Products, firms and consumption: Cadbury and the development of marketing, 1900-1939

Business History

Volumn 47, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 511-531

  Fitzgerald, Robert ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

FOOD INDUSTRY; INDUSTRIAL HISTORY; MARKETING; TWENTIETH CENTURY;

EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; EUROPE; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE; WORLD;

EID: 23244456651     PISSN: 00076791     EISSN: 17437938     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00076790500132977     Document Type: Review

References (189)

1. See R. Church, 'New Perspectives on the History of Products, Firms, Marketing, and Consumers in Britain and the United States since the Mid-Nineteenth Century', Economic History Review, Vol.52 (1999), pp.405-35.
2. R. Stone and D.A. Rowe, The Measurement of Consumers' Expenditure and Behaviour in the United Kingdom, 1920-38 (Cambridge, 1966), Vol. 1, pp. 151, 174, and Vol.2, p.110.
3. L. Hannah, The Rise of the Corporate Economy (London, 1983), pp. 102-3;
4. L. Johnman, 'The Largest Manufacturing Employers of 1935', Business History, Vol.28 (1986), pp.239-41.
5. Cadbury-Fry is listed as the 52nd largest employer amongst manufacturers and non-manufacturers in D.J. Jeremy, 'The Hundred Largest Employers in the UK: 1907, 1935, 1955', Business History, Vol.33 (1991), pp.100-103.
6. G. Jones, 'Multinational Chocolate: Cadbury Overseas, 1918-39', Business History, Vol.27 (1985), pp.59-75;
7. R. Fitzgerald, Rowntree and the Marketing Revolution, 1862-1939 (Cambridge, 1995).
8. R. Fitzgerald, 'Ownership, Organisation and Management: British Business and the Branded Goods Industries', in Y. Cassis, F. Crouzet and T.R. Gourvish (eds.), Management and Business in Britain and France: The Age of the Corporate Economy (Oxford, 1995).
9. A.G. Gardiner, A Life of George Cadbury (London, 1923);
10. I.A. Williams, The Firm of Cadbury, 1831-1931 (London, 1931);
11. S. Diaper, 'J.S. Fry & Sons: Growth and Decline in the Chocolate Industry, 1753-1918', in C.E. Harvey and J. Press (eds), Studies in the Business History of Bristol (Bristol, 1988), pp.33-45.
12. A.D. Chandler, Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism (Cambridge, MA, 2000).
13. Rowntree was acquired by Nestle in 1988.
14. S. Hollander and R. Germain, Was There a Pepsi Generation before Pepsi Discovered It? Youth Segmentation in Marketing (Lincolnwood, IL, 1992);
15. R. Fullerton, 'How Modern is Modern Marketing? Marketing's Evolution and the Myth of the "Production Era"', Journal of Marketing, Vol.52 (1988), pp.108-25.
16. P.F. Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices (New York, 1973), pp.64-5.
17. R. Marchand, Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940 (Berkeley, CA, 1985);
18. S. Strasser, Satisfaction Guaranteed: the Making of the American Mass Market (Washington, DC, 1995);
19. T. Nevett and S. Hollander (eds), Marketing in Three Eras (Michigan, 1987);
20. R. Marchand, Creating the Corporate Soul: The Rise of Public Relations and Corporate Imagery in Big Business (California, 2001);
21. D. Pope, The Making of Modern Advertising (New York, 1986).
22. R. Tedlow, New and Improved: the Story of Mass Marketing in America (New York, 1990).
23. Fitzgerald, Rowntree;
24. idem, 'Markets, Management and Merger; John Mackintosh & Sons', Business History Review, Vol.74 (2000), pp.558-60.
25. See M.E. Porter, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (New York, 1980);
26. idem, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance (New York, 1985).
27. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.9-44;
28. A.R. Prest and A.A. Adams, Consumer Expenditure in the UK., 1900-1919 (Cambridge, 1954), pp.69, 75, 175;
29. W.G. Clarence-Smith, Cocoa and Chocolate, 1765-1914 (London, 2000), pp.238-9;
30. T.R. Gourvish and R.G. Wilson, The British Brewing Industry, 1830-1980 (Cambridge, UK, 1994), pp. 127-226;
31. J. Othick, 'The Cocoa and Chocolate Industry in the Nineteenth Century', in D.J. Oddy and D.S. Miller (eds), The Making of the Modern British Diet (London, 1976), pp.77-90;
32. W.H. Fraser, The Coming of the Mass Market, 1850-1914 (London, 1981), pp.ix-x, 3-23, 27-36, 42-3, 58-61, 67-8, 135-9, 143, 166-7, 172-3;
33. P. Mathias, Retailing Revolution: A History of Multiple Retailing in the Food Trades, based on the Allied Suppliers Group (London, 1967);
34. J. Burnett, Plenty and Want: A Social History of Diet in England from 1815 to the Present Day (London, 1989), pp.107-31, 216-40;
35. S.D. Smith, 'Accounting for Taste: British Coffee Consumption in Historical Perspective', Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol.27 (1996), pp. 183-214.
