Condiments and Sauces – Bay Bottles

Brand & Co., Ltd., Mayfair, The “A 1” Sauce

Invention of “The A 1 Sauce” is credited to English chef, grocer and author, Henderson William Brand. According to A 1 advertisements published by Brand in the British newspapers during the early 1880’s, the story went like this:

This Celebrated Sauce was invented by Mr. H.W. Brand (Formerly of the Royal Household) in 1862, when he was cook and co-manger of the cuisine at the International Exhibition in Hyde Park. It was submitted by him among other sauces to the Royal Commissioners for approval for use at the restaurants in the Exhibition, and pronounced by the Chief Commissioner to be “A 1”- a designation which was immediately adopted, and by which it has been known ever since. This is an incontestable proof of its excellence and superiority.

BRAND’S…TRY a Bottle to see if you do not agree with THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER.

Another early advertisement for A 1, this one published in the October 5, 1872 edition of the “Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions Advertiser” suggested its use with just about any type of food.

The A 1 OF 1862, LONDON AND 1867 PARIS

Most Wholesome and Excellent, is most exquisite and excels with plain Hot or Cold Meats, Chops, Steaks. Poultry, Fried or Boiled Fish, Bacon Eggs or Cheese. Patronized and in general use at the ROYAL HOUSEHOLD, the Principal Courts on the Continent, the London Clubs and large Hotels, and nearly all first-class Restaurants and Refreshment Rooms.

Today the brand is manufactured in the U.S. by Kraft-Heinz and their message is still pretty much the same.

A1 Sauce is great for pork, chicken, fish and vegetables.

While the A 1 brand itself dates to the early 1860’s, the story of Henderson William Brand gets its start back in the 1820’s when he served in the royal kitchen of England’s King George IV. According to “Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History:”

King George IV’s flagging health inspired royal chef Mr. H.W. Brand, to develop an essence of chicken beverage to boost his Majesty’s physical condition.

After leaving the royal kitchen, Brand served as the private chef for various celebrities and noblemen of his era. A feature on Brand & Co., published in the May, 1914 edition of the “Pharmaceutical Era” provided some details.

In due time the chef left the royal kitchens and became in turn chef for various celebrated gourmands and hosts, including T.W. Coke, of Holkham (the “Coke of Norfolk,” at whose table Charles James Fox was a frequent visitor), and afterward to Earl Manvers; then to His Grace the Duke of Norfolk; the Marquis of Ailsa; Lord Rolle, and others.

In 1834 Brand followed this up by publishing a collection of recipes entitled “The Complete Modern Cook,” a work that ‘Blackwoods Lady Magazine & Gazette” reviewed like this in 1841.

The design of Mr. Brand, in the production of the “Modern Cook,” is praisworthy, his object being evidently to furnish the practiced cook with modern novelties, and the inexperienced with every kind of information relative to cookery, written in so clear and concise a style, that to peruse somewhat 400 pages is rendered a pleasure, instead of hard study, as is with some works which have come under our notice…We recommend every noblemen’s and other family to possess a copy, feeling confident that the author, who for distinction sake we shall say was many years in the kitchen of his late Majesty George the Fourth, has done justice in the production.

In 1835, a year after publishing “The Modern Cook,” Brand established Brand & Co. and went into business for himself. The 1843 “Post Office London Directory” (the earliest I can find) described Brand & Co. as:

manufacturers & importers of preserves & preserved fresh & salt provisions & solid milk, beef tea, etc.”

The company listing included two addresses; 61 King William Street in the city, and 11 Little Stanhope Street in Mayfair but it was the Mayfair address that the business was almost exclusively associated with.

As early as the Spring of 1835 advertisements for H.W. Brand began appearing in the London newspapers. The earliest one I can find, published in the May 23, 1835 edition of London’s “Morning Post,” provides evidence that Brand was producing sauces from the very beginning. The advertisement also mentioned among other things his “chicken broth for invalids,” which could be what he served King George IV in his waning years.

Another advertisement, this one published on March 16, 1841 in the “Morning Post,” was addressed directly: “To INVALIDS and to all Persons of Delicate Constitution,” and mentioned specialties that included: “CONCENTRATED BEEF TEA, CHICKEN and MUTTON BROTH.”

A more extensive menu of Brand’s specialties as well as imported items he offered can be found at the end of a second book he wrote in 1838 called “The Modern Process for the Preservation of all Alimentary Substances.”

Certainly a noted chef and author, Brand was apparently not as adept in business and in August, 1843 the “London Gazette” included him on a list of “BANKRUPTS.”

A story in the January 1, 1855 edition of London’s “Daily News” suggests that Brand’s business survived the bankruptcy and was still up and running on Stanhope Street at that time.

Mrs. Jane Brand was summoned by the police, under the authority of Lord Palmerston, and pursuant to provision of the new act for abating the smoke nuisance, for using a furnace not so constructed as to consume its own smoke.

The defendant is a preserved provision and meat compressor, No. 11 Little Stanhope-street, near Newport Market…

That same year Brand sold the business and over the next eighteen years it would change hands twice. The weekly notes of an 1877 court case “heard and determined by the House of Lords” entitled “Dence vs Mason,” provided the basics.

The facts of this case were that the plaintiffs firm originated about forty five years ago, when it was conducted by Henderson William Brand, and was about the year 1855 acquired by Mr. Withall, who, on the 29th of September, 1873, sold the same to Thomas Dence for the sum of 5,000 (pounds). The business has always been carried under the name of Brand & Co.

After selling the business Brand apparently served as a chef in several different capacities during the late 1850’s and 1860’s. It was during this time, while serving as cook and co-manger at the International Exhibition in Hyde Park that he developed his A 1 Sauce.

Later in the decade he would also serve as manager of the “Jersey Imperial Hotel,” as evidenced by an August 31, 1867 story in the “Gloucestershire Chronicle.”

THE JERSEY IMPERIAL HOTEL. – The Jersey Imperial Hotel, at the opening of which we gave an account some months ago, has just been seen to perfection in connection with a splendid ball and supper given by officers of the 66th Regiment. “Seen from the road,” we are told, “the hotel, being most tastefully illuminated with gas, had a fairy-like appearance, and hundreds of persons had gathered there to admire it. The hall and dining rooms, profusely decorated with flowers, and presenting a very elegant appearance, were very much admired by those who had received invitations.” The company numbered 270. The supper was perfect, and the arrangements were ably carried out by Mr. H.W. Brand, the manager.

Shortly after, likely sometime in the early 1870’s, Brand went into business for himself again, this time as H.W. Brand & Co. and, as early as 1872 was advertising Brand’s International Sauce, “The A 1 of 1862,” along with many of his former products. Two, “Essence of Beef” and “Concentrated Beef Tea,” are specifically mentioned in this October 5, 1872 advertisement found in the “Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions Advertiser.”

His newly established business was initially located at 4a, Villa Road, Brixton,S.W., where it remained until 1880 at which time the May 25th edition of London’s “The Standard” announced that he had moved the business to 21 Sackville Street, Piccadilly

One year later, an item published in the June 27, 1881 edition of “The London Times” announced that H.W.Brand had moved again, this time to 6 Vere Street, Oxford Street.

All the while, his former business, Brand & Co., now owned by Thomas Dence and managed by a man named John James Mason, continued to operate at 11 Little Stanhope Street and with the exception of A 1 Sauce was selling many of the same named products as H.W. Brand. This advertisement for Brand & Co. that appeared in the February 21, 1877 edition of the “The Medical Press and Circular Advertiser” specifically mentioned “Essence of Beef” and “Concentrated Beef Tea,” among others.

