Lever Brothers

Lever Brothers
Company type	Private
Industry	Manufacturing, Soap production
Founded	1885; 141 years ago
Founder	William Hesketh Lever, James Darcy Lever
Defunct	1930
Fate	Merged with Margarine Unie to form Unilever
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom, United States, Belgian Congo, Solomon Islands
Key people	William Hesketh Lever, James Darcy Lever, Charles Luckman (president in 1950s)
Products	Soap (Sunlight Soap, Lifebuoy, Lux, Vim), Margarine, Meat products (via Mac Fisheries)
Number of employees	1400 (US, 1929)

Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing firm established in 1885 by siblings William Hesketh Lever and James Darcy Lever. They supported and financed a novel soap production technique developed by chemist William Hough Watson. The company expanded into the American market in 1895 and acquired Mac Fisheries, the proprietor of T. Wall & Sons, in 1925. Its product range featured brands such as Lifebuoy, Lux, and Vim. In 1929, Lever Brothers merged with Margarine Unie to create Unilever.

History

Beginning as a modest grocery enterprise, William and James Lever ventured into soap manufacturing in 1885 by purchasing a soap factory located in Warrington. Collaborating with chemist William Hough Watson, who invented a method utilizing glycerin and vegetable oils like palm oil instead of tallow, they produced a soap that lathered freely, initially named Honey Soap and subsequently rebranded as Sunlight Soap. By 1888, weekly production had reached 450 tons. New manufacturing plants were established at Port Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula. Although both brothers lent their names to the company, James’s involvement diminished after he became ill in 1895 and stepped down from his director role in 1897.

Lever Brothers set up operations in the United States in 1895 by opening a sales office in New York. In 1898, it acquired the Curtis Davis Company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, relocating its US headquarters there and commencing production at Technology Square. By 1929, the company employed approximately 1,400 workers across the country, ranking as the third-largest soap producer in the US market. The takeover of Mac Fisheries in 1925 broadened its business interests to include meat products.

In 1912, Lever Brothers secured rights to the Testrup hydrogenation patent, which allowed them to solidify whale oil for use in manufacturing soap and margarine—a practice maintained until at least 1937.

Unilever relocated its American headquarters and research facilities to Park Avenue, New York, in 1949 and eventually closed the Cambridge plant in 1959.

Treatment of employees

Lever Brothers was recognized among British firms for its commitment to worker welfare. The model village of Port Sunlight was developed from 1888 to 1914 adjacent to the soap factory to provide high-quality housing and community amenities for employees. This progressive approach sharply contrasted with the company’s operations in the Belgian Congo, where Lever Brothers, through its subsidiary Huileries du Congo Belge (HCB), utilized forced labour between 1911 and 1945.

Brands

By 1911, Lever Brothers had established oil palm plantations in both the Belgian Congo and the Solomon Islands. The company grew through numerous acquisitions including A&F Pears, John Knight of London, Gossage's of Widnes, Watson's of Leeds, Crosfield's of Warrington, Hazlehurst & Sons of Runcorn, and Hudson's of Liverpool. The settlement of Leverville (present-day Lusanga) in Kwango district was named after founder William Lever (later titled Viscount Leverhulme).

Unilever

In September 1929, Lever Brothers combined forces with the Dutch margarine manufacturer Margarine Unie, creating Unilever, a name that reflects both original companies. By 1930, Unilever had grown to employ 250,000 individuals and ranked as the largest British company by market capitalization, establishing itself as the first contemporary multinational corporation. The Lever Brothers brand continued to be used for subsidiaries and as a trade name in the United States and Canada until the 1990s. In 2008, the Lever Brothers division was acquired by the American firm Pensler Capital Corporation and rebranded as Korex; subsequently, its Toronto facility was shut down and declared bankrupt. The former factory site is currently undergoing redevelopment into commercial and industrial properties by First Gulf Corporation.

Presidents

One notable president was Charles Luckman, who in the 1950s advocated for the development of the Lever House in New York City. Luckman departed prior to its completion to embark on a distinguished architectural career, contributing designs for iconic structures such as Madison Square Garden, the Theme Building, the master plan for Los Angeles International Airport, the Aon Center, along with significant projects at both the Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center.

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