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| An early copy of ‘Milling’ from September 1895. |
| The trials and tribulations of providing sufficient, nutritious and affordable food are played out in captivating detail within our collection of Milling journals. Milling, which began in 1891, provided national and international updates for the milling industry, covering all related aspects of food production. A comparison of early issues with later ones reveals gradual changes in technology as adverts for millstones and millwrights give way to roller mills and specialised engineers. Eternal debates such as the value of white bread vs brown bread, how to balance the opportunities of free trade with the threats of cheaper imports from abroad, and the increasing professionalisation of the industry while grappling with employment issues, ripple through the pages and across the decades. The milling industry and the people involved faced unprecedented challenges during the world wars. The 1940s issues reveal glimpses of these challenges in articles such as ‘Food Supplies for Liberated Countries’ (14th April 1945). Photographs show men labouring to unload sacks of flour from ships, and we are told that the Allied Military Liaison began work to provide food and medical supplies as soon as an Allied country became partly liberated. It is described as a ‘colossal task’, not without criticism. Photographs of industrial devastation in Germany abound in the 17th November and 1st December 1945 issues. |
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| The tone changes in the 15th December 1945 issue, as ‘For the first time in six years we shall celebrate Christmas in a world at peace’. The following message came from the President of the National Association of British and Irish Millers (now UK Flour Millers), C. A. Loombe: ‘I welcome this opportunity of sending Christmas and New Year wishes to all millers, wherever they may be. I hope that in this first Festival of Peace after the long years of war, millers will have a happy and enjoyable time and that 1946 will be in every way a prosperous and successful year for everyone connected with the industry. The future may be obscure, but the milling trade throughout the history of these Islands has always played its part and met changing circumstances with resolution and enterprise and in the spirit of service to the community. I am confident that whatever difficulties may be ahead, the millers of this country will meet them with the same courage and determination which they have always shown.’ |
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| The journal was later renamed and now exists as Milling & Grain, the monthly magazine published for the global milling industry by our Archive Patron, Perendale Publishers.In the fullness of time, we at the Mills Archive Trust are determined to catalogue and digitise our Milling journals. This will require significant funding and resources, but as far as we can tell, it has not been done anywhere else. These are a vital national and global record of the turbulent journey of food production, echoing the challenges and opportunities of ongoing food needs. |