Competition between the two firms led to a High Court ruling restricting H.W. Brand from including the word “Company” in the name of his business. Consequently, Brand operated under the name “H.W. Brand,” while Dence continued under the original name of “Brand & Co.” The decision was highlighted in this H.W. Brand advertisement published in the June 18, 1880 edition of London’s “Daily News.”

The competition between H.W. Brand and Brand & Co. continued for the next several years; a competition that might be best illustrated by the presence of each in London’s 1884 “International Health Exhibition” where the Official Catalog listed them right next to each other in the index.

and their product information was strikingly similar.

By the early 1880’s, Brand & Co., in an obvious effort to compete with H.W. Brands A 1 Sauce, was advertising what they called “Brand & Co.’s “Own Sauce.”

The competition between the two firms came to an end sometime in the mid 1880’s, when it appears that Brand & Co. bought out H. W. Brand. While I can’t find specific documentation, this supposition is supported by the following: First, H.W. Brand newspaper advertisements disappear sometime in 1884. Secondly, by 1887 Brand & Co. newspaper advertisements had substituted “A 1 Sauce” for “Own Sauce” in their advertisements…

…and this March 9, 1889 advertisement found in “The Freemason,” calls out 11 Little Stanhope as the product’s “sole address.

Last but not least, born in 1805, Henderson William Brand was in his 80’s by this time. (He ultimately passed away in 1893.)

In 1887 Brand & Co. constructed a new factory in Vauxhall, London at 74-84 South Lambeth Road. According to an article featuring Brand & Co. published in the May, 1914 edition of the “Pharmaceutical Era:”

The business had grown to such proportions that the factory in Mayfair was not large enough to cope with the orders. It became necessary to find a suitable site for the erection of premises on a much vaster scale and the site on which the present establishment stands was selected. This is situated in historical surroundings in Vauxhall in close proximity to the river Thames and only a few minutes’ train ride from Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, and within a few minutes walk of Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Bishop of London.

A tour through the buildings is both instructive and interesting. One is especially struck by the spaciousness, loftiness and ariness of the various departments. The great “kitchen,” the vast hall in which, at the time of your representative’s visit, the “cooks” were at work carving the finest meat procurable and transferring it to huge steam-jacketed “coppers” in which the processes of extraction are carried on, is a model of cleanliness. It is shown in the illustration herewith.

The business incorporated in 1897 with Thomas Dence named as “permanent managing director.” The incorporation notice was published in the October 9, 1897 edition of “The Chemist and Druggist.”

Over half a century later an item in the November 3, 1949 edition of the South Wales “Western Mail” announced that the company had gone public.

For the first time in the company’s 114 years’ history the public will be able to acquire an interest in Brand & Co., makers of “Brand’s Essence’ and “A1 Sauce.” Arrangements are being made by British Trusts Association for the placing of the 150,000 5% Redeemable preference 1 (pound) shares, and a quotation is being sought.

Ten years later, Brand & Co. became a target for acquisition. An item in the July 4, 1959 edition of London’s “Daily Telegraph and Morning Post” told the story.

Cerebos, the salt company which also owns “Bits” and “Sifta” salt, has made a counter take-over offer worth about 4 million (pounds), for Brand & Co., the “A 1” sauce firm. Earlier this week a 3 million (pound) bid was made by an unnamed company.

Lt.-Col. J.E. Ridley, chairman of Brand, and his co-directors are recommending the Cerebos offer.

Later that month, on August 25th, Nottingham’s “Guardian Journal” reported that the Cerebos take-over had succeeded.

In Britain, Brand & Company was still advertising both Brand’s Essence of Beef and A1 Sauce right up to the time of acquisition. The following ads published in the early 1950’s were typical of the time period.

As a member of the Cerebos Group of Companies, the business continued to operate under the Brand & Co. name and while newspaper ads for their their A 1 Sauce were becoming less frequent the product was still available in British grocery stores, as evidenced by this item that appeared in the financial pages of the “Evening Post” on December 28, 1967.

That being said, their Vauxhall factory was lost to a consolidation sometime in 1967; a fact mentioned by the Cerebo chairman in a statement made in advance of the company’s sixty third annual general meeting. The statement was published in the May 8, 1967 edition of “The Guardian.”

…We have made further progress in our program to consolidate production within the larger units of the Group….The transfer of production to our Greatham factory has been successfully completed and during the current year the Brand’s factory at Vauxhall will be closed and the production transferred to Greatham…

A year later, The July 3, 1968 edition of “The Guardian” announced that Cerebos had been acquired by Rank Hovis McDougall.

Rank Hovis McDiugall, the giant flour milling, baking, and food manufacturing group is merging with Cerebos, the salt (Cerebos and Saxa), Bisto and Scott’s Porage Oats combine. The deal will create a group worth 180 million (pounds).

Shortly after the merger there’s little, if any, mention of Brand’s A 1 Sauce or Brand’s Essence in British newspapers.

Today, Brand’s Essence of Chicken is manufactured by “Suntory Beverage and Food.” According the their web site the product is only available in Asia but apparently its also available on Amazon.

How close it comes to the beverage Henderson William Brand served King George IV almost 200 years ago is anybody’s guess!

In the United States, the introduction of A 1 Sauce dates back to the 1890’s and is generally credited to the Hartford Connecticut firm of G.F. Heubling & Brother. According to a 75th anniversary feature on the company published in the April 30, 1950 edition of the “Hartford Courant,” the company got its start in 1862 when Andrew Heublein established a small hotel that served both fine food and liquors. The feature went on to say:

In 1875, Andrew stepped aside and let his two sons, Gilbert and Louis. take control of the organization. The two brothers began importing choice viands, vintage wines and liquors from France, Spain and Italy, and it wasn’t too long before “The House of Heublein” had established a name for fine products.

Later, 1n 1892 the company added another line of business bottling pre-made cocktails they called “Club Cocktails.”

As early as the Spring of 1895 an advertisement for their “Club Cocktails” also included a reference to Brand & Co.’s A1 Sauce, naming G. F. Heublein & Bro. as “sole agents for the United States.” The advertisement, offering a sample bottle of A 1 Sauce for 15 cents, appeared in both an April, 1895 issue of “Life” and May, 1895 issue of “Puck”magazines.

Over the next 20 years or so “A 1” advertisements in the U.S. named Hueblein as the “sole importer” of the sauce. Advertisements from 1905 published in the “Bulletin of the Hartford Public Library” and 1912 in the “American Federalist” bear this out.

Sometime in the late teens Heublein began manufacturing Brand’s A 1 Sauce in the United States. According to the 75th anniversary feature on Heublein in the “Hartford Courant,” it was World War I that served as the catalyst for this change.

At the start of World War I, shipments of A1 Sauce from England became increasingly sporadic. Heublein made a satisfactory agreement with the Brand organization and began manufacture of the condiment in Hartford.

Several rears later, that agreement turned out to be a blessing for Heublein.

When the National Prohibition Act was passed in 1919, Heublein’s liquor plant closed down. Fortunately the A 1 business continued good and key personnel were transferred there.

By the early 1930’s, not only was it being manufactured in the U.S. but it was being advertised and sold there on a national scale, a fact that was emphasized to grocers in this October, 1931 advertisement published in the “National Grocers Bulletin.”

