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The following are memories recalled by James Baldwinson, as recorded by Hanover Housing Association in their book 'Tale of the Century' published in 1999.
Early in 1928, at the age of 14 I started work with Stevenson and Howell in Southwark as a van boy, later moving to the Bottle and Empties Department. When I was a van driver one of my mates was fined for exceeding the speed limit of 12 mph on a solid-tyre vehicle!
I was called up for war service in 1940 and spent six years in the Army as a driver. In 1946 I returned to the firm, to be in charge of the Empties Department and later the Fruit Juice Stores.
In 1968 my department was moved from under the railway arches into a new warehouse and I was promoted to Foreman in charge of packaging and raw materials stock. Later I took on more responsibility, personnel and training.
When I started with Stevenson & Howell, essences were made from fresh fruits from Kent, which were mashed down and stored in Puncheons and sent to our stores at Mitcham for further processing. We dealt with firms like Barrs, who had their essence delivered in stone jars, also with Schweppes in London and Australia with ginger essence.
Things changed during and after the war when our chemists had to seek other methods to produce flavours. In 1947 the fruit juice trade started with grapefruit juice, and while sugar was on ration, we imported liquid sugar in casks to make the concentrates.
Now of course most things have changed. Natural extracts from the country of origin and nature-identical chemicals, together with a few synthetics, can produce a whole range of flavours that match the natural products are used - far cheaper and more consistent than was possible in my early years.
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