveller would recognise and be comforted by their brand names.

  Conversely, the purpose of this book is to serve as a guide for those wishing to time travel in the opposite direction. Journeying into the past to look at some of the most popular consumer brands found in everyday life – tracing their origins, their development and their place in society today – we will discover that there is much more to celebrate than the simple fact of their continuing existence. Ingenious inventors, daring entrepreneurs, determined Nonconformists, spirited widows, gutsy refugees, forward-thinking philanthropists and a handful of decidedly racy characters; who knew the originators of our most famous brand names were so colourful?

  What and where

  For ease of navigation, the book is divided into two parts, Food & Drink and House & Home. In the first you will find chapters covering edible brands ranging from confectionery to beverages. And, since not everything we eat is branded, at the close of Food & Drink there is an extra chapter dealing with the origins of unbranded generic eponyms such as Beef Wellington and Waldorf Salad. In House & Home, meanwhile, you will find everything from toys and travel guides to Sellotape and supermarkets.

  To set the scene, each chapter opens with an explanatory paragraph or two before moving on to the featured brands which are listed in alphabetical order. Additionally, for some brands, ‘Did you know …?’ boxes have been included, containing snippets of information that may not be entirely relevant to the brand’s story but are interesting nonetheless.

  Getting down to the nitty gritty

  With an almost infinite number of products to choose from, it was decided that to qualify for inclusion, brands had to meet the following conditions:

  they must be at least fifty years old

  remain in production today

  possess widespread consumer appeal

  Furthermore, the decision was made to focus on brands with engaging or otherwise noteworthy histories. Fortunately, even after these criteria had been applied there were still rich pickings to choose from because, by and large, the pioneering entrepreneurs of yesteryear were a lively crowd.

  Of course, some brand names remain well-loved long after they have fallen into extinction. In order to include at least a few of these ‘fallen’, each category features a ‘gone but not forgotten’ section. Similarly, brief ‘honourable mentions’ have been given to a number of popular brands that have not yet reached their half-century and therefore fail to qualify for full inclusion.

  Now, gentle reader, with the thought processes behind this book duly explained, all that remains is for you to settle back and prepare for an enjoyable meander down memory lane. The wearing of rose-tinted spectacles is optional.

  Part I

  Food & Drink

  Chapter 1

  The Pantry

  Prior to the invention of the refrigerator, perishable food items such as butter, cheese, milk, eggs and meat were stored inside small rooms or large cupboards known as pantries and larders. Located either inside the kitchen or adjacent to it, these rooms were usually north-facing to keep them out of the sun. Some had mesh-covered windows which allowed fresh air to circulate whilst keeping flies away. To help them stay cool, the perishable foodstuffs were placed on stone slabs although if space allowed joints of meat would be hung from ceiling hooks.

  Did you know …?

  The word pantry is derived from ‘pain’, the French word for bread which itself comes from ‘panis’, the Latin word for bread.

  Originally, when most people still created their meals from scratch using a few basic ingredients, the walls of the pantry or larder would be lined with shelves containing longer-lasting foodstuffs such as flour, sugar, salt and spices. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that the first convenience foods became available but thereafter the pantry shelves of a prosperous household groaned with a cornucopia of tempting products, all designed to make life easier for the busy cook.

  Canned food had been available in Britain since 1813 but for much of the century it was mainly regarded as a useful tool for the armed forces and intrepid types such as polar explorers. It wasn’t until the early years of the twentieth century that it really caught on with the public, perhaps because until then nobody had thought to invent a decent can opener. After that, however, canned food had arrived in a big way and its place on pantry shelves across the nation was assured.

  Did you know …?

  Napoleon is indirectly responsible for the invention of canned food. Keen to keep his troops well fed when they were far from home, he offered a reward to anyone able to devise a way of providing nutritious, long-lasting food. A confectioner called Nicholas Appert found that food heated in sealed glass jars would keep for a long time. Another Frenchman, Philippe de Girard, took the idea a step further when he used tinplated cans instead of the highly breakable glass jars. He sold his idea to an English merchant, Peter Durand, who promptly took out a patent to preserve food using the tinplated cans. Durand then sold the patent to an English entrepreneur called Bryan Donkin. In 1813 Donkin set up the first canned food factory, Donkin, Hall and Gamble, in Matlock, Derbyshire.

  Thus it can be said that Napoleon is the godfather of canned foods, Appert the grandfather and Girard the father; Donkin, meanwhile, is the ingenious uncle who took the idea by the scruff of its neck and turned it into a viable commercial enterprise.

  Ambrosia – dairy delights since 1917

  While there may be other brands of tinned rice pudding on our supermarket shelves, to most people the product is synonymous with Ambrosia. The company was founded in 1917 in Lifton, a village located just inside Devon’s border with Cornwall, by a local man called Albert Morris. Initially the Ambrosia creamery turned fresh locally-sourced milk into dried milk suitable for infants and invalids. Dried milk was also supplied to the troops fighting at the Front during the First World War. The milk was delivered daily to the creamery in vast churns and then dried with roller dryers.

  Sometime during the 1930s – accounts vary as to precisely when – the creamery started to produce its tinned rice pudding which became an instant hit with the public. Still based in Lifton today, where it provides employment for around 270 people, Ambrosia continues to use milk sourced only from the south-west. In 1990 the company was sold to Colman’s who in turn were acquired by Unilever in 2001. Since 2004, however, Ambrosia has been part of the Premier Foods family.

  Did you know …?

  During the Second World War tins of Ambrosia Creamed Rice were placed
inside Red Cross food parcels.

  Baxters – more than a soupçon of quality since 1929

  From relatively modest beginnings, Baxters have gone on to win worldwide fame and royal recognition, thanks in no small part to the skill and entrepreneurial flair of successive generations of their womenfolk. The story began in 1868 when 25-year-old George Baxter left a gardening job on the Gordon Castle Estate to open his own grocery shop in the village of Fochabers, located on the east bank of the River Spey, funded by a loan from his family. As a sideline, Baxter’s wife Margaret made jams and jellies which were sold in the shop and found favour with his former employer, the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.

  In 1916 the couple’s son, William, built a factory on some land bought from the Duke. Continuing in the tradition of her mother-in-law, William Baxter’s wife, Ethel, created an exceptional range of jams which William marketed throughout Scotland. Then, in 1923, Ethel hired a canning machine and began canning locally-grown fruit such as strawberries, raspberries and plums, in syrup.

  In 1929 Ethel took the pivotal step of introducing soups to the Baxters range, utilising the wide range of excellent produce virtually on their doorstep. Products like Baxters Royal Game Soup soon acquired a following with the clientele of leading shops including Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. More flavours were introduced in 1952 when Ena Baxter joined the company; together with her husband Gordon she created a range of traditional Scottish soups that included Scotch Broth and Cock-a-leekie.

  In the 1950s Baxter’s were riding high; their soups were exported all over the world and the firm was awarded Royal Warrants by the Queen, the Queen Mother and King Gustav of Sweden. In 1992 another Baxter woman, Gordon Baxter’s daughter Audrey, made her mark on the family business when she took over as Managing Director. She now insists on tasting every new recipe before the product can be approved.

  As of 2015 Baxters remains a family business and although soup is now the firm’s flagship product, accounting for about 70 per cent of its sales, it still produces a range of jams and condiments.

  Bird’s Custard Powder – under-egging the pud since the 1840s

  We Brits have been pouring a sweet sauce made from Bird’s Custard Powder on our puddings for over 160 years. Yet to purists, this undeniably toothsome product isn’t custard at all because it doesn’t contain egg and as the food experts know, you can’t have true custard without egg.