Commercial Overprint Society of Great Britain
Vol. 2 No. 9; March 1, 2005
McVitie & Price, Ltd.
United Biscuits Ltd.
by Michael Behm
McVitie's was a biscuit company that was established in Edinburgh in 1809 by Robert McVitie. McVitie's colleague, Alexander Grant, invented the digestive biscuit in 1839; it contained an antacid, bicarbonate of soda, to aid digestion.
McVitie's son, another Robert McVitie, was sent to Europe at an early age to study bakery techniques and to learn French and German. He returned back with Vienna bread, which he introduced into Scotland, in the process turning the bakery he inherited from his father into a household name. He joined the Society of Chemical Industry in 1884.
Meanwhile, another Alexander Grant, was apprenticed to a baker around 1870, moved to Edinburgh, and gained employment with Robert McVitie. He rapidly rose in the company, managing the new factory built in Gorgie Road, then establishing another plant in London.
In 1888, McVitie's became McVitie & Price. Subsequently, Price retired, then McVitie himself died in 1910. Grant then acquired control of the company, which became McVitie & Price, Ltd. Grant was awarded a baronetcy in 1924, and died in 1937, but not before helping forma the National Library of Scotland.
United Biscuits was founded in 1948 by the merger of William McDonald, a biscuit manufacturer in Glasgow, McVitie's and Price, and MacFarlane Lang & Co. In 1960, United Biscuits added to its portfolio with the acquisition of Crawford's Biscuits and MacDonald's Biscuits.
McVittie's and United Biscuits have a wide variety of commercial overprints. You will notice that some of the later patterns for McVitie & Price are very similar to patterns for United Biscuits. I suspect that these similar patterns may have been used at the same factory, which would indicate three different factories during the United Biscuits period.
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Received for £ McVitie & Price Ltd. |
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RECEIVED FOR McVITIE & PRICE Ltd. £...................... |
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RECEIVED FOR £ McVitie & Price Ltd. |
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RECEIVED FOR £ McVitie & Price Ltd. |
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Received For |
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McVITIE & PRICE ...................... |
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UNITED BISCUITS ...................... |
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Received for |
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RECEIVED FOR
£ UNITED
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Resources
- Biscuit Manufacturers
- United Biscuits
- United Biscuits: Our History
- Scotland Online Heritage
- Society of Chemical Industry
Send comments or questions to mjbehm@kw.igs.net