It’s surprising how easily grocers can add this extra sale of flavor… this flavor that goes with nearly every food they sell. Millions of housewives know A.1. Sauce…National advertising is reminding them of it every month. There are lots of easy profits in suggesting A.1. Sauce. Try this…and see! G.F. Heublein & Brother, Hartford, Conn.

Sometime in the 1960’s A 1 advertisements began to focus almost exclusively on beef and as such it was rebranded “A 1 Steak Sauce.”

By the 1980’s, Heublein had grown from a small 1860’s hotel that served wine and liquors into a $2 billion a year corporation that in addition to A 1 included brands like Smirnoff Vodka and Kentucky Fried Chicken. An early 1980’s breakdown of their products and sales was published in the June 2, 1982 edition of the “Miami Herald.”

It was around this time that Heublein was acquired by R.J Reynolds Industries. The acquisition was reported in the July 30, 1982 edition of the “Hartford Courant.”.

Saying it was unlikely the company could have remained independent much longer, Hicks B. Waldron, chairman of Heublein Inc., announced Thursday that the longtime Connecticut food and beverage company will be merged into R.J. Reynolds Industries Inc., the giant tobacco, shipping and canning conglomerate.

The merger would create a $14 billion concern that will rank 26th at the Fortune 500 list ahead of Chrysler Corp. and closing in on Proctor & Gamble Co. It will rival Hartford’s United Technologies Corp. in size.

The companies made the announcement separately Thursday afternoon, confirming rumors of a merger between the two that had existed for about six months and which grew to a feverish pitch early this week. The transaction is valued at about $1.3 billion.

R.J. Reynolds is a $12 billion company, about six times Heublein’s size.

A 1 is now manufactured in the U.S. by Kraft-Heinz who in 2014 revived the original “A 1 Sauce” name. According to a May 15, 2014 Kraft-Heinz press release:

In the 1960’s, the brand shifted focus to beef and the product was renamed A1 Steak Sauce. Now, with the original product formula remained unchanged, the brand is removing “Steak” from its name and launching a new creative campaign that shows A 1 Sauce is great for pork, chicken, fish and vegetables.

Today, both the “original” and “Steak Sauce” names are utilized by the company as evidenced by this recent Amazon ad.

The bottle I found is 7-1/2 inches tall and roughly 1-1/2 inches square. Machine made, it’s embossed “Brand & Co., Ltd., Mayfair” on the base.

That being said the Illinois Glass Company’s makers mark of an “I” inside a diamond is also faintly visible on the base, indicating that the bottle was American made. The Illinois Glass Company used this mark between 1915 and 1929, indicating that the bottle was more than likely ordered by Heublein & Co., after they began manufacturing “The A 1 Sauce,” say late teens through 1929.

Holbrook & Co. (Holbrook’s Worcestershire Sauce)

The “Holbrook” story got its start in the West Midlands of England in the late 1860’s with a company that manufactured vinegar called Tompson, Berry and Co. Also referred to as the Birmingham Vinegar Brewery, the business included three partners; John Tompson, his son, John L. Tompson and Edward Berry. This advertisement for the brewery that appeared in several September 1869 editions of the Birmingham Daily Post, appears introductory in nature, so it’s likely that the business got its start sometime that year.

Four years later, on June 17, 1873, the partnership was dissolved when the Tompson’s and Berry went their separate ways. The dissolution notice was included in the 1876 “Birmingham & District and Sheffield & Rotherham Commercial List:

After the dissolution, the Tompson’s established John Tompson & Co., to continue the manufacture of vinegar and, on January 15, 1874, published a notice in (London’s) the Guardian announcing the hiring of W. D. Holbrook.

A year later John Tompson & Co. began to manufacture pickles and sauces under Holbrook’s name and the Holbrook brand, still around to this day, was born.

A legal item published in the June 13, 1888 edition of the (London) Times laid out the early course of events.

In 1875 they commenced to manufacture pickles and sauces, and…it was thought expedient to give a special or fancy name to the sauces and pickles manufactured by the firm, and it was accordingly…arranged that the articles should be labeled and advertised by the name of Holbrook, and the articles became known and acquired a reputation by that name in question.

Interestingly, the business associated the name of “Holbrook & Co. with their products but according to W. D. Holbrook’s testimony in an 1895 court case (Powell v. The Birmingham Vinegar Brewery Company, Ltd.):

there never was a firm “Holbrook & Co. in actual existence.

When the business incorporated in May, 1879 as the Birmingham Vinegar Brewery Company, Ltd., they continued to associate the Holbrook & Co. name in connection with the Holbrook brand. W. D. Holbrook left the business in 1888, but the courts ruled that the Holbrook name, along with the reputation of their products, would remain with the firm.

Their first newspaper advertisements I can find for their Worcestershire Sauce appeared in 1884. This one was published in the June 1, 1884 edition of (London’s) Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper.

Right from the start one of their primary selling points was price and their early advertisements included phrases like “half the cost,” which was an obvious reference to their main competitor, Lea and Perrin’s. Some advertisements, like this 1885 advertisement published in the Christian Messenger, actually went as far as mentioning Lea & Perrin’s by name, albeit in small letters.

A story in the August 1, 1887 British Trade Journal made the same point a little more eloquently.

The high quality of Holbrook’s Worcester Sauce is well known for good keeping qualities, piquancy, and fullness and choiceness of flavor; it is one of the best on the market, while its price is not its least recommendation to popular favor.

The British Trade Journal story went on to say that as early as the 1880’s the sauce was gaining recognition, having won awards world wide.

We may say that by 1883 their sauce has carried off the highest awards at all the principal exhibitions, from Tasmania, Antwerp, Melbourne, and New Zealand, to Edinburgh and Chicago.

The story included this photograph of their display at the Brussels International Exhibition which they described like this:

A prominent object in the British section is the pyramid formed of bottles of Holbrook’s Worcestershire Sauce. It measures about 20 ft. high by 20ft. square, the bottles being arranged upon twenty tiers, the base being protected by turned wood standards and rails and embellished with mirrors and ferns.

The business reorganized in 1897 under the same name; the Birmingham Vinegar Brewery Company, Ltd., and later, in 1901, reorganized again, this time as Holbrooks, Ltd. By the turn of the century, in addition to Birmingham, the business was operating a second brewery in Stourport which they had acquired in 1876 and they maintained facilities in London as well. The prospectus associated with the 1897 reorganization, published in the April 13, 1897 edition of (London’s) Morning Post provided a good description of their facilities around the turn of the century.

The brewery and manufacturing premises in Birmingham are situated in Ashten Row, Dartmouth Street, and Windsor Street, standing on upwards of two acres of land, occupying valuable frontages and intersected by a branch of the Birmingham Canal, which affords direct water carriage to London. Included in the Birmingham premises is a complete printing establishment equipped with modern machinery, which enables the company to produce its own show cards, tablets, wrappers, advertisements, etc.ander its own supervision and control.

The brewery and premises in Stourport occupy an important position on the River Severn at its junction with the Stour, thus obtaining direct water communication with the canal system and the Bristol Channel.

The premises in London of freehold tenure are situated at Nos. 138 and 140 Commercial Street East, forming an imposing block, and having frontages to Commercial Street, Fleur de Lis Street and Pearl Street.

The trade has been of steady growth and is still expanding. To meet its requirements it has been found necessary to acquire a freehold site in Birmingham, adjoining the company’s original premises, and to erect thereon an additional factory, which is now upon the point of completion.

