Victorian food brands still extant

[LadyAsprin]

Kellogs introduced to the UK in 1924 unfortunately, Cadbury smarties 1937

Heinz tomato ketchup 1886 - so fine, its on list.

Lucerne coffee cream, not heard of it here, same with Freybe unless someone knows better, looks like we need a Canadian list too.

The lime stuff, we Limeys are good at making stuff like that for known reasons, it goes back a long way.

Jesmona Black Bullets - I'll add them to the list though I doubt I'll be able to get hold of any.

@elShoggotho - and a German list?

Black Bullets are mainly available in the North East of England.

The Lime stuff - Rose's Lime juice first factory 1868 Leith (just north of Edinburgh).

Does Sainsbury's count? it was founded in 1869 and would have had Sainsbury's branded foods.  Under the same logic Mrs Bothams in Whitby opened on Skinner Street in 1865.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

@unsubtlepete - Probably we are quite lucky!

The stilton is a case in hand, these days it is pasteurised to kill listeria. I prefer the pre-pasteurised versions.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

@LadyAsprin - I'm not sure about Sainsbury's, if we allow that through then we can basically have every type of food and I'm just looking at branded products. I think we just admit Sainsbury is a store.

What started this was me looking at a photo of a Victorian wall covered with advertising posters, loads of products I recognise. The ladies walking past in high-necked dresses and everyone in hats, even the kiddies, horse-pooh on the road - but they were eating the same stuff as us. Looking at Scott's hut in the antarctic showed a similar bunch of products in 1910.

I also have a history project to do with the kids at school, called the sights, sounds and smells of WWI. In that class we will taste the same food that would be eaten by the officers and men of the British, German and American armies. Trying to make it come alive. Much of the steampunk food list will link nicely into this too. Some of El Shogottho's recommendations would be useful if I could get hold of any.

Now I have such a comprehensive list I was thinking I might make my family live off the list for a month...I don't think my wife and kids could possibly take that so it might just be me. I'll certainly need to have more variety on the list.

[LadyAsprin]

@LadyAsprin - I'm not sure about Sainsbury's, if we allow that through then we can basically have every type of food and I'm just looking at branded products. I think we just admit Sainsbury is a store.

Just a suggestion, are we allowing Mrs Bothams of Whiby then?

[yereverluvinunclebert]

Who are they? I don't know them.

[Angus A Fitziron]

Yes, I'm not sure Sainsbury's had their own branded goods. I remember the High Street store in the late 1950's and I recall they did a lot of cheese, meat and other people's brands. Could be wrong though... The Home and Colonial sold branded tea but they disappeared in the last century!

[yereverluvinunclebert]

I just bought a packet of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARD-TACK-BISCUITS-X-6-MADE-TO-ORIG-SPEC-/120879441310?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item1c24f9e59e

They would fit a steampunk satchel quite well and might not go stale for a few years...

[MWBailey]

I am thinking of using the cola for both cooking and tanning. Iron chef - what's that?

Perhaps a culinary cousin of the Australian fellow?

[LadyAsprin]

Who are they? I don't know them.

A Bakers and Confectioners - a very nice place to go for tea.

http://www.botham.co.uk/history.htm

[MWBailey]

Perhaps or perhaps not in sold Britain during the relevant period, but Underwood (The makers of Underwood Deviled Ham) are American and were founded in 1822 or thereabouts.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

Iron Chef - Just had a look on the net and it is a cooking show that ran in the UK in 2010, the UK version couldn't have been any good as it didn't survive here. I think I understand now, is it big in the states?

[yereverluvinunclebert]

Underwood Deviled Ham - never came here...

[MWBailey]

Iron Chef - Just had a look on the net and it is a cooking show that ran in the UK in 2010, the UK version couldn't have been any good as it didn't survive here. I think I understand now, is it big in the states?

Sorry, I have a rather odd sense of humor. Yes, Iron Chef is pretty popular here, or was a while back (I actually havent seen it advertised anywhere in at least a year; of course, I could just be failing to see it), and actually became enough of a worldwide household word to have been mentioned in not one, but several Japanese animes (*shudder*). Not necessarily a shining endorsement in and of itself, but it sort of underscores how widespread the show's syndication was/is.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

@LadyAsprin - Bothams looks wonderful, I'll keep it in mind for a visit. They have some lovely products and if they have one or two that they personally have made or been responsible for, for the last 100 years or so, then they go on the list. Stuff like the flour, isn't their own, they just sell it. So I can't use it.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

@MWBailey - I'm not very good on the telly, tend to have not much time for it. Doing too much steampunking of software.