36. Diaper, 'J.S. Fry & Sons', pp.33-45;
37. Williams, Firm of Cadbury, pp.37-41;
38. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.45-74.
39. Census of Production, 1907;
40. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.220-34.
41. Cadbury Archives (hereafter CA), 121/003697, Annual Reports & Schedules, 1921-29;
42. Cadbury Brothers, Reports and Accounts;
43. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.220-34;
44. G.W. Crutchley, John Mackintosh: A Life (London, 1921), p.120;
45. Joseph Terry & Sons, Terry's of York, 1767-1967 (privately published, 1967), pp.2-7;
46. Census of Production, 1907-35.
47. P.L. Cottrell, Industrial Finance, 1830-1914: The Finance and Organization of English Manufacturing Industry (London, 1980), pp.162-3.
48. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.69-74;
49. idem, 'Markets, Management and Merger', pp.558-66;
50. Terry & Sons, Terry's of York, p.3.
51. Fry's Works Magazine: Bi-Centenary Number, 1728-1928, pp.24, 33-4. Fry built 11 new factories on or adjacent to its original Union Street site between 1860 and 1914.
52. Fitzgerald, 'Ownership, Organisation and Management', p.43;
53. idem, Rowntree, pp.69-126, 185-201.
54. CA, 120/003696, Share Capital, Sept. 1927;
55. Cadbury Bros, Industrial Record, 1919-1939: A Review of the Inter-War Years (Birmingham, 1945), p.8;
56. E. Cadbury, Experiments in Industrial Organisation (London, 1912), pp.1-13;
57. Williams, Firm of Cadbury, pp.77-8, 83-4, 95.
58. CA, 122/003698, Directors' Annual Statements, 1936;
59. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.513-18.
60. Census of Production, 1907-35.
61. CA, 120/003696, Statement of Share Capital of Cadbury Brothers; 121/003697, Annual Reports and Schedules, 1921-29;
62. Cadbury Brothers, Reports and Accounts, 1929-38;
63. Rowntree Archives, Reports and Accounts, 1929-38;
64. Mackintosh Archives, Borthwick Institute, York, M/F/1/3.
65. Fry Archives (hereafter FA), Profiteering Act 1919, Notes of Evidence, n.d.; Letter, E.E. Holloway to R.R. Sly, 1 May 1943; Statement by E. Cater, n.d.; CA, Committee of Management, 21 Feb. 1917, Letter from Cadbury to Rowntree, 17 Feb. 1917; Agreement between Cadbury and Fry, 13 June 1917; Letter to Conrad Fry, 23 Oct. 1917; Letter to J.S. Fry & Sons, 20 Sept. 1917; Circular from Cadbury, April 1917; Meeting between Fry, Rowntree, Cadbury, Caley and Manufacturing Confectioners' Association, 24 April 1917; Agreement for Fixing Minimum Prices, 15 March 1918; Meeting of Directors, Bournville, 25 July 1917; 190/003901, Memorandum and Articles of BCCC; Conference, Union St, 13 Aug. 1918; 122/ 003698, Directors' Annual Statements, 1918; Committee of Management, 17 and 21 Feb. 1917, 15 March 1917, 12 April 1917, 26 June 1917, 25 July 1917, 28 Nov. 1917, 12, 19, 30 Dec. 1917; Directors' Annual Statements, 1919; Board of Directors, 2 and 20 Nov. 1921; Rowntree Archives, Directors' Conferences, xxv, 10 Dec. 1917, 28 Jan. 1918, 4, 5 and 11 Feb. 1918.
