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At the center of sweeping change to food retailing practices in Victorian and Edwardian England lies one man: John Pearce. An innovative businessman and a quintessential rags-to-riches success story, Pearce was at the forefront of the rise of the mass food market in London. With his catering company Pearce & Plenty, he fed millions of workers who wanted fast, nutritious, and tasty food. David W. Gutzke mines a wide range of primary sources to offer a portrait of a pivotal figure in London and a leader of the temperance catering movement who had "done more than can be readily recognised to render London a sober city." By studying Pearce's companies as well as those of his competitors, this book documents a half century of changing consumption habits in London.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. Pubs without Beer.- 3. From Philanthropy to Profits in London.- 4. From Penny Capitalist to Server of the Multitudes.- 5. Advent of the Mass Market.- 6. Catering Crisis in Edwardian England.- 7. Collapse of the British Tea Table Company.- 8. Starting Over.- 9. Into the War and Beyond.- 10. Conclusion
About the author
David W. Gutzke is Distinguished Professor of History at Missouri State University, USA. He is the author of seven books, including monographs entitled Women Drinking Out in Britain since the Early Twentieth Century, Pubs and Progressives: Reinventing the Public House in England, and The Roadhouse Comes to Britain.
Summary
At the center of sweeping change to food retailing practices in Victorian and Edwardian England lies one man: John Pearce. An innovative businessman and a quintessential rags-to-riches success story, Pearce was at the forefront of the rise of the mass food market in London. With his catering company Pearce & Plenty, he fed millions of workers who wanted fast, nutritious, and tasty food. David W. Gutzke mines a wide range of primary sources to offer a portrait of a pivotal figure in London and a leader of the temperance catering movement who had “done more than can be readily recognised to render London a sober city.” By studying Pearce’s companies as well as those of his competitors, this book documents a half century of changing consumption habits in London.