[HAC]

Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce - 1839 - we have the 'wooster' sauce on the list.

ah, but not the original..

As far as Eccles Cakes and such, if the auld gaffer were still alive, he would know.. sadly..

[yereverluvinunclebert]

as would mine...

[von Corax]

I also have a history project to do with the kids at school, called the sights, sounds and smells of WWI. In that class we will taste the same food that would be eaten by the officers and men of the British, German and American armies. Trying to make it come alive. Much of the steampunk food list will link nicely into this too.

In this case, I reiterate my suggestion of Brunswick sardines, which (as I said) were shipped in great quatity to the Canadian (and probably other) troops during the Great War.

[J. Wilhelm]

Dr. Pepper! I don't think we ever had that over here, and Coca cola? isn't that the cleaning fluid made potable with the addition of gas, sucrose and a significant decrease in temperature? disgusting stuff unless you want to clean copper.

Dr. Pepper and Coca Cola.  19th C. American and not in the UK in Vic. times, but... I like it because I can drink it AND clean copper with it. Have you seen how much copper I use in my art?  Saves me money. Same principle:  I'm currently exploring the use of Marmite as axle grease (late 19th C.).  Rather than an  offensive gesture I consider it a tribute to German scientist Justus von Liebig!

Salut!!

Again, not in the UK, but related to the UK:
You need ingredients to bake:  King Arthur Flour (Originally Henry Wood & Co.): precedes the Victorian Period (Founded 1790) and is still with us. The King Arthur Flour Company was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, by Henry Wood. who was an importer and distributor of English-milled flour.  The name "King Arthur" was coined in the Victorian period by George Wood, who became inspired by the musical King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

[J. Wilhelm]

Henderson's Relish - a vegan alternative to 'wooster' sauce

Maggi  sauce / Maggi Wurze.  From Wiki:

19th. C. Swiss, not British, but still contemporary:

Maggi (pronounced [ˈmaɡi]) is a Nestlé brand of instant soups, stocks, bouillon cubes, ketchups, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles. The original company came into existence in 1872 in Switzerland, when Julius Maggi took over his father's mill. He quickly became a pioneer of industrial food production, aiming to improve the nutritional intake of worker families. Maggi was the first to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market, and followed up with a ready-made soup based on legume meal in 1886. In 1897, Julius Maggi founded the company Maggi GmbH in the German town of Singen where it is still established today.

In parts of Europe, Mexico, Malaysia, Brunei, German-speaking countries and the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland and France, "Maggi" is still synonymous with the brand's "Maggi-Würze" (Maggi seasoning sauce), a dark, hydrolysed vegetable protein based sauce which is very similar to East Asian soy sauce except for that it does not actually contain soy.[1] It was introduced in 1886, as a cheap substitute for meat extract. It has since become a well-known part of everyday culinary culture in Switzerland, Austria and especially in Germany. It is also well known in Poland and the Netherlands.

Why do I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long list of brands and companies?  

Quaker Oats is the US form of oats which in the UK we might refer to as Scott's Porage Oats, we get Quaker here but not in the 1800's

Again, not available in the UK in Vic. times, but appearing at the edge of the period; Founded in 1901 as a merger of four Victorian Era companies:     * The Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio (1888) , A cereal mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa owned by John Stuart, his son Robert Stuart, and their partner George Douglas, The German Mills American Oatmeal Company, owned by "The Oatmeal King", Ferdinand Schumacher of Akron, Ohio, and the Rob Lewis & Co. American Oats and Barley Oatmeal Corporation.

[J. Wilhelm]

I am thinking of using the cola for both cooking and tanning. Iron chef - what's that?

