Click on a year for more details...
1905
1905
Seeking to make use of the many 5 inch circular pieces of tin-plate which were the by-product of their other activities, Dan and Charles Mason turned to creating smaller tins in which they could sell a polish for use on boots and shoes which would not rub off on to clothing in the way that the existing 'blackings' did. A chemist was engaged to produce a suitable formulation.
1906
1906
Launch of Cherry Blossom Boot Polish, which under imaginative marketing, became a huge success and ultimately led to the formation (in 1913) of a separate company under the name Chiswick Polish Company Ltd and the transfer of the soap manufacturing operations to Yalding in Kent.
1911
1911
The whole of the long-running Exhibition at the Crystal Palace was hired by the Company for a full day and the gates thrown open to free admission upon presentation of a lid from a Cherry Blossom tin. The Company built a replica of the Big Ben clock tower which again encouraged people to 'meet under the clock'. The event was a major marketing coup and, with attendance of more than 200,000 visitors, produced traffic chaos which London had not witnessed to that date.
1913
1913
Formation of Chiswick Polish Company jointly owned by the Mason family and Reckitt & Sons Ltd. The businesses of William Berry Ltd and Master Boot Polish Company (both acquired by Reckitt & Sons Ltd in 1912) were integrated into Chiswick and all metal polish operations transferred to Reckitt's in Hull.
1916
1916
Workers welfare was always high on the list of priorities and the staff magazine "Forward" was launched in 1916, this was followed by a 5 day working week in 1918 a pension scheme in 1923 and in 1930; 50 semi-detached houses were provided for the work force.
1924
1924
The 'fish-plate' metal opener introduced on Cherry Blossom lids was a first for any tins and paved the way for the butterfly opening tins which were eventually replaced by today's 'press to open' in 1983.
1929
1929
With the amalgamation with Nugget Polish Company Ltd there came a name change to Chiswick Products Ltd. This was a merger of the two biggest manufacturers of boot and floor polishes in the world creating a global brand with factories and warehouses abroad as well as in the UK and a worldwide distribution.
1936
1936
Daisy Sander joined the Company to work as an assistant in the Library until 1936. She participated in the Company's Operatic and Drama Societies and was to rise to fame in later years as a stage and screen actress under the name Dandy Nichols. Finding fame as Else Garnett in 'Till Death do us part' and later 'In sickness and in Health'.
1948
1948
Cherry Blossom were quick to use commercials on cinema screens and on TV as it became popular.
1954
1954
Chiswick Products Ltd merges again this time into the newly-formed Reckitt & Colman Holdings Ltd.
1956
1956
Although the chemistry may have changed the manufacture process of shoe polish has changed little since 1956. Here purified waxes, tested and measured to exact chemical formulae, are shot into great steam-heated vessels called 'melters.' In the melters the wax becomes liquid and, in this state, is run through pipes to the mixing pots beneath. In these mixers, which are also steam-heated, where it is properly dissolved, then dyes or pigments are included and the mixing continues.
When the polish is 'cooked' the Laboratory chemists take samples and, if the batch is passed by them, the liquid is run through another pipe system into the filling machines on the floor below.
Here a specified filling temperature is maintained. In general the polish is ejected, through lines of nozzles, into containers moving forward on conveyors. As soon as the tins are filled the conveyors carry them forward where they cool and teams of girls are waiting to apply the lids
1960
1960
Padawax was first introduced – a liquid polish applied with a sponge as is shown in this 1985 commercial.
1965
1965
By the 1960's Reckitt and Colman were employing some 1,500 people in Chiswick not only making a filling polishes but also stamping and printing the tins and creating their own packaging. The factories created everything they needed on site to distribute around the world.
1977
1977
Martyn Rose saw Granger's a Watford-based chemical firm, as good opportunity for his first business venture.
1989
1989
Employed by Reckitt and Colman for 13yrs as Development Chemist on Toiletries and Household goods and answering an ad looking for a chemist who doesn't mind 'getting her feet wet' Karolina joined Grangers in 1989 before the move to Alfreton, Derbyshire.
1990
1990
Granger's moves to Grange Close Alfreton.
1992
1992
Karolina Jones is promoted from Chemist to Technical Director just in time for Cherry Blossom to arrive in 1994.
1994
1994
Cherry Blossom shoe care manufacture starts in Alfreton, Derbyshire
2009
2009
New
Cherry Blossom website is brought upto date and the Premium range launched to meet the needs of customers wanting shoe care products that use the finest components.
Our British Heritage
The first and now the only UK manufacturer of shoe polish.
At the turn of the 20th century Dan and Charles Mason ran the Chiswick Soap Company in West London. In the manufacturing and distribution process they were concerned at the amount of wasted tin plate left over in producing containers for the soap.
By 1905, appreciating the growing demand for wax boot polish, the brothers realised that this discarded tin plate could be used to make small tins ideal for polish. They therefore employed a chemist to come up with the right formulation and launched their first time tin in 1906.
The iconic "one penny tin" with its original "butterfly" twist opener was introduced in 1907 as was the name "Cherry Blossom Boot Polish". Further mechanisation at the factory enabled them to introduce other size tins.
In 1912 they sold off the soap company and concentrated on the manufacturing of polish and renamed the company, The Chiswick Polish Company.
Then Reckitts, a company who manufactured their own range of polishes, purchased a substantial share of the company and their experience was used to good effect to expand the business by concentrating on the manufacture and sales of wax polishes.
In the 1920's they went on the acquisition trail and by 1928 had become the predominate force in the market with other brands such as Meltonian and in 1929 renamed themselves Chiswick Products Ltd.
In 1938 they acquired another boot polish company, William Wren and during the war Chiswick Products made fuel drop tanks for fighter aircraft to enable them to accompany bombing missions into Germany.
Padawax, a major step forward for convenience, was introduced in 1960. You could now apply polish with just the sponge and buff with a cloth.
1983 saw the "butterfly twist" tins replaced by the "snap open" variety and in 1986 New Meltonian and Cherry Blossom Shoe Care Plus was introduced – a liquid wax shoe cream designed for fast and easy application and fast shine.
Now the Cherry Blossom shoecare range is manufactured in Alfreton, Derbyshire, and as the materials used in the manufacturing of shoes have changed to include suede, nubuck, corduras and canvas as well as the traditional leather, so too have the products on offer from Cherry Blossom.
Cherry Blossom is the original, and now, the only shoecare brand manufactured in Great Britain.