What could be described as the monument to their success was described in the November 26, 1906 edition of the Ottawa (Canada) Citizen. It was their storage vat located at Birmingham.

Thousands of tourists who have visited the famous castle of Heidelberg remember with interest the great vat which stands in its cellars and which was once filled with the delicious wines of the Rhine country. It stands within the heavy walls as a permanent testamonial to the drinking powers of the nobles who inherited the castle in years gone by… For centuries (it) was famous as the largest in the world.

It can no longer, however, claim that distinction, for in England there is one which is three times as large. This is the great vat at the works of Holbrooks, Limited, in Birmingham.

It contains three times more space than the Heidleburg vat and is capable of holding the contents of two and a half millions of bottles of Holbrook’s Worsetershire Sauce, equal to 100,000 gallons. In the picture here given a man standing on a long ladder may be seen clinging like a spider against its side. The famous vat is now, and doubtless will remain, for many years, the largest in the world.

In 1898, their world wide sales were five and a half million bottles annually. That included local sales as well as exports to France, Germany, India, Ceylon, New Zealand and the Australian Colonies, the West Indies and South America and South Africa. What lacked was any significant effort to expand into the United States.

They sought to remedy that in 1898 when they formed a new company called “Holbrook’s Worcestershire Sauce, Ltd.” The company’s prospectus spelled out the reasoning behind it’s formation.

The Company is formed to purchase and acquire all the trading rights in the sale of “Holbrook’s Worcestershire Sauce” for the United States of America and Canada from the Birmingham Vinegar Brewery Company, 1897 (Limited)…

The Birmingham Vinegar Brewery Company, 1897 (Limited), owing to the rapid expansion of their business in the United Kingdom, the Colonies, and elsewhere, have hitherto been unable to direct concentrated attention to the development of the American and Canadian trades. The Directors of this Company believe that, with the support of the Parent Company, a lucrative and increasing business can be speedily founded.

The prospectus went on to name Horace De Lisser as their U. S. vendor. In retrospect, with no apparent experience or connections in the grocery trade De Lisser appears to have been an odd choice. According to his biographical profile published in the July 1, 1919 edition of a publication called “India Rubber World:”

In 1894 he conducted a bicycle tire factory in England, which was later sold to a London syndicate. In disposing of this business he agreed to remain out of the rubber business for five years, and therefore took the United States agency for the Holbrook Sauce Co. of London.

Under De Lisser’s lead, the Holbrook Worcestershire Sauce Co. was listed in lower Manhattan at 90 West Broadway in the early 1900’s. The company’s approach to growing the business in those early years was described by De Lisser’s brother in the September 18, 1901 edition of an advertising publication called “Printer’s Ink.”

We began and are still continuing an elaborate and thorough house-to-house canvass, not only in most of the large cities, but also in the smaller towns and in the agricultural districts. We started by having six very elaborate wagons built – vehicles that cost us, even with the advantages of wholesale prices, a little more than $600 each. They are gorgeous, and manned each by a driver, a tiger and six distributors. Each of this force is attired in a striking uniform, and the horses are gaily harnessed. Soon after the first six had begun their rounds, we added six more, and continued to add wagons and crews until we now have nearly forty. This distribution has been continued steadily ever since except in the summer months. All parts of the country have been visited, except the extreme parts of New England and the South.

While newspaper advertisements during this time were scarce, I did find several in the Brooklyn newspapers that included little poems or jingles. This advertisement in the December 21, 1901 issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle was typical.

De Lisser’s attempts to grow the business proved unsuccessful. As early as November 5, 1901, the Solicitor’s Journal and Reporter listed “Holbrook’s Worcestershire Sauce Limited as “in liquidation,” and by 1906 it was no longer listed in the New York City directories. After his five-year moratorium, De Lisser was back in the rubber business where in 1905 he established the Ajax Standard Rubber Company.

At this point, the company established a Canadian presence but took a different approach in the United States where they began looking for local agents in various parts of the Country. Their classified advertisement in the New York area was published in the November 28, 1906 edition of the New York Tribune. Similar advertisements appeared in Boston and St. Louis newspapers.

It’s not clear exactly who or how many agents they assembled but their Worcestershire Sauce was only listed sporadically in U. S. grocery store and department store advertisements up through the late 1920’s. After that, it’s hardly mentioned at all, so it doesn’t appear that the product ever caught on in the United States the same way it had world wide.

According to Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History, in 1954 Holbrooks, Ltd sold their British business to British Vinegars Ltd., a company consisting primarily of Distillers Co., and Crosse & Blackwell.

No longer made in England, today Holbrook’s Worcestershire Sauce is manufactured and sold in Australia by Goodman Fielder.

The bottle I found is approximately 6 oz in size. It’s embossed with the unofficial company name of Holbrook & Co. I also found a glass stopper that fits with the bottle, however the bottle and stopper were found at different times at different locations. Mouth blown, the bottle was likely made sometime after 1898 when the company established a presence in the United States and the late teens, when I would expect a machine-made version.

T. A. Snider Preserve Co., Cincinnati, Ohio

Founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, T.A. Snider was famous for their condiments, particularly their catsup, from the 1880’s up through the mid – 1900’s. Ultimately, they were absorbed by Hunts Foods, Inc.

A June 13, 1909 story in the Cincinnati Enquirer explained that the business was the product of a husband and wife team.

In the early eighties Mrs. Snider kept a boarding house on Broadway. She was a refined and talented woman, whose catsups, chili sauce and other table delicacies were celebrated. All the later creations of the company were from the formulas of Mrs. Snider, who lived long enough to see her husband begin to reap the benefits of her genius and his industry.

Another story, this one in the January, 1910 edition of the “American Pure Food and Health Journal” added:

At the time only sour catsup was known, comprised of fermented tomatoes, but Mrs. Snider’s valuable catsup recipe was made from fresh, sound, whole, ripe, red tomatoes, and thus a solid foundation was laid for a great firm whose products are known and used the world over.

The “Leading Manufacturers and Merchants of Cicinnati and its Environs,” published in 1886 stated that T. A. Snider & Co. was established in 1879 at No. 177 West Canal Street by Thomas A. Snider. The next year, according to a July 26, 1880 item in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Snider took on R. T. Skinner as partner.

Also referred to as the Cincinnati Preserving Co., the business was described in an August 14, 1880 story in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Still in its infancy, the story sounds introductory in nature yet talks of shipping to all parts of the country. I’m guessing that, in an effort to promote the new business, the local newspaper may have embellished a little.

CINCINNATI PRESERVING COMPANY

T. A. Snider & Co., proprietors, located at Nos. 177, 179 and 181 Canal Street. The firm does a business in fine goods, and the only one in the city whose leading specialty is preserves. The firm also does an immense trade in bulk goods, shipping to all parts of the country in buckets and tin-pails. Their jellies, preserves, fruit butters and marmalades are sought after by jobbers who know them throughout the United States, and no manufacturer has a better reputation for first-class goods than this firm…

Their premises are well arranged, and contain all the facilities necessary for the transaction of their large and rapidly increasing business. The season finds them in splendid working order, with every prospect of a most successful trade. Their capital is ample, and they are in every respect fully prepared to meet all requirements of the trade.

Cincinnati directories listed the T. A. Snider Co. at 132 West 2nd Street in 1881 through 1883. Whether this was another address for the Canal Street location or it moved there in late 1880 is not clear.