66. Cadbury shareholders were allotted shares in BCCC worth £2.3m, while those from Fry received £985, 714.
67. Diaper, 'J.S. Fry & Sons', p.51;
68. Fitzgerald, 'Ownership, Organisation and Management', pp.38-43;
69. idem, Rowntree, pp.190-92;
70. Chandler, Scale and Scope, p.246.
71. CA, 122/003698, Directors' Annual Statements, 1918, 1921; Committee of Management, 1 and 24 Jan. 1917; 17 and 23 May 1917; 17 and 26 June 1917; 17 and 28 Nov. 1917; 13 and 18 Feb. 1918; 6, 18, 20 and March 1918; 18 and 30 Dec. 1918; Joint Board, 30 Oct. 1918; Joint Board Minutes and Memoranda, 12 and 19 Oct. 1921, 15 Nov. 1921, 23 Nov. 1921, 7 Dec. 1921; Letter from Deloitte, Plender, Griffiths & Co. to Barrow Cadbury, 19 Oct. 1921; Rowntree Archives (hereafter RA), Directors' Conferences, xxxii, 6 and 20 Sept. 1921; 4, 11, 18 and 25 Oct. 1921; 1 and 29 Nov. 1921.
72. Cadbury Bros, Industrial Challenge: The Experience of Cadbury's of Bournville in the Post-War Years (London, 1964), pp.9-14, 17, 28-9;
73. idem, Industrial Record, pp.8-16.
74. Industrial Challenge, pp. 14-19, 28-9;
75. Cadbury Archives, 122/003698, Directors' Annual Statements, 1929;
76. Williams, Firm of Cadbury, pp.238, 244-7;
77. Industrial Record, pp.8-16, 34-5.
78. RA, Directors' Conferences, xxviii, 14 July 1919; xxix, 16 Dec. 1919.
79. Fitzgerald, 'Ownership, Organisation and Management', pp.43-7;
80. idem, Rowntree, pp.84-5, 205-9, 244-6, 249-51.
81. RA, Directors' Conferences, xxxiii, 6 and 27 Jan. 1925.
82. J. Walter Thompson, Rowntree File, Analysis of Sales and Distribution, Aug. 1931, 18 March 1938.
83. CA, 122/003698, Directors' Annual Statements, 1929;
84. Rowntree Archives, Directors' Conferences, xxxiii, 15 March, 5 April 1927;
85. Cadbury Bros, Industrial Record, pp. 16, 34;
86. Cadbury Bros, Industrial Challenge, pp. 14-19, 28-9.
87. Cadbury, Industrial Record, p.37. '2s' and '1s' are the symbols for pre-decimal currency, two shillings and one shilling respectivley and '2d' is the symbol for two pennies. There were 12 pennies to the shilling; and 20 shilings to the £. Therefore, 1s is evquivalent to 5p, and 2d is equivalent to 1p in decimal terms.
88. CA, Joint Board Minutes and Memoranda, 6, 22 Oct. 1924;
89. Views of B.S. Rowntree, 9 April 1930; Note, 23
90. Letter from B.S. Rowntree, 12 May 1930;
91. RA, Directors' Conferences, xxxiv, 25 March, 1 April 1930.
92. Confectionery News, Aug. 1937, pp.97-8.
93. CA, Board of Directors, Memorandum, 12 March 1935; Minutes, 26 March 1935;
94. Memorandum, 2 April 1935;
95. J.S. Fry & Sons: Statement for B.C.C.C. Ltd, 9 Oct. 1935;
96. Memorandum to Fry & Sons, 7 March 1935;
97. Memorandum from Cadbury to Fry & Sons, 29 March 1935;
98. Minutes, 24 July 1935; Shareholders, Fry & Sons Ltd, 1935;
99. Letter from W.A. Cadbury to C. Fry, 6 Dec. 1935;
100. 122/003698, Directors' Annual Statements, 1936.
101. Fitzgerald, 'Markets, Management, and Merger', pp.576-83.
102. CA, Committee of Management, 26 April, 8 Nov. 1904, 3 and 15 Jan. 1905, 20 June 1905;
103. Williams, Firm of Cadbury, pp.81-3, 280.
104. See J. Heer, World Events, 1866-1966: the First Hundred Years of Nestle (Rivaz, 1966), pp.79-89, 105-6, 130-44;
105. Statistical Abstract for the UK, 1887-1901, pp.86-9.
106. Diaper, 'J.S. Fry & Sons', pp.44-5.
107. CA, Committee of Management, 22 March, 26 July, 9 Aug 1904, 22 and 29 March 1905;
108. Williams, Firm of Cadbury, pp.73-4, 80-83;
109. RA, Directors' Conferences, xii, 6 and 27 April, 4 May 1909. The Milk Tray assortment was introduced in 1915, Flake in 1920 and Wholenut in 1930.
