Lever Brothers
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Robot-assisted fix [[WP:DPL|links to disambiguation page]] British
[[Image:LeverHouseNewYork.JPG|thumb|[[Lever House]], [[New York City]]]]The [[United Kingdom|British]] manufacturer '''Lever Brothers''' was founded in 1885 by [[William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme|William Hesketh Lever]] and his brother, James.
In 1885 they bought a small [[soap]] works in [[Warrington]]. Using [[glycerin]] and vegetable oils such as [[palm oil]], rather than [[tallow]], to manufacture soap, they produced a good, free-lathering soap, called "[[Sunlight (cleaning product)|Sunlight Soap]]", at a rate of 450 tons per week by 1888. Larger premises were built on marshes at [[Bromborough|Bromborough Pool]] on the [[Wirral Peninsula]] at what became "[[Port Sunlight]]".
Lever Brothers was one of several British companies that took a interest in the welfare of its employees.{{cn|date=April 2008}} The [[model village]] of Port Sunlight was developed between 1888 and 1914 adjoining the soap factory to accommodate the company's staff in good quality housing, with high architectural standards and many community facilities.
By 1900 "[[Lifebuoy (soap)|Lifebuoy]]", "[[Lux (soap)|Lux]]" and "[[Vim (cleaning product)|Vim]]" brands had been added and subsidiaries had been set up in the [[United States]], [[Switzerland]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[Germany]] and elsewhere. By 1911 the company had its own [[oil palm]] plantations in the [[Congo Basin|Congo]] and the [[Solomon Islands]]. Lever Brothers Ltd also acquired other soap companies including [[Andrew Pears|A&F Pears]], [[William Gossage|Gossage's]] of [[Widnes]], Crosfield's of Warrington, [[Hazlehurst & Sons]] of [[Runcorn]] and [[Robert Spear Hudson (soap)|Hudson's]] of [[Liverpool]].
The company grew and operated until 1930, when it merged with a [[The Netherlands|Dutch]] company, [[Margarine Unie]], to form [[Unilever]], the first modern multinational company. The '''Lever Brothers''' name was kept for a time as an imprint, as well as the name of the US subsidiary, Lever Brothers Company, and a Canadian subsidiary, Lever Brothers Ltd.
==See also==
* [[Lever Brothers Factory, Balmain|Lever Brothers Factory]] originally located in [[Balmain]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]]
* [[Port Sunlight]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Unilever]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1885]]
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