In any event, by 1884 the business had incorporated as The T. A. Snider Preserve Company with Snider named as president and Skinner as secretary and treasurer. Around the same time they moved to a new building at the northwest corner of Smith and Augusta. The Leading Manufacturers and Merchants of Cincinnati” described it like this:

The splendid building they now use was erected by them and occupied in 1884. It is a five-story brick, 50 x 80 feet in measurement, and arranged expressly for the accommodation of the business.

The company continued to grow at such a rapid pace that just four years later they moved again, listing their office and factory at 49 and 51 Sycamore in 1888. That year they also listed their first branch factory in Milldale Kentucky. By 1891 they were listing a second Cincinnati plant at 30 East 2nd Street.

The company’s menu of products at around that time was presented in this 1888 advertisement that appeared in a publication called “PAR Excellence A Manual of Cooking.”

While 1880 may have been a stretch, by the mid to late 1880’s Snider products were certainly being shipped to many parts of the country as evidenced by this September 18, 1888 news item that appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

A Catsup Train

A few days ago the Big Four and Kankakee Line took out of here an elegant train of fifteen cars of catsup, the product of the T. A. Snider Preserve Company. This is the largest single shipment of the kind ever made, and shows that this enterprising Cincinnati firm has distanced all competitors in their line…While Chicago may be ahead in dressed beef, Cincinnati will”catsup” to her in other products.

An October 12, 1890 story in the San Francisco Examiner made it clear that by then their products had reached the west coast. The story, centered around the San Francisco Mechanic’s Fair, highlighted Snider’s exhibit.

The artistic display which the T. A. Snider Preserve Company of Cincinnati makes is a feature of the fair. The Pacific Coast Mercantile Company are the general agents for their products on this coast, which will in the near future be as well and as favorably known here as they are now in the East.

Another story describing the fair mentioned that Mrs. Snider was still involved with the business at that time as well.

Behind the counter stands Mrs. T. A. Snider, who has the reputation of being one of the most expert housekeepers in the State of Ohio, but all her grace and persuasive manners would fail to draw the crowd as it does were it not for the superior purity and excellence of the material she offers each, served in a dainty little cup and partaken of with gusto. These samples are of the Snider Catsup and Tomato Soup, without which no cuisine in Eastern cities would deem itself complete.

This June 1890 advertisement in “Scribners” magazine touts both the catsup and soup mentioned in the above story.

Snider managed the business up until 1901 at which point long time employee Jefferson Livingston acquired controlling interest (75 percent) in the company.

For the next several years Cincinnati directories listed Livingston as president and Snider as vice president. Subsequently, on June 12, 1909, Livingston acquired the remaining 25 percent. The June 13, 1909 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported the transaction.

A great financial deal was completed yesterday, which will be of interest not only to the business men of this city, but will attract attention throughout the country. On that date Jefferson Livingston gave a check for $170,000 to T. A. Snider, founder of the T. A. Snider Preserve Company, for his remaining one-fourth interest in the firm. The transaction makes Mr. Livingston absolute owner of the big establishment…

By this time, in addition to their Cincinnati facilities,the company operated six branch factories; one in Ohio and the others in neighboring Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

The story went on to say:

The company is the largest manufacturer of catsup in the world, and it is to be found on the tables of every first-class restaurant in Europe and America. Other products of the concern, all of which enjoy an international sale and popularity, are chili sauce, pork and beans, salad dressing, oyster cocktail sauce and tomato soup.

This early teens advertisement mentioned their pork & beans in addition to their catsup.

According to Court records, (Wade L. Street, et.al. as Executors of the Last Will and Testament of Jefferson Livingston, Deceased, Petitioners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Respondent) Livingston dissolved the corporation in 1911 and operated the business as a sole proprietorship up until August, 1920. It was during this period, likely sometime in 1913, that he moved its main plant and office to Chicago, Illinois where it was listed with an address of 168 N Michigan Avenue.

The court records go on to say that in 1920 he re-incorporated the business and between 1920 and 1923 was looking for a buyer, ultimately selling it to New York Canners, Inc., in February 1923. Just before the sale, Moody’s 1922 Analyses of Investments reported that the company had nine separate packing plants in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Delaware and Florida and was valued at almost $1.3 million.

Some background on the Rochester, New York based New York Canners Inc., can be found in a July 21, 1923 item published in the”Magazine on Wall Street:”

New York Canners, Inc. was incorporated in 1919 and acquired the business and properties of several companies engaged in canning fruits and vegetables in New York State. The principal companies taken over, namely – Winters and Prophet Canning Co., Fort Stanwix Canning Co., Burt Olney Canning Company and Cobb Preserving Co., have been established for a long period of years and their products distributed under their own brands throughout the United States.

The item goes on to say:

In February 1923, the company purchased control of the T. A. Snider Preserve Co… The acquisition has given the company a distribution of special food products and condiments which supplement its previous lines.

A little over two years after the acquisition this description of the New York Canner’s business in a December 4, 1925 stock offering, demonstrated the standing of the Snider brand within the organization.

The company (including subsidiaries) is the largest packer and distributor of vegetables, fruits and jams in the United States, outside of California, and through its principal subsidiary, manufactures and distributes the nationally known Snider brands of catsup and chili sauce. The company’s products have a long established reputation for high quality and excellence and are marketed principally under the widely advertised Snider, Lily of the Valley. Burt Olney and Flag labels.

Ultimately, New York Canners, Inc. adopted the Snider name at a May 2, 1927 stockholders meeting. The May 3, 1927 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle announced the name change.

The stockholders also voted approval of a change in name to Snider Packing Corporation, thus directly identifying the corporation with its subsidiary, the T. A. Snider Preserve Company and its famous “Snider” products.

Around the same time the corporation, now called Snider Packing, Inc., incorporated a new wholly owned subsidiary with the New York Canners name. According to a May 6, 1932 article in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, this new company handled distribution while the T.A. Snider Preserve Company handled production. Together they employed approximately 450 permanent workers however, during the June through December canning season the addition of temporary workers could increase that number to upwards of 7,000. The article went on to say that at that time the company owned and operated 27 plants with total floor space of about 1,550,500 square feet in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Illinois and Indiana.

The Snider Packing Corporation merged with General Foods on June 23, 1943. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported the transaction.

Stockholders of the Snider Packing Corporation yesterday voted to merge the company with General Foods Corporation, and all assets of Snider will be delivered to General Foods at 10 a.m. today at 250 Park Avenue, New York City.

Bert C. Olney, Snider president will become general manager of the Snider Packing Division of General Foods Corporation.

Under General Foods’ management advertisements in Life Magazine, published during the mid to late 1940’s, show that they continued to manufacture their catsup as well as several other long time products including their preserves as well as their chili and cocktail sauces.

Ten years later, a January 7, 1953 item in the San Francisco Examiner announced that Hunts Foods, Inc., had acquired both the Snider business and label.

Hunts Foods, Inc., has purchased the Snider condiment business from General Foods it was announced jointly today by Frederick R. Weisman, president of Hunts Foods, and G. O. Bailey, vice president of General Foods.

The announcement said the purchase includes the Snider label and trade mark and Snider factories at Albion, N. Y., and Fairmount,Ind.

We plan to continue full use of the Snider label and to integrate the Snider operation into our overall activities.

Snider catsup continued to be mentioned in grocery store advertisements up until the early 1970’s.