Here is the UK list so far, this will comprise the steampunk banquet:

Spoiler: ShowHide

Colman's Mustard - 1814
McVitie's Biscuits - 1830
Digestives and Rich Tea biscuits
Robertson's Marmalade - 1864
Twinings Tea - 1706
Pontefract cakes - ~1760 - unsure whether this is actually a 'brand' so lets just say Bassetts (1842)
Andrews Liver Salts - 1894
Warburtons bread - 1876
John West tinned salmon, mackerel and sardines 1857
Crosse and Blackwell chutneys and picallili 1706
Walls sausages and bacon - 1786
Walls pork pies 1786
R Whites lemonade - 1894
Idris ginger beer - 1873
Idris fizzy cream soda
Idris dandelion and baldock
Fyffe's bananas 1878
Taylor's of Harrogate tea and coffee (1886)
Irn Bru - 1901 under the name Strachan's Brew
Holland's Pies 1854
Dickinson and Morris 1851 (maker of Melton Mowbray pork pies)
Sarson's vinegar 1794
Sharwood's chutney 1889
Cerebos Salt 1894
Paxo stuffing (1901)
Hartley's jams 1871
Frank Cooper's 1874
Haywards pickles 1868
Geo. Watkins Mushroom Relish est.1830
HP Sauce 1895
Sharwoods Mango Chutney est 1889
Walkers Shortbread 1898
Suchard chocolate 1826
Atora beef suet 1893
Brown and Poulson's cornflour 1865
Borwick's baking powder 1895
Fentiman's ginger beer 1905
Coca cola 1900 (UK)
Robinson's barley water 1830
Rose's lime juice 1867
Scott's Porage Oats 1880
Perrier water 1898
Schweppes tonic 1771
Schweppes ginger ale (1870)
jacobs cream crackers 1885
oxo 1899
Carrs water biscuits 1841
Cadbury's cocoa 1824
Tate & lyle sugar 1877
Tate & lyle ssyrup
Tate & lyle streacle
Birds custard 1837
Bovril 1870
golden shred marmalade 1864
garabaldi biscuits 1861
Patum Peperium 1828
Fray Bentos corned beef 1899
nestles condensed milk 1867
typhoo tea 1903
camp coffee 1876
huntley and palmers nice biscuits 1895
Shippams meat pastes 1896
rowntrees pastilles 1881
heinz beans 1886 (UK)

It will be fun to eat and filling though not particularly healthy, thank goodness for Ffyfe's bananas.

None of these are particularly obscure brands and the majority will be in most UK cupboards, not perhaps patum paperium, although it is in my cupboard. I even have the Shippams crab paste, the only one I eat and enjoy. I can admit I have never drunk "Irn Bru" in my life. I am going shopping and may take my camera with me to show the result. I'll see if I can get it all in glass or tin but no plastic whatsoever!

Anyone fancy making a US list?

American list of Victorian Era companies

Most of you will be very familiar with at least one of these brands if not more....The list reads more like a shopping list for an American camping trip in 1975 if memory serves me right. I'm afraid this list will not feel as "Victorian" as you may have imagined...or is it that our expectations are a tad skewed? Let's shine a light on the subject shall we?

H.J. Heinz Company  (Henry John Heinz, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, 1888;  US company already mentioned in the UK for baked beans and ketchup)

Hunt's (rival tomato ketchup maker, fmr. Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co, 1888, Sebastopol California).

Campbell's Soup Co. fmr. Joseph Campbell & Co. (International food giant making condensed soup, f. 1869 Joseph A. Campbell, Camden New Jersey)

McCormick & Co. spices (International spice trade giant today, Willoughby M. McCormick, 1889, Baltimore, Maryland)

Del Monte Foods (canned vegetables/produce international giant today, 1886, Oakland/San Francisco, California)

Nabisco (Baked foods international giant today. "National Biscuit Co." Yes-please take note!! "biscuit" in the British sense of the word, 1898 East Hanover New Jersey)
From Wiki, a timeline relevant to Nabisco:

# 1792 – Pearson & Sons Bakery opens in Massachusetts. They make a biscuit called pilot bread consumed on long sea voyages.
# 1801 – Josiah Bent Bakery first coined the term 'crackers' for a (savory) crunchy biscuit they produce.
# 1889 – William Moore acquires Pearson & Sons Bakery, Josiah Bent Bakery, and six other bakeries to start the New York Biscuit Company.
# 1890 – Adolphus Green starts the American Biscuit & Manufacturing Company after acquiring forty different bakeries.
# 1898 – William Moore and Adolphus Green merge to form the National Biscuit Company. Adolphus Green is president.
# 1901 – The name Nabisco is first used as part of a name for a sugar wafer.

Jell-O (instant gellatin, Peter Cooper, 1845 / Pearle B. Wait. 1897, New York)

Coca Cola (soft-drink international giant today, John Pemberton/Eagle Drug and Chemical Company, Columbus, Georgia 1886)

Dr. Pepper (1885 by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas.  Presently owned by Dr.Pepper-Snapple in US. and distr. By Shweppes,Pepsi, or Coca Cola in Americas and Europe, including UK (?) -don't ask me...)

