The post war Albright and Wilson, having benefitted heavily from that war were at the peak of their controlling powers in the early 1950’s. They ran Oldbury, and had for some time with ratty Wilson and fan boy industrialists in political office. The Oldbury and Widnes operations stemmed other production units at Portishead as well as Kirby and a new venture in silicones in Barry, South Wales. Abroad there were also plants at Varennes in Canada and Yarraville, Australia.
Another artefact I have come across from 1955 shows the accounts of AW from the previous year. Ratty Wilson is revealed to still be chairman of the board, and allied to this the managing director- the war dodger Bill Albright. By now familiar “home guard” employees like Sydney Barratt and Keith Piercy had given up playing soldiers and were also directors. Barratt had in fact replaced ratty 2 Wilson- Christopher as secretary that year, but remained on the board as he had for many years.
I have scanned most of this booklet minus the boring financial figures, but some interesting points come from the rest of it and rodent Wilson’s statement.
Wilson cooking the books
The production of their deadly white phosphorus was increasing, and their fingers were in many pies
Drawing looks like the iconic Oldbury phosphoric acid towers
Missing of course are details like The Oldbury smell, which had been a local concern since the end of the previous decade, and was at its most foul around this time.
By far the most interesting part of this for me are the advertisements at the end, showcasing the AW products at this time- their “chemicals for industry” mantra. I have seen most of these before and offered observations of them HERE. Some however are new.
The blight of phosphoric acid was not giving people what they needed in Oldbury
The picture on the right of a young Roger Moore I looked at HERE.
Mr PVC man I had not seen before. Phthalates, lead and vinyl chloride- a carcinogen are all harmful materials associated with this common material from this time, making this product far from safe or environmentally friendly, but of course industry does not care about that.
The much lauded calgon and the South Wales silicones plant. The site at Barry would make losses for AW for several years , as did the early production of p4 at Portishead.
The Carbon tetrachloride ad – another cancer product I have looked at before, but the farmer and his crop is a new one which is of very great interest around this time. AW were Nazi heirs when it came to insecticide production. It is this exact production at Oldbury through malathion which produced “The Oldbury smell” and so how absurd that they include this in this brochure- a perfect example of how industry could not give a shit about the impacts of its effects on its residential neighbours.
fuck the “poor” millionaire farmers, what about local residents?
More Calgon. The dishwasher I have seen before , but “ernie” the milko is a new one for me. Of course phosphates would see the rise of environmental pollution in lakes and Rivers wherever they have been used. But that is exactly the problem with Albright and Wilson and the “problem-reaction-solution” (chemicals for industry) model which they used throughout their lifetime, and one which the chemical industry and its allied big pharma shills still employ today to dupe the public with their financial avarice fraud.