The bottle I found is certainly a half-pint catsup bottle with screw threads. The 1888 advertisement reproduced above from “Par Excellence A Manual of Cooking” mentioned that the company was using the screw thread finish on their catsup bottles by that time.

Packed in handsome screw top bottles, with non corrosive caps, thus overcoming the great annoyance and bad appearance of the old fashioned cork stoppers.

Mouth blown, embossing on the base of the bottle includes the Cincinnati location indicating that it was made no later than 1914 when the company left Cincinnati for Chicago.

While the bottle has no maker’s mark, according to this February 23, 1900 news item in the (Mansfield Ohio) News Journal, it could have been made in Cincinnati by the Muncie Glass Company.

Big Bottle Contract

Cincinnati. Feb 23. – The Muncie Glass Company, whose new factories are being built here secured the contract to furnish the entire requirements of the T. A. Snider Preserve Company for catsup bottles amounting to enough for one thousand car loads of finished goods.

On a final note, T.A. Snider, retired, widowed and apparently remarried, died tragically in June, 1912. The June, 12 edition of the Retail Grocers Advocate reported the sad news.

Thos. A. Snider of Cincinnati and his bride of three months were instantly killed near Erie Penn., when their machine in which they were making a transcontinental tour was struck and demolished by a fast train of the Lakeshore Railroad. Mr. Snider was over 70 years of age , the originator of the famous Snider’s Catsup, through which he became a millionaire several times over.

Curtice Brothers Co., Preserves, Rochester N.Y.

Curtice Brothers, founded in 1868, by Simeon and Edgar Curtice, was one of the pioneers in the canning and preserving of food products.

The infancy of the company is described in the biography of Simeon Curtice contained in the “History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York, from the Earliest Historic Times to 1907, Vol. II”

In 1862 he concluded his studies and then established himself in the grocery business in Rochester in the old flat iron building at Main, North and Franklin Streets. In 1865 he was joined by his younger brother, Edgar, and they adopted the firm name of Curtice Brothers. They began a business association which continued until his death. It was in a room above their store that they commenced the canning of fruit in a small way, experimenting with the preserving of various fruits. In the autumn of 1868 they sold their grocery business, and purchased the property at the corner of Water and Mortimer Streets and devoted themselves entirely to the canning and preserving of fruits and vegetables. The rapidity with which their products found favor on the market led to the demand for increased space, causing them to purchase land and build on North Water Street between Andrews and River Streets.

They began operating at this North Water Street location on or about April 1, 1871. A description of this facility was found in the June 30, 1871 edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Yesterday we were surprised to find a four story building including basement, on North Water Street, below Andrews, devoted entirely to the business of canning and preserving fruits and vegetables…The Curtice Brothers commenced the business some three years ago, and they managed it so judiciously that they have met with unusual success. They have been encouraged to erect a building for this special business, and last March operations were commenced. An excellent cellar was built with a view of providing accommodations for this kind of trade. The structure is forty feet wide by 130 feet long, built of brick. About April 1st, the Curtice Brothers entered the building and began making cans for use the present season. They are now employing sixty-five hands in the various departments.

The Rochester city directories listed the Curtice Brothers at this location from 1871 through 1878.

According to Simeon’s biography, in 1880, the business was forced to move again due to the demand for still further increased space. This led to another location in Rochester on Livingston Street near St Paul Street where they built a plant that would remain operational until 1947.

An indication of the company’s size and importance to Rochester can be inferred by the fact that Livingston Street was apparently renamed Curtice Street. The company started using the new street name in the 1900 directory.

According to Simeon Curtice’s obituary in the February 16, 1905 edition of the Democrat and Chronicle, the business incorporated in 1889.

The Curtice Brothers copartnership continued until 1889, when the business was turned over to a corporation, organized for that purpose, under the name of Curtice Brothers Company, which continued until 1901, when it was consolidated with the Curtice Brothers Canning Company, of Vernon N.Y. to form the present company.

Simeone Curtice served as president until his death in 1905. At that point. Edgar succeeded him as president and ran the company until 1920, when he also passed away. By this time, in addition to Rochester, the company maintained plants in Indiana, Woodstown, N.J. and Vernon, N.Y.

According to a story marking the firm’s 90th anniversary in the November 23, 1958 issue of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, after Edgar’s death the controlling stock of the company was in the hands of the Security Trust Co.,until 1923 when Douglas Townson bought the stock and took control. Townson served as president and later as a director, and was still serving as a director of the company when the story was written.

By this time, according to the 90th anniversary story:

The company had about 150 permanent employees, and as many as 3,000 during the packing season, when factories operate in two shifts.

According to an April 2, 1961 story in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the business was dissolved at that time.

A purchase price of $3 million has dissolved the 93 year old Curtice Brothers Co., of Rochester and the Burns-Alton Corp. of Alton and turned ownership of the firms’ assets to a growers organization.

Transfer of the food processing companies’ facilities to the Pro-Fac Cooperative , Inc., made up of about 5oo Western New York fruit and vegetable growers, took place here Friday. Payment will be made over a 10-year period.

It’s apparent that as far back as 1871, the Curtice Brothers operation was quite significant. The June 30, 1871 story in the Democrat and Chronicle goes on to say:

The firm is now engaged in canning cherries which are put up in two and three pound packages. After the cherry season is over, will come in their order, lima beans, string beans, green peas, tomatos, corn, plums, pears, and quinces.

The Curtice Brothers have exhibited much enterprise in thus building up a business that was entirely new to Rochester. They expect to can fifteen hundred bushels of cherries, and in all fruits and vegetables they will can very little, if any, short of half a million bushels this season

Their earliest newspaper advertisements from November/December of 1889 mentioned their canned fruits and vegetables as well as Red Current Jelly, Plum Pudding, “Pleasant Dreams” Mince Meat and “Blue Label” Ketchup.

In 1893, Curtice Brothers was a major food supplier for the Chicago World’s Fair. Under the heading “Hungry Folks at Chicago Will Never Forget the Name of Rochester, N.Y.,” the April 14, 1893 issue of the Democrat and Chronicle reported:

Upon investigation as to the the truth of a rumored large sale of food products, we find that with their usual enterprise, Curtice Brothers Co. have succeeded in making a contract with the Wellington Catering Company, which has the privileges of all the cafes and restaurants in the World’s Fair grounds at Chicago, to supply them to the exclusion of all other brands, with canned apples, squash and pumpkin (for pies); green corn and peas; preserved fruits; plum puddings, and “blue label” tomato ketchup, and when it is known that in the several cafes and restaurants there are lunch counters that aggregate over one and one-half miles in length and more than twelve hundred tables, at which can be seated at any one time to exceed fifteen thousand people (it is moderately estimated that more than one hundred thousand people will be fed during each day of the exposition), the magnitude of this contract can be easily imagined – better, perhaps when it is known that the estimate of wants already given is sufficient to make sixty-eight carloads.

The company marketed a number of items under their “Blue Label” brand including a line of “Blue Label” soups, but their most famous and recognizeable one was their ketchup.

It’s not clear when the company started making ketchup but advertisements referencing their “Imperial Tomato Ketchup” date back to at least 1879 and by 1889 advertisements referenced the “Blue Label” brand.

Immensely popular, the “Blue Label” brand lost market share to Heinz when the company refused to remove the preservative, benzoate of soda, from their ketchup recipe. In the early 1900’s there was a general trend away from food preservatives in the United States which sparked a great debate over the use of benzoate of soda. After a referee board appointed by President Roosevelt supported the use of benzoate of soda as a preservative, Curtice Brothers launched an advertising campaign in the spring of 1909 stating that “Blue Label Ketchup contained only those ingredients recognized and endorsed by the U.S. Government.”The advertisement below, from the May 20, 1909 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle is typical of the campaign.

