John Pearce and the Rise of the Mass Food Market in London, 1870-1930

• Main Author: Gutzke, David W. (Author, http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
• Edition: 1st ed. 2019.
• Subjects: Great Britain-History.; Social history.; Economic history.; Civilization-History.; History of Britain and Ireland.; Social History.; Economic History.; Cultural History.
• Physical Description: XV, 257 p. 21 illus., 10 illus. in color. online resource.
• ISBN: 9783030270957
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-27095-7

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.