Hormel Foods Corporation (-maker of Spam, BTW- George A. Hormel & Company in Austin, Minnesota, 1891)

C.A. Pillsbury and Company (Flour and a plethora of baking/baked goods. 1872 by Charles Alfred Pillsbury / John Sargent Pillsbury, Minnesota)

King Arthur Flour (Henry Wood & Co. 1790)

Log Cabin syrup (1887. Patrick J. Towle, Minnesota)

Aunt Jemima pancake mix (1889, Chris L. Rutt . Charles G Underwood, St. Joseph, Missouri)

Knox gelatine (Knox Gelatin Co., founded by Rose Knox, New York, 1890)
Libby's (Libby, McNeill & Libby, canned meats company, 1869, Chicago Illinois)

Lipton tea (Thomas J. Lipton Co., now making instant tea: "The scourge of tea purists" , founded by Sir Thomas Lipton, Glasgow, Scotland UK 1890 /headquarters at Hoboken New, Jersey USA, 1893 -this may be the hardest to swallow for our British friends for a variety of reasons....)

Fig Newtons (F. A. Kennedy Steam Bakery Co., 1891, Newton, Massachusetts)

Cream of Wheat (Porridge, Grand Forks, North Dakota, 1893)

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., maker of "Juicy Fruit" Chewing Gum (Chicago, Illinois, 1891)

Triscuit ("snack crackers" 1895/1903, Niagara Falls, New York).

Cracker Jack (candied popcorn/peanuts, Frederick William "Fritz" and Louis Rueckheim, Chicago, 1896)

Tootsie Roll (soft candy, 1896)

Kellogg Company (maker of Kellogg's Corn Flakes, invented by J.H. Kellogg, - simultaneously a brilliant medical-visionary but also a quack doctor, May 31, 1895, Sanitas Food Co. 1897 and marketed later by his brother Will Keith Kellogg, Battle Creek Michigan, 1906)

Post Cereals  (breakfast cereal fmr. Postum Cereal Co., 1895 St. Louis Missour, by C. W. Post, a patient of Dr. Kellogg, who allegedly stole the Corn Flakes recipe while at Kellogg's Sanitarium)

Wesson Oil (1899, Wesson Oil & Snowdrift Company

Clabber Girl baking powder (Hulman & Co.,Indiana, 1899)

~~~
I know.. I just killed this thread.  My humblest apologies, ladies and gentlemen. There's a Mexican adage:  The thruth doesn't make a sin, but it's unconfortable.  The Victorians really invented the mass marketed products we have today, but note how the company founding  dates heavily lean toward the period after 1880.

J. W.

[J. Wilhelm]

I am thinking of using the cola for both cooking and tanning. Iron chef - what's that?

What is Iron Chef?  A waaay over the top cooking "contest" started in Japan and then exported to America.  The original Japanese (the opening sequence will make you laugh):

Iron Chef Opening Sequence

[yereverluvinunclebert]

@J. Wilhelm, how are you ? Well I hope.

No old chap, you didn't kill the thread at all, you showed just how prevalent the Victorian brands still are, how much the solidity of those names means to people today. Those power of those brands is a sign of the vigour of US commerce from that time.  In the US you are largely eating a Victorian and if we take the mix of modern packaging/old brands then quite a steampunk diet too...

The fact is that most of those brands were not in the UK at that time so they have no relevance in the context of the UK list so I can't eat them for this exercise. Most of those brands that did come over the pond did not transfer successfully to the UK until mid-way through the 20th C. The majority though I still have not heard of.

However, it sounds like you have control of the US list now. Transferring responsibility ...now.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

@J.Wilhelm - Strangely enough Liptons Tea is one of those brands that is considered quintessentially English but has very little presence over here in the UK. My first taste of Liptons tea was in the US. Up until very recently I didn't think you could buy Liptons tea over here in the vast majority of shops, I certainly never have. Also, iced tea is purely a US invention and is quite a bizarre idea over here.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

@J.Wilhelm, when I worked at Mars Chocolate factory there were huge iron gears turning a lot of the conveyor machinery, especially for the lines built in the 1930s. All these gears were lubricated with by-products of the brewing industry. No mineral oil was even allowed in the factory as it could contaminate the food. Marmite is a good grease. The fact that the brewers could make us eat a brewing by-product is quite amazing, don't you think?