Although it was never banned in small quantities, scientific advancements and the court of public opinion had caused most companies to stop using benzoate of soda by 1915. Curtice Brothers however, refused. According to “Pure Ketchup: A History of America’s National Condiment with Recipes”

Curtice Brothers was the clear loser in the benzoate war. At the turn of the century their “Blue Label Tomato Ketchup” was among the most respected and well-liked condiments in America. By 1915 its prestige and popularity had fallen. W. Stanley Maclem, later the president of Curtice Brothers, disclosed that they had “received a great deal of unfavorable publicity from the benzoate issue,” and he believed that “this could have been one of the factors in explaining the decline of the company’s product in the catsup market.”

Nonetheless the “Blue Label” Ketchup brand appears to have outlasted the Curtice Brothers business. I’ve seen it referenced in advertisements as late as 1972, more than 10 years after the Curtis Brothers business was dissolved.

I found two bottles, both mouth blown with external threads and an improved tooled finish. One bottle is about 10 1/2 inches tall and the size of a typical ketchup bottle today. The other bottle is identical, only smaller, just eight inches tall. The lower half of each bottle is ribbed except for a flat square space where the label would have gone. “Curtice Brothers Co., Preservers, Rochester, N.Y.” is embossed within a small circle on the shoulder.

This type of bottle began appearing in their advertisements around 1890. The earliest one I could find was from a series advertisements in the Pittsburgh Dispatch in November/December of 1890.

It wasn’t until 1929 that the company unveiled a new bottle type, the wide mouth.

This likely dates the bottles I found sometime between 1890 and 1929. Recognizing that they’re mouth blown puts them on the early to mid-range of the time period.

I’ve also found an example of their wide-mouthed bottle shown in the above advertisement. Embossed “Blue Label Ketchup,” on the base, the bottle was made by the Owens Illinois Glass Company. The date code on the base indicates it was likely manufactured in 1933.

Tournades Kitchen Bouquet

Kitchen Bouquet has been available for well over 100 years and it can still be purchased today at among other places, Walmart and Target. A browning and seasoning sauce for soups, sauces, gravies, roasts and stews it was developed by Jules L. Tournade and originally manufactured by the Palisade Manufacturing Co. of West Hoboken New Jersey.

A story printed at the time of his death, in the July 17, 1891 issue of the N.Y.Times briefly mentioned his background and early history.

Mr. Tournade was of French birth, his native town being La Rochelle, France, where he was born in 1836. He came to this country in 1857 in company with his cousin, Jules G Tournade, who is engaged in the importing business at 25 South William Street, with the firm of Gourd & Tournade. Mr. Jules L Tournade was at first in business with his cousin and was a member with him of the firm J & J Tournade. This firm, however, dissolved in 1869, and since then Mr. Jules L. Tournade had been in business in New Jersey. He had been successful in business. He leaves a wife and one son who will probably succeed his father in the business of the company.

J&J Tournade was last listed in the 1868-69 NYC Directory confirming that the company did come to an end around that time. However, it appears that Jules L. Tournade remained in business in New York through much of the 1870’s where he was listed in the NYC directories as either a merchant or importer.

According to an early listing of New Jersey corporations, he started the Palisade Manufacturing Company on July 5, 1881 at 247 Clinton Avenue in West Hoboken. The first listing I can find for the company was in the 1883 Jersey City Directory with an address of Clinton Avenue near Chambers. Jules L Tournade and his son, Emil Tournade were also listed individually at the same address with the occupations of president and salesman respectively.

Jules L Tounade died a sudden and tragic death in July of 1891. According to the July 17th N.Y. Times story:

Jules L. Tournde, proprietor of the Palisade Manufacturing Company, Clinton Avenue, West Hoboken,N.J., was fatally injured on the Paterson Plank Road, opposite Second Street, Hoboken, Wednesday afternoon, and died shortly afterward at his home. Mr Tournade had recently purchased a team of horses and had taken them out in company with Mr. Frank Davis of the Davis West Hoboken Express to accustom the horses to the railroad and elevated trains.

On the way home along the plank road the reins became entangled and the horses began to back. In attempting to get out of the wagon Mr. Tournade slipped and his foot was firmly wedged between the shaft and the axle. The horses continued backing, and forced the wagon near the end of the road. A moment later it went over, followed by the horses, and all struck on the jagged rocks, fifteen feet below. Mr. Davis in the meantime had succeeded in getting out of the wagon, but Mr. Tournade suffered fractures of the ribs and skull. He was taken to his home, but all efforts to save his life were without avail.

His son apparently continued on in the business but for how long is unknown. The 1900 census records listed Emile Tournade’s occupation as “syrup maker” but he’s nowhere to be found in the 1910 or 1920 census records. I guess it’s possible he went back to live with family in France?

In any event, the Palisade Manufacturing Company was still listed at 247-249 Clinton Avenue in the 1918 Industrial Directory of New Jersey. Located near the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Chambers Street, certain advertisements during this period include 18 Chambers Street as their address.

In 1923 they became part of the newly formed Foulds Company. According to a collection entitled the “Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929” assembled by the Library of Congress:

In 1923 the Foulds Company was formed by the consolidation of the following companies: The Foulds Milling Co., Chicago and Libertyville; Warner Macaroni Co., Syracuse N.Y.; Woodcock Macaroni Co., Rochester N.Y.; Palisade Manufacturing Co., manufacturers of Kitchen Bouquet, Hoboken N.J., and just recently the acquisition of the Cone Company of America, making the well-known Havacone ice cream cone, which gives another product closely allied with the macaroni industry.

According to the January, 1924 issue of the Wholesale Grocery Review, a year later the business was still operating under the control of the Foulds Company but was then called Kitchen Bouquet Co.

C S Foulds has succeeded his father, who died recently, as president of the Foulds Co. Mr. Foulds was formerly secretary and sales manger of the Foulds Milling Co.

The Foulds Co., with executive offices at 522 Fifth Ave., New York City, controls The Foulds Milling Co., Warner Macaroni Co., Woodcock Macaroni Co. and Kitchen Bouquet Co.

The officers are C.S. Foulds, president; G.E. Warner, 1st vice-president; H.H. Mills, vice-president; R.M. McMullen, treasurer; A.H. Wheatmore, secretary.

During this period Kitchen Bouquet advertisements utilized the Foulds Manhattan executive office address of 522 Fifth Avenue.

In 1929 Kitchen Bouquet was acquired by Grocery Store Products, Inc. The August 23, 1929 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported the transaction.

The formation of Grocery Store Products, Inc. which will immediately acquire four operating food companies and is contemplating the acquisition of additional companies, was announced today…The four special food companies, practically all of the stock of which will be held by Grocery Store Products, Inc., are the Toddy Corporation, manufacturer of a chocolate flavored malt food drink; Would Milling Co., a leader in the production of quality macaroni products; Kitchen Bouquet, Inc., manufacturer of liquid flavoring products, and Edward H Jacob, a company which produces the major portion of the canned mushrooms produced in the United States.

Grocery Store Products continued to make Kitchen Bouquet for the next four decades until the Clorox Company acquired the Kitchen Bouquet brand in April 1971. According to their web site, this marked the company’s entrance into specialty food products.

