By Press Release
This week we’ve got an advertisement for you from the Isle of Wight Observer of 28th January 1888.
The Horniman’s Tea Company was founded in 1826 in Newport by Quaker, John Horniman. He moved the business to London in 1852 and true to his religious beliefs, concentrated on selling a pure and clean product. At the time, tea was sold loose leaf from tea chests, giving plenty of opportunity for it to be bulked out with such items as hedge clippings and dust.
John Horniman later revolutionised the tea trade by introducing mechanisation to fill individual packages which were then sealed and by 1891,
Hornimans was the largest tea blending and trading business in the world.
The business was sold to J. Lyons & Co in 1921 and the brand is now owned by Douwe Egberts. Horniman’s is still a popular brand of tea and infusions in Spain.
It is easy to detect whether butter is rancid, or to say if sugar is sweet; but with Tea the test of the palate cannot be applied in the same way. The common, or so called cheap teas sold are quite unfit for consumption, and would be nauseous and undrinkable except for the milk and sugar put into the cup; it is far better NOT TO TAKE TEA AT ALL unless you can get it pure and wholesome. A remedy for this evil is found by using the world renowned tea of Horniman & Co., London, its strength is amazing; its flavour delicious; its purity beyond compare. Sold Everywhere by Chemists in the country and Confectioners in London. For local Agents see advertisement in this paper.
