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Quaker Quicks - Quakers and Chocolate
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Rowntree’s Kit Kat, and Fry’s Turkish Delight are all well-known chocolate treats. The three 'cocoa families' who indulged our chocolate cravings for over a century were all Quakers, and this affected both how they amassed their fortunes and how they spent them. George and Richard Cadbury in Birmingham, and Joseph Rowntree in York, all strove to improve the lives of those living in Victorian slums. They built factories and towns in the countryside, provided recreation and medical facilities, and gave away significant proportions of their wealth to establish charitable trusts. Some of their descendants carried on the family businesses, but others made significant contributions elsewhere. Richard’s daughter Beatrice campaigned vigorously against capitalism and for peace, and Joseph’s son John Wilhelm was instrumental in bringing Quakerism in line with the latest discoveries in science. Quakers and Chocolate provides a brief history of chocolate, focusing on the convictions and actions of some members of the Quaker families who did so much to make chocolate part of everyday life.
112 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2025
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April 10, 2025
This book is hit and miss in the attempt to show how faith, the Quaker in this case, and business can work or not work well together by at three UK families – Cadbury, Fry, and Rowntree – who were active in the business in the 19th and 20th centuries.
There is a lack of proper citation in the first chapter particularly in regard to primary or historical sources that I can't excuse as a trained historian. While both George Cadbury and Joseph Rowntree have chapter dedicated to them, the Fry family is ignored after the overview of how the three families interacted in the chocolate business. The added chapter about John Wilhelm Rowntree and Beatrice Boeke could have been replaced by one on a Fry family member because both John and Beatrice were far more about their faith and society than about chocolate or business.
I did learn some things that I didn't already know about chocolate, Quakers, and business in the late 19th century. There were gaps, however, in regard to the legal changes the families fought for and more information about the changes that happened to each business as the 20th century progressed
Basically disappointed in the book.
There is a lack of proper citation in the first chapter particularly in regard to primary or historical sources that I can't excuse as a trained historian. While both George Cadbury and Joseph Rowntree have chapter dedicated to them, the Fry family is ignored after the overview of how the three families interacted in the chocolate business. The added chapter about John Wilhelm Rowntree and Beatrice Boeke could have been replaced by one on a Fry family member because both John and Beatrice were far more about their faith and society than about chocolate or business.
I did learn some things that I didn't already know about chocolate, Quakers, and business in the late 19th century. There were gaps, however, in regard to the legal changes the families fought for and more information about the changes that happened to each business as the 20th century progressed
Basically disappointed in the book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review