1920:
F. T. Bedford incorporated Penick & Ford, Ltd., which had previously
operated as a partnership.
This partnership was established by William Snydor Penick and his brother-in-law, James Polk Ford, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to sell barrel syrups and canned molasses. The monopolistic Corn Products Refining Company acquired a 25 percent stake in the partnership but was compelled to sell it following a Supreme Court ruling stemming from President Theodore Roosevelt’s trust-busting campaign.
Meanwhile, F. T. Bedford, the son of E. T. Bedford who ran Corn Products Refining, purchased the Douglas Starch Works facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa [below left: Bill W. outside this plant, c. 1926]. It had “massively” exploded in May 1919, resulting in the destruction of the plant and the deaths of 48 people. The remnants of the plant were sold by one of the founding Douglas brothers to Penick & Ford in December 1919. The plant was subsequently rebuilt to produce corn syrup. By 1922, the company would have fully recovered, and by 1923, Penick & Ford began paying preferred dividends to its shareholders.
Over the next twenty years, the company would flourish by producing various private label brands, including Brer Rabbit Molasses, Brer Rabbit Syrup, Penick Syrup, Penick Salad Oil, Douglas Starch, Penford Corn Syrup, Penford Corn Sugar, and Douglas Feed. Under Bedford’s leadership, the company would diversify further by acquiring additional food lines, such as Vermont Maid Syrup in 1928
and My-T-Fine Desserts in 1934.
How does this relate to Alcoholics
Anonymous? On page 4 of the eponymous Big Book, in “Bill’s Story,” he “was staring at an inch of the [ticker] tape which bore the inscription
XYZ-32 It had been 52 that morning.” In the May-June 1938 version of his
story, “XYZ” had been “PFK,” the stock symbol for Penick & Ford, a
company Bill researched during his stock analysis* tour with Lois from 1925
to 1927. During this period, they switched from a Harley to a used de Soto
or Dodge. He likely held a substantial stake in Penick & Ford at the
time of the Great Wall Street Crash in October 1929.
*The term “stock analysis” was not in use at that time; Bill is often credited as an early contributor to the concept. Indexes in Moody’s Investment Survey from the late 1920s include entries like “Penick & Ford Stock, Analysis,” which represents one of the earliest instances of a term similar to “stock analysis.”
1945:
The Alcoholics Anonymous District Office opened in Cleveland, Ohio, located in
the Williamson Building at the southeast corner of Public Square [right:
recent image of a door into the office]. Laverne Hawkins, a non-alcoholic,
served as its first secretary. The office’s telephone number was Cherry
1-7387. Commonly referred to as an Intergroup or Central Office in other
areas, its purpose was to provide services to current and prospective
members, serve as a source of information, and distribute
literature to groups and individuals. In its first month, the office received
31 calls, including requests for help and inquiries about meeting locations.
This partnership was established by William Snydor Penick and his brother-in-law, James Polk Ford, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to sell barrel syrups and canned molasses. The monopolistic Corn Products Refining Company acquired a 25 percent stake in the partnership but was compelled to sell it following a Supreme Court ruling stemming from President Theodore Roosevelt’s trust-busting campaign.
Meanwhile, F. T. Bedford, the son of E. T. Bedford who ran Corn Products Refining, purchased the Douglas Starch Works facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa [below left: Bill W. outside this plant, c. 1926]. It had “massively” exploded in May 1919, resulting in the destruction of the plant and the deaths of 48 people. The remnants of the plant were sold by one of the founding Douglas brothers to Penick & Ford in December 1919. The plant was subsequently rebuilt to produce corn syrup. By 1922, the company would have fully recovered, and by 1923, Penick & Ford began paying preferred dividends to its shareholders.
Over the next twenty years, the company would flourish by producing various private label brands, including Brer Rabbit Molasses, Brer Rabbit Syrup, Penick Syrup, Penick Salad Oil, Douglas Starch, Penford Corn Syrup, Penford Corn Sugar, and Douglas Feed. Under Bedford’s leadership, the company would diversify further by acquiring additional food lines, such as Vermont Maid Syrup in 1928
and My-T-Fine Desserts in 1934.
How does this relate to Alcoholics
Anonymous? On page 4 of the eponymous Big Book, in “Bill’s Story,” he “was staring at an inch of the [ticker] tape which bore the inscription
XYZ-32 It had been 52 that morning.” In the May-June 1938 version of his
story, “XYZ” had been “PFK,” the stock symbol for Penick & Ford, a
company Bill researched during his stock analysis* tour with Lois from 1925
to 1927. During this period, they switched from a Harley to a used de Soto
or Dodge. He likely held a substantial stake in Penick & Ford at the
time of the Great Wall Street Crash in October 1929.
*The term “stock analysis” was not in use at that time; Bill is often credited as an early contributor to the concept. Indexes in Moody’s Investment Survey from the late 1920s include entries like “Penick & Ford Stock, Analysis,” which represents one of the earliest instances of a term similar to “stock analysis.”
1945:
The Alcoholics Anonymous District Office opened in Cleveland, Ohio, located in
the Williamson Building at the southeast corner of Public Square [right:
recent image of a door into the office]. Laverne Hawkins, a non-alcoholic,
served as its first secretary. The office’s telephone number was Cherry
1-7387. Commonly referred to as an Intergroup or Central Office in other
areas, its purpose was to provide services to current and prospective
members, serve as a source of information, and distribute
literature to groups and individuals. In its first month, the office received
31 calls, including requests for help and inquiries about meeting locations.
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