Foster's 'Daisy' Brand 1936 Diary. Foster, A.W. & Co. Bardney. Lincoln. [1936].

[20] pages. Printed in red  and black. 1938 1d. pale scarlet postage stamp depicting King George vi partly stuck onto front paste-down endpaper. Rounded corners. Colour illustrated paste-down endpapers, depicting pre-war canned food from England. No inscriptions. 44 x 60 mm. Staple bound. Publisher's dark blue embossed card simulating leather. Spine and corners somewhat rubbed. No copies found in WorldCat worldwide. Hitherto unrecorded and a surprising survivor since its very purpose was entirely ephemeral. The canning factory at Bardney was purpose-built in 1931 by A.W. Foster and Company. It was one of the early large-scale fruit and vegetable canning operations in Lincolnshire, a county famous for its agriculture. Despite building the factory, A.W. Foster & Co. only operated it independently for a short time. In March 1932, the business was purchased by the American-owned John Morrell and Co. Ltd. Even after the 1932 sale, the Foster's and 'Daisy' brand names were considered so valuable that they continued to be used for marketing until at least 1946, when the company was fully merged into John Morrell & Co. By 1936, the factory was a major local employer and a key part of the national supply chain for 'English garden' style canned vegetables, notably peas and fruits, which were marketed under the high-quality 'Daisy' label. The site remained a hub for food production under various owners (including Premier Foods and BP Nutrition) for over 60 years until its closure in April 1994.