Howard Cox and Simon Mowatt ABH Annual Conference Henley Business School 1-2 July 2011

John Bull Spawns the Dominant Woman:The Emergence and Sustained Rise of Odhams Press, 1847-

1939

Howard Cox and Simon MowattABH Annual ConferenceHenley Business School

1-2 July 2011

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Odhams’ business originally set up in 1847 with contract to print church newspaper

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Julius Elias (later Lord Southwood)was employed by Odhams in 1894to manage a newly-opened branchin Covent Garden

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“The only political conviction he everconvincingly entertained was the determination to gratify his own

interests.” (Oxford DNB)

Horatio Bottomley, MP

“The World,The Flesh and

The Devil”

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Elias’ concern that Odhams’ business was too dependenton the printing of John Bull

led him to develop the firm’s own magazines initially

aimed at the movie-going market

A rival weekly to John Bull was launched

by Odhams in 1915 called The Passing ShowSales of John Bull peaked

at 1.75 million in 1919

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In 1920 Elias led the formation ofOdhams Press Ltd to assume control over the publishing of John Bull

Used some of the capital to acquirethe Borough Bill Posting Company to further expand its activities indisplay advertising

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In early 1920s Odhams launchedmore popular magazine titles….

but Bottomleys’ convictionfor fraud in 1922 led to

collapse in sales of John Bull

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Need to utilise printingcapacity led Odhamsto begin publishing newspapers

Sporting Life (1920)People (1925)Daily Herald (1929)

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Odhams’ Woman was the first magazine in UK to be printed exclusively using photogravure with very high quality colour illustrations.

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Odhams’hugegravureprintingplant in Watford

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• Relationship with Bottomley and John Bull magazine was crucial in enabling the firm to develop critical mass in production terms• Elias’ skill as a manager in capitalising on new opportunities and understanding of potential customer needs• Exploitation of advertising both within magazines and more generally• Printing heritage of the firm gave it advantages when high speed photogravure emerged as a key technology in 1930s

The Rise of Odhams Press