Wedgwood: The First Tycoon

by Brian Dolan

With its familiar white classical figures against a pale-blue background, Wedgwood has been one of the most recognizable brand names in the world for more than two hundred years—the epitome of quality and luxury—and the Enlightenment’s most remarkable success story.

Born into a family of struggling potters, Josiah Wedgwood amassed a fortune that, at his death in 1795, was valued at the equivalent of $3.4 billion in today’s dollars and helmed an empire that stretched from England to Russia to the United States. As a member of the famous Lunar Society, whose members included James Watt, Joseph Priestley, and Erasmus Darwin, he combined rationality with bold experimentation, revolutionizing the business model of his time with a series of innovations that have continued to this day:
• Organizing skilled labor in one of the world’s earliest factories
• Encouraging employee loyalty by offering long-term contracts that included health insurance and pension plans
• Changing the very notion of shopping by utilizing showrooms and traveling salesmen

The story of how phenomenal wealth affected the lives of a family and of the turbulent political climate that threatened their very livelihood, this vivid and compelling portrait of a pioneer of commercial culture is sure to be a hit with loyal collectors and the business market alike.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Business

416 pages, Hardcover

First published October 7, 2004

Reviews

[Michael Ransley]

I didn't know too much about this man (or the fact that he started his factory only about half an hour from where I once lived), but when I read this book you meet a man who comes from very humble beginnings who becomes the leader in his industry and invented many of the products that we take for granted as well.

The book is well written and of good length.

[Rachel Boling]

This book was so hard to read.

I didn't actually finish it, but I did slog my way through 2/3 of it before I gave up.

The subject could have been interesting; the rise of a business tycoon from humble circumstance, set against the late 18th century.

Unfortunately, the author likes to wander through the subject, taking side track--sometimes in the middle of sentences. He switches from overblown language to direct quotes from Wedgewood's writings, which reads poorly, and includes jargon from the time that isn't always explained; for instance the author quotes Wedgewood calling his children "bratts" with no indication if the term was as pejorative then as it is now.

[Lynne Ellen]

Non-fiction authors do such a large amount of research, they feel the need to share ALL of it. This makes for a less than exciting read at times. Wedgwood was along that line, but Dolan does a good job of moving along with such a lot of history to cover. It does feel like a slog at times, but I learned a lot from this book.

[Shirley]

There are parallels between Josiah Wedgwood in the 1760s and Steve Jobs in the 1980s. Both transformed an existing industry through a combination of artistry, technical innovation, and marketing prowess.

I became fascinated with the Wedgwood story after a knowledgeable tour guide's talk at Chicago The Art Institute in 2005. The guide told his story of being the first in England to develop advanced manufacturing processes, his ongoing product development research in glazes, firing control (pyrometer), types of clay and working out processes to ensure manufacturing consistency.

Dolan's Wedgwood biography fleshes that out, telling the story of a man rising from relative poverty through training, hard work, observation, research, an infusion of capital from his wife's family (poor boy proves himself through industry and hard work!), good friends, and connections. Wedgewood didn't just industrialize pottery manufacture - he was instrumental in improving transport in Staffordshire through his leadership in raising subscriptions to start underwriting the cost of the Trent and Mersey Canal, and then pushing through Great Britain's political system to ensure that it got built. The roads were horrible in 18th century Staffordshire - deep-rutted tracks that turned into mud morasses when it rained. Wedgwood and his fellow Staffordshire potters were able to dominate the world market for pottery because that canal reduced how much of their wares were damaged in transit.

There is still much to learn from the story of Great Britain and Europe's industrialization - it didn't "just happen". It's important to understand what conditions were required for the great innovations to be worked out - and then what was required for them to spread. There is still much to be learned and managed by other parts of the world that are industrializing now - and for others needing to reinvent themselves for the next wave of change.

Those lessons are:
1. Infrastructure is important. Wedgwood initially had huge challenges getting his products to market because of bad roads and the resulting need to rely on third-party resellers for his early sales.
2. Organization is important. Wedgewood was only able to get large volume consistent production through rigorous attention to worker training, paying good wages, quality control and workshop organization.
3. Good design is the ultimate value add. Wedgewood stayed out in front of his competitors by always having the next new thing ready to roll out when the novelty of the current hot product faded.
4. He pioneered the use of showrooms and shopping as recreation for the upper class, using premium pricing for new products, then dropping the price for the middle classes as he was able to scale production.

This is an underappreciated industrial and design history story. My key takeaway is the importance of combining art and cutting edge technologies.

[Nathan]

There is a surprising amount of information that Dolan has gathered about Josiah Wedgwood, who is so often given passing mention in history books. But his story is so boring, I prefer the once-over. Unless you're obsessed with pottery, the story: experiment after experiment, glaze after glaze, won't really compel you to keep reading.

Weirdly, this did start off pretty well, presenting Wedgwood and those around him as fully-realized characters in an engaging story, but once he started working with pottery, I lost interest.

[Dave Rothacker]

Goodread reviewer Nathan probably best describes Wedgwood: boring. So proceed with caution if you're contemplating reading it.

I gave it a four because I became infatuated with Wedgwood's drive to improve his industry, trade and craft.

I had heard over the years people tagging Wedgwood as the first truly great marketing mind. So I had my radar set for anything marketing related as I read. While I was not disappointed, don't read this looking for new lessons on marketing.

It turns out Wedgwood's great grandson was a fairly popular geologist.

[Shawn]

Quite unexpectedly, loved this biography. Think I got it for free somewhere on a random leave one, take one shelf, and then finally needed a book to read and decided to try it.