GLASGOW EXHIBITION.
The Society had guaranteed £500 towards the expenses of the Glasgow Industrial Exhibition, and the directors were desirous of taking every advantage of the Exhibition as an advertising medium. At first it was proposed that there should be a joint Co-operative stall, in which the two Wholesale societies, the Paisley Manufacturing Society, and the Baking Society should take part. The S.C.W.S. had been trying to obtain a plot of ground, and had succeeded, on the understanding that they should pay £2,000 of the cost, and the U.C.B.S. £1,300, but this arrangement was departed from, on the ground, as stated in the Baking Society’s minutes, that neither the English Wholesale Society nor the Paisley Manufacturing Society were taking part. The Baking Society then decided to proceed themselves and, after having made arrangements with two bakery machinery manufacturing firms, they made an offer for the right to erect a model bakery in the Exhibition. This offer was not accepted, however, although it was considerably higher than the offer which was finally accepted, the reason given being that the exhibit offered by the Baking Society was not likely to be so interesting as that of either of the two other firms which offered. The affair caused a considerable amount of discussion at the time, and the opinion was freely expressed that, while no doubt could be cast on the good faith of the Exhibition committee themselves, they had been misled by the experts whom they had consulted, and that the most interesting of the proposed exhibits, as well as the one which would have paid the Exhibition committee best to accept, was that of the Baking Society. However, if they were unable to exhibit a model bakery in full working order, and including a biscuit oven as well as bread making, they were able to secure a stance where they were able to make a display of goods which attracted much attention.
Among other methods which they adopted to advertise their goods and to keep the salesmen of the societies in touch with new departments and new goods, was a monthly letter, which they issued to salesmen, in which attention was called to anything which was new. During this period, also, they began to pack their biscuits in fancy, enamelled tins, and these had a great sale. The cake shows also were proving of great value in increasing the trade in this Christmas luxury; each year’s show meaning a big increase in sales; that for 1901 showing an increase of 6,255 large cakes and of 629 dozens of small cakes over the sales of the preceding season.
In the autumn of 1901 the delegates to the Irish Conference Association were the guests of the Federation in Glasgow, which provided them with lodgings and took them for visits to Shieldhall, the Bakery, and the Municipal Buildings, as well as for a drive round the principal places of interest in the city. In 1901 the Society won first prize for oatcakes at the Bakers’ Exhibition held in the Agricultural Hall, London. Earlier, too, as a result of a discussion which had taken place at a meeting of Glasgow Town Council, the committee sent one of their loaves to the City Analyst to be analysed. The analyst’s report was to the effect that the loaf had been weighed before being analysed; and he stated:—“We are of opinion that this is a loaf of the best quality. It contains an extra large proportion of albuminous compound and the minimum of water.”
At the beginning of 1902 the directors agreed to furnish one of the bedrooms at Seamill Home, while another was furnished by the heads of departments, and, at the quarterly meeting immediately following, the delegates voted £500 as a donation towards the building fund for the Inland Home at Galashiels. Other donations were:—£20 to the Gladstone Memorial, £50 to the Festival Fund, £40 to the Indian Famine Fund, £50 to the Lord Provost of Glasgow’s Special War Relief Fund, £25 to the Owen Memorial Fund, £500 to the Glasgow Technical College Fund, and £20 to the Thomas Slater Testimonial, as well as smaller sums to many other deserving objects.