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| |
I am not exactly the best source of information about the entire
history of Red Rose but with the help of others I can give it a try. One thing I have learned for
certain is that in one part of the country, they may have been doing tea cards
while in another, they may have been doing Wades. If someone visiting this site sees
any inaccuracies, please let me know. You may not see inaccuracies, just huge
gaps in time. I'll gladly make the adjustments and give
credit where credit is due. A former Red Rose Tea of Canada president and
cofounder of Redco has offered his recollections here, thank you John Rigg. And
of course Mike Posgay, Ian Warner,
the Red Rose Canada website, and me.
|
Canada
|
|
Time Span
|
What Happened...
|
|
October 16, 1899
|
Red Rose
trademark was officially registered by the T.H. Estabrooks company,
out of St. John. |
|
1901
|
Red Rose
coffee appears. |
|
1929
|
Estabrooks
introduced tea bags. |
|
April 29th, 1931
|
On this
date, 4300 shares of T. H., Estabrooks is sold to Brooke Bond.
(Theodore Estabrooks is great friends with the Chairman at Brooke
Bond). |
|
1946
|
Following
the Second World War, Brooke Bond establishes Brooke Bond Canada to
expand business. The tea packing plant was located on Park Avenue in
Montreal. |
|
1959 to 1974
|
In the late 50's, Brooke Bond owns Red Rose. They issue tea
cards from 1959 to 1974. |
| 1962 |
Production
is moved to Côte de Liesse in Montreal and the Park Avenue plant was
sold. |
| 1967 to 1973 |
32 different Wade animals appear in
Red Rose Tea. |
| 1971 to 1979 |
24 different Wade nursery rhymes appear
in Red Rose Tea. |
| 1981 |
15 different Wade Whoppas (mail in
promotion) appear in Red Rose Tea. |
| 1982 to 1984 |
23 different Wade animals appear in
Red Rose Tea. |
| 1984 |
Unilever
acquires Brooke Bond. |
| 1985 |
June - Lipton takes over Red Rose
from Brooke Bond (Canada only). |
| 15 new Wade animals appear in
Red Rose
Tea. |
|
1988 |
Salada
Foods was acquired by Redco in June 1988 in both the US and Canada. |
| 1990 |
Red
Rose (Lipton) reissues the series 15 "Animals and Their
Young" tea cards but there is no series number. |
| The
Canadian Salada business was sold to Unilever (Canada). |
| 1991 |
Red
Rose makes plans to reissue the series 5 "Dinosaurs" but for
a reason I do not know, cancels the program before any are issued.
(Several sets and many singles still make it to collectors hands). |
| 1997? |
Red
Rose issues 8 different china 'teapots' in a new series (stoves). |
| 1998? |
Red
Rose issues a new set of 8 china 'teapots' (buildings). |
| 1999? |
Red
Rose issues a new set of 8 china 'teapots' (toys). |
| 2000
to present |
Red
Rose issues a new set of 8 china 'teapots' (millennium series). |
Sources: My own recollections, "The World of
Wade" and "The World of
Wade Book 2", both books by Ian Warner and Mike Posgay,
Red Rose of Canada website
and John Rigg.
|
United States
|
|
Time Span
|
What Happened...
|
| 1960 to 1969 |
From 1960 to 1969, Red Rose (owned by Brooke Bond) issues
tea cards in the US. |
| 1983 to 1985 |
15 different Wade animals appear in US
Red Rose Tea. |
| 1985 |
15 new Wade animals appear in US Red Rose
Tea. |
|
1988 |
John
Edwards (former President of Brooke Bond in the US) and John Rigg
(former President of Brooke Bond in Canada) found Redco and commence
business in November in Hauppauge, NY. |
| Salada
Foods was acquired by Redco in June 1988 in both the US and Canada. |
|
Tragically, John Edwards died one month later and John Rigg became sole
owner. |
| February
17, 1990 |
On this
date, Redco buys Red Rose from Unilever - Brooke
Bond. They keep the plant in in Windsor Connecticut. The Canadian
Salada business was sold to Unilever (Canada). |
| 1990 |
Five more animals added to US Wade set
making 20. |
| 1993 |
10 new circus Wades are introduced in the
US. |
|
February 1995 |
Redco
US business is sold to Teekanne GmbH. |
| 1996 |
5 more circus pieces are added in the
US. |
| 1999 to the present |
Set of 10 endangered species Wades. |
| July
2002 |
Redco
opens website
on the Wade figurines. http://www.redrosetea.com |
Sources: My own recollections, "The World of
Wade" and "The World of
Wade Book 2", both books by Ian Warner and Mike Posgay,
Red Rose of Canada website
and John Rigg. |