It’s not clear when the Kitchen Bouquet brand first hit the market. A series of advertisements from the early 1900’s say “30 years a favorite.”

This would put the product’s start back in the early 1870’s, but that’s probably a stretch, recognizing that Jules L Tournade was working in New York as an importer/merchant at the time. It was certainly in existence by 1889 because it was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition that year.

I’m guessing it was developed in the early to mid-1880’s after the Palisade Manufacturing Company was formed. Originally listed as a candy manufacturer and confectioner, they would have been familiar with some of the ingredients that ultimately were included in the sauce, such as caramel. Today, the original recipe is one of the oldest items, and the only confidential asset, in the Clorox archive.

The Clorox Company web site shows several of the Kitchen Bouquet containers utilized over the course of their history. The bottle I found is machine made and matches the labeled bottle dated 1919.

It’s embossed Tournades Kitchen Bouquet on the base. The 1919 time period puts it’s manufacture with the Palisade Manufacturing Co. which agrees with the label on the pictured bottle.

Joshua Longfield, North of England Sauce

Joshua Longfield’s North of England Sauce was originally manufactured by Joshua Longfield and Hugh Scott under the company name of Longfield & Scott from 1877 to 1880. The business was listed in the 1880-81 NYC Directory as “sauces” and located at 472 Greenwich Street. Both Longfield and Scott were also listed individually at the same address. During this period the business was apparently quite successful and growing as evidenced by an advertisement in the 1879 Boston City Directory that announced H. Sawyer as their New England and Canadian agent.

In late 1880 Scott left the business, leaving Joshua Longfield as the sole proprietor. The October 9, 1880 issue of Bradstreets reported: “Longfield & Scott, sauce mfg’s, was dissolved – Longfield continues.”

Over the next 14 years the business was listed in the NYC directories as Joshua Longfield, sauces, with addresses of 472 Greenwich (1880 through 1887) and 259 Greenwich (1887 through 1892). In 1891, the business was highlighted in a publication called the “History and Commerce of New York”

Joshua Longfield, Sole Proprietor and Manufacturer of the Celebrated North of England Sauce, No. 259 Greenwich Street.- For delicious flavor, purity and quality, no table sauce yet introduced can begin to compare with the deservedly popular North of England sauce, of which Joshua Longfield, No. 259 Greenwich Street, is the manufacturer and sole proprietor. This is an article of exceptional merit, the very acme of zest givers, and commands an immense sale throughout the whole of the United States, Canada and Mexico, while it is exported largely also to Central and South America. Over one million bottles a year are sold, besides some twenty thousand gallons in bulk, and the demand grows apace. Only absolutely pure and choicest ingredients, directly imported are used in the preparation of the North of England sauce, and the greatest care is exercised in compounding the same. It is put up in quarts, pints and half-pints for the trade, and can be purchased at remarkably low prices of grocers everywhere, having immeasurably the largest sale of any sauce in America. In addition to the commodious quarters occupied at No. 259 Greenwich Street, this city, Mr. Longfield has a depot also at No. 25 South Front Street, Philadelphia, and No. 514 Hayes Street, San Francisco, Cal., and keeps on hand at these establishments a big stock. All orders for any quantity are filled in the most prompt and reliable manner, and exceedingly low prices are quoted, the most liberal inducements being offered to jobbers, hotels, restaurants and large consumers. Mr Longfield, who is a native of England, is a man of long and varied experience in the manufacture of sauces, and had devoted years of effort in experimenting before he perfected the formula according to which the “North of England” is prepared. He has engaged in manufacturing this distinctly meritorious article in New York since 1877.

Around 1894 it appears that Joshua Longfield partnered with Garret Bergen and formed the Longfield Bergen Company. Bergen was also listed at several Greenwich Street addresses dating back to the 1880-81 NYC Directory. Prior to 1894, he was usually listed with the occupation produce or sauces, but its not clear whether he worked with Longfield or was a competitor.

The 1894 NYC Directory listing for Longfield-Bergen gave their address as 528 Canal Street and included a statement that they were the “mfr’s N of England Sauce, Pride of Long Island Catsup and Grocery Sundries.” In 1896, they listed their address as 472 Greenwich, one of Joshua Longfield’s previous addresses.

According to an advertisement in the July 24, 1894 issue of the Port Jefferson Echo, during this time you could pick up a bottle of North of England Sauce for 9 cents, less than half the price of Lea & Perrin’s.

Apparently, Longfield-Bergen did not last all that long. They were listed in both the 1897 and 1898 NYC business directories under both “sauces” and “mustard.” NYS legislative documents indicate that sometime in 1898 the company legally changed their name to Bergen-Bundenbach, so I assume at this point, Longfield was no longer involved. Then by 1900 it looks like the company was in receivership. Bergen-Bundenbach was still listed in the 1900 directory but the only principal listed with the business was Edward D Farrel (receiver). According to a notice in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Garret Bergen filed for personal bankruptcy on March 31, 1901.

Bergen resurfaced in the 1903 Brooklyn Directory at 45 Newell Street with the Bergen Monagole Co. A year later, the company name changed to the Garret Bergen Co. Over the next 20 years Garret Bergen Co. was listed in the Brooklyn directories at 122 Sutton and later 248 Varet as either sauce, catsup or supplies. They were also listed in Bridgeton New Jersey between 1918 and 1924. I haven’t found any listings for them after 1926.

During this time, analyses performed by several state agricultural departments on Longfield’s Sauce (1907 Pennsylvania and 1911 Connecticut) and Pride of the Farm Catsup (1905 Connecticut, 1912 Florida and 1919 Pennsylvania) all named Garret Bergen Co. as the manufacturer. Based on this information it looks like Joshua Longfield gave up the rights to manufacture his North of England Sauce when he parted ways with Longfield-Bergen and the reorganized Garret Bergen Co. continued to manufacture it up through at least 1911 and possibly as late as 1926.

After Longfield-Bergen, Longfield continued doing business under the firm name of Longfield & Co. This company first appeared in the 1896 NYC Directory at 593 Greenwich Street and later, in 1898 and 1899 listed their address as 801 Greenwich Street.

Then on August 21, 1900 the Joshua Longfield Sauce Company was incorporated under the laws of South Dakota. Joshua Longfield was no longer involved and it’s likely that he passed away around this time.. The 1901 NYC Copartnership and Corporation Directory listed the business as a South Dakota corporation with capital of $22,500 and an address of 410 West 13th Street in Manhattan. William Manger was named as the first president and Leslie M. Roberts as secretary. Longfield & Co. was also listed in the directories as a “registered trade name” of the Joshua Longfield Sauce Company. Through 1904, Longfield’s, widow, Margaret and stepson, William Horner, remained associated with the business through Longfield & Co.

In 1903 the Joshua Longfield Sauce Company moved to 122 Charles Street where they remained until 1909. The NYC directory that year listed the corporation as dissolved.

I found three mouth blown sauce bottles, each embossed “North of England Sauce” horizontally around the shoulder and “Joshua Longfield” vertically down the front. Recognizing that neither Scott or Bergen are included on the embossing they probably date between 1880 when Scott left the business and 1894 when the company name changed to Longfield-Bergen.

I also found a ketchup bottle embossed “Pride of Long Island Tomato Catsup” on one side and “Bergen’s” on the other. It’s mouth blown with screw threads and probably dates no earlier than 1904 when the company was renamed the Garret Bergen Co.