Retaking the biscuit
THE first prize in the RJR Nabisco auction is the Bath Oliver biscuit. This noble comestible, still stamped with the head of its inventor, Dr Oliver, and supplied by him to Frederick, Prince of Wales, as the core of a healthy diet, which it doubtless proved, even though poor Fred never lived to be King — the Bath Oliver, as I was saying, has gone through the centuries being taken over. From the Doctor to his coachman, then to Fortts of Bath, itself bought by Harveys of Bristol, thence to Associated Biscuits, which became Hunt- ley & Palmer and was bought by the world's biggest biscuit-maker Nabisco which in turn was bought by R. J. Reynolds — which will now, for a change, be broken up. Here is a cause and a chance for the West of England's merchant ven- turers — bring the Oliver back to Bath!
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