110. Cadbury, Industrial Record, pp.8-16, 34-5.
111. RA, Laboratories/Experimental Work, J, A/1581, S. Allen, 'Notes on Chemical Department, April 1897-July 1946',1-6, 8-9;
112. Directors' Conferences, xxxii, 18 Oct. 1921, 10 Jan. 1922; 1, 15 and 29 May 1923; 8 Jan., 10 Sept. 1924; 914000992, Future Marketing Policy, 17 Jan. 1934.
113. 914000992, Future Marketing Policy, 17 Jan. 1934.
114. J. Walter Thompson, Rowntree File, Rowntree's sales history, 1932.
115. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.300-323.
116. Fitzgerald, 'Markets, Management, and Merger', pp.576-83.
117. D. Edgerton, Science, Technology and the British Industrial Decline (London, 1996);
118. D. Edgerton and S. Horrocks, 'British Industrial Research and Development before 1945', Economic History Review Vol.47 (1994), pp.217-38;
119. J.M. Sanderson, 'Research and the Firm in British Industry', Science Studies Vol.2 (1972), pp.107-51;
120. S.B. Saul, 'Research and Development in British Industry from the End of the Nineteenth Century', in T.C. Smout, The Search for Wealth and Stability (London, 1979), pp. 114-38;
121. G.N. von Tunzelmann, Technology and Industrial Progress: The Foundations of Economic Growth (Aldershot, 1995);
122. K. Pavitt (ed.), Technological Change and British Economic Performance (London, 1980).
123. See S.M. Horrocks, 'Quality Control and Research: The Role of Scientists in the British Food Industry, 1870-1939', in J. Burnett and D.J. Oddy (eds), The Origins and Development of Food Policies in Europe (Leicester, 1994).
124. D. Fusfield, 'Industrial Research: Four Stages of Progress', Research Management Vol. 18 (1975), pp. 13-14;
125. M.L. Karmen and N.L. Schwartz, Market Structure and Innovation (Cambridge, 1982);
126. J. Schmookler, Innovation and Economic Growth (Cambridge, MA, 1966).
127. See also R. Church and C. Clark, 'Product Development of Branded, Packaged Household Goods in Britain, 1870-1914: Colman's, Reckitt's and Lever Brothers', Enterprise and Society Vol.2 (2001), pp.503-42.
128. CA, Committee of Management, 28 June, 26 July, 9 Aug., 6 Sept., 8 Nov. 1904; 3 Jan., 29 Feb., 15, 22 and 29 March, 19 April, 20 and 27 June, 4 July, 3 Oct., 28 Nov. 1905;
129. Special Advertising Conference, 4 Nov. 1911;
130. Cadbury, Industrial Record, pp.8-16.
131. RA, Directors' Conferences, ii, 20 Feb. 1901; vii, 20 March 1906; iv, 3, 10 and 31 March 1903, 7 and 21 April 1903, 22 May 1903; 6 Nov. 1903, Special Conference on Milk Chocolate; xi, 17 and 24 Nov. 1908; xii, 23 and 30 March, 6, 22 and 27 April, 4 and 12 May 1909; xvi, 22 Dec. 1911.
132. RA, Directors' Conferences, xxviii, 29 and 30 April 1919; xxviii, 14 July 1919; xxix, 16 Dec. 1919;
133. Advertising, ii, A/2683, Report on Sales, 1918-19; Advertising Expenditure Statement, 1911-43; xxviii, 14 July 1919;
134. Miscellaneous, iii, Cocoa and Chocolate Industry in the UK (1961), 6;
135. Cadbury Bros, Industrial Challenge, pp.4, 34.
136. Cadbury, Industrial Record, pp.41-59;
137. Williams, Firm of Cadbury, pp.238, 244-7.
138. RA, 0009 Series, Box 17, 28 June 1955; Wholesale Confectioners' Association leaflet;
139. J. Walter Thompson, Rowntree File, Rowntree's History 1725-1931.
140. Management Research Group, No. 1, W/8/30-32/14, Memorandum, 12 Sept. 1930;
141. Talk by Iris Douglas, J. Walter Thompson, formerly Rowntree, 23 May 1930.
142. Rowntree Archives, Directors' Conferences, xxii, 11 Dec. 1923;
143. Williams, Firm of Cadbury, pp.247-91.
144. Cadbury, Industrial Record, pp. 16, 33-7.
145. CA, Board Memoranda, Vol.1, Five Firm Conference, 30 Oct. 1936; Meetings with Nestle, 17 Jan. 1936. In 1935, the Five Firm Conference was formed between Cadbury, Fry, Rowntree, Nestle and Terry to decide on price maintenance, advertising expenditure, and promotional schemes.
