The HP Sauce Story
The following is an abbreviated history of the origins of HP Sauce. This page will be a continuing effort and will be updated as new information becomes available.
The HP Sauce story begins with Edwin Samson Moore. As a young man in the early 1870’s, Samson had worked at a vinegar company and at a pickle manufacturer and having learned the basics of the vinegar trade, it wasn’t long before he had aspirations of is own of founding his own vinegar company. With the financial backing of his cousin Edward Eastwood, Samson Moore founded the Midland Vinegar Company on Tower Road, Aston Cross England in 1875.
Soon thereafter, Samson, his wife Mary and baby Edwin relocated to live adjacent to the vinegar brewery much to the behest of Mary as she found the smell of vinegar emanating from the brewery to be very unpleasant. She also had reservations on whether another vinegar company could compete with the other well established companies in the area. Samson on the other hand had no reservations; vinegar consumption was bound to increase! Indeed, improvements in transportation made fish more readily available and to more markets. Fish & chip shops were not only becoming more common, but very popular as well. They would naturally require vinegar!
Samson’s vision proved sound and the business and his family grew and in 1880, his fifth child Edgar was born. By 1887 they relocated once again, this time away from the brewery where Mary and the children could enjoy the fresh air. Meanwhile, their old home was demolished in order to expand the business to include the making of sauces.
New spices from the far east were fast become increasingly available as shipping methods improved along with newly established trade routes. Spices from India were also made popular by people returning to England from the colonies. Samson was convinced the time was ripe for a new popular sauce.
Mary was tasked with creating a new sauce and went to work with some of the new and exotic Indian spices. One issue remained – what to call it? Try as he might, Samson could not come up with a suitable name. Eddie too suggested name after name, but none seemed right. As a businessman, Samson understood that the correct name is crucial to building a brand. This task however was soon relegated to his spare time, as the daily routine of running a business had to take precedence. It was during one of his collection routines from a local grocer which was destined to change everything.
Samson & Eddie set out to pay a visit to the grocer F. G. Garton in Nottingham who had over time, run up a vinegar debt with the firm. Eddie who, now having served 10 years at the firm and now travelled with Samson on such runs. Mr Garton’s shop however had been struggling. In order to make ends meet, he would go about the streets in the evening selling groceries and his home-made sauce from a basket cart.
Samson & Eddie entered the grocery and were escorted to the back to discuss Mr Garton’s vinegar debt while Mrs Garton stayed in front to mind the shop. It was there that Samson spotted Mr Garton’s basket cart in the garden. Upon it was a board with the crudely painted letters “Garton’s H.P. Sauceâ€?. Samson instantly realized that his search was at an end! The new sauce was to be called H.P.! They quickly settled Mr. Garton’s debt and purchased the name and recipe for a sum of £150 then hurrying home, excited with their discovery.
More to come!
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