146. Meetings with Nestle, 17 Jan. 1936. In 1935, the Five Firm Conference was formed between Cadbury, Fry, Rowntree, Nestle and Terry to decide on price maintenance, advertising expenditure, and promotional schemes.
147. CA, Board Memoranda, Next Year's Advertising, 18 June 1930; Fry Archives, Future Marketing Policy, 17 Jan. 1934; Sales Research Department, Marketing Policy, 18 Jan. 1935.
148. Fry Archives, Future Marketing Policy, 17 Jan. 1934;
149. Sales Research Department, Marketing Policy, 18 Jan. 1935.
150. Terry & Sons, Terry's of York, pp.5-9.
151. Rowntree Archives, Directors' Conferences, xxxii, 1, 15 and 29 May 1923; xxxiii, 4 and 11 March 1924;
152. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp. 160-82.
153. Manchester Guardian Commercial, quoted in Confectioners' Union, July 1928, p.39.
154. Cadbury, Industrial Challenge, pp. 19-23.
155. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.147-82, 277-346.
156. Advertising claims before the rationing concerns of the Second World War received little monitoring.
157. Management Research Group, No.1, W/8/30-32/14, Memorandum, 12 Sept. 1930. The figures relate to Jan. 1930.
158. RA, Miscelleaneous, iii, A/-, Cocoa and Chocolate Industry in the UK (1961?).
159. CA, Views by B.S. Rowntree, 9 April 1930;
160. Joint Board Minutes, Vol.9, Private Interview with B.S. Rowntree, 11 April 1930.
161. Management Research Group, No. 1, W/8/30-32/14, Talk by Iris Douglas of J. Walter Thompson, formerly Rowntree, 23 May 1930;
162. J. Walter Thompson, Rowntree File, Rowntree's History 1725-1931. Figures for 1930.
163. Advertisers' Weekly, 3 Oct. 1935, pp.419-20.
164. J. Walter Thompson, Rowntree File, Report on Aero Chocolate, Sept. 1937;
165. Present Market for Sweets, 1937?
166. Census of Production, 1924-35.
167. J. Walter Thompson, Rowntree File, Sales and Distribution Analysis, Aug. 1931, 18 March 1938;
168. Rowntree's Sales History, 1932;
169. Investigation by National Institute of Industrial Psychology on Assorted Chocolates, Dec. 1932;
170. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp. 304-5.
171. CA, Board Memoranda, Next Year's Advertising, 18 June 1930.
172. RA, Miscellaneous, iii, A/-, Cocoa and Chocolate Industry in the UK (1961?);
173. Fitzgerald, Rowntree, pp.303-12.
174. FA, Post-War Policy, 10 March 1943.
175. RA, Miscellaneous, iii, A/-, Cocoa and Chocolate Industry in the UK (1961?).
176. CA, Board Memoranda, Meeting between F.G. Fryer and P.S. Cadbury, 17 Dec. 1936;
177. No. 2, Letter from P.S. Cadbury to F.G. Fryer, 5 Jan. 1937;
178. Advertising Dept, Annual Report, 1937;
179. Joint Board Minutes and Memoranda, Meeting with Nestle, 17 Jan. 1936;
180. Advertisers' Weekly, 21 March 1935, p.419.
181. FA, Future Marketing Policy, 17 Jan. 1934; Sales Research Department, Marketing Policy, 18 Jan. 1935, 30 July 1935; Marketing Plan, 9 Nov. 1935; Post-War Policy, Sales History.
182. Sales Research Department, Marketing Policy, 18 Jan. 1935, 30 July 1935; Marketing Plan, 9 Nov. 1935; Post-War Policy, Sales History.
183. See D.J. Teece, 'Economic Analysis and Strategic Management', California Management Review Vol.26 (1984), pp.87-110;
184. C.K. Prahalad and G. Hamel, 'The Core Competence of the Corporation', Harvard Business Review Vol.99 (1991), pp.79-91;
185. J.A. Kay, Foundations of Corporate Success (Oxford, 1993).
186. See also E.T. Penrose, The Theory of the Growth of the Firm (Oxford, 1959);
187. D.C. North, Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (Cambridge, 1990);
188. R.R. Nelson and S.G. Winter, An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (Cambridge, MA, 1982).
189. See, also, R. Church and C. Clark, 'Purposive Strategy or Serendipity? Development and Diversification in Three Consumer Product Companies, 1918-39: J. & J. Colman, Reckitt & Sons and Lever Bros. /Unilever', Business History Vol.45 (2003), pp.23-59.