John Mackintosh, incorporated in 1899, emerged as one of Britain's major confectionery firms, gaining national prominence through the manufacture and marketing of distinct products. A number of interrelated factors marked its growth. Dominated by a single family, the motivations and contributions of its leading members were formative, and its history inevitably engages with debates on Britain's “personal capitalism” and its failings. Considering the importance of marketing to a consumer products manufacturer, capabilities in this critical function are entangled with issues of ownership and management. During the 1930s, the firm ended its reliance on toffee lines, replacing them with innovative, highly advertised brands that mixed toffee with chocolate. These product breakthroughs were fully exploited in the postwar consumer boom. The timing and nature of Mackintosh's achievements can be compared to those of its rival, Rowntree, but there were important differences in their implementation. The story of this firm is an important addition to the history of the British confectionery industry and its development, offering insights into the evolution of marketing techniques. The case of Mackintosh is additionally useful because it clearly reveals an unexplored theme. A long-term perspective on its growth highlights the distinction between “early” and “mature” markets and shows how changes in demand influenced, and then tested, the efficacy of marketing approaches.

The development of the pulp and paper sector has been a highly controversial subject in Canadian business history. During the 1920s, there was a rapid growth of capacity (which reached twice the level of market demand) and a series of mergers as different firms sought to attain giant size. By 1928 several leading companies were experiencing difficulties, and by 1932 half of the producers were bankrupt while the remainder hovered on the brink of insolvency. These developments had their own logic and were driven by strategic issues and the formation of an institutional market for industrial securities. As corporate executives propelled their firms into dubious strategies characterized by excess production and unrealistic dividend policies, the status of the newsprint producers was obscured from investors by financial and accounting practices, thereby contributing to a flood of investment, which was followed by corporate collapse. The attempts to reorganize the companies began a complex process that lasted anywhere from several years to more than a decade.

An examination of the fortunes of three hotel groups in the 1920s and 1930s suggests that the collapse of international demand and the growth of a middle-class motorized trade were the major influences on differential performance. While trading difficulties led to an effort to exit from unprofitable outlets or to rationalize supplies and services, opportunities for economy were restricted by customers' rising expectations of facilities and the need to protect a preeminent position in the market. Company organization appears to have contributed little, with the best performance achieved by the group with the smallest individual units and the least opportunity for structural specialization or economies.

Industrialization, urbanization, and commercial expansion following the Civil War altered the social and economic landscape in America and contributed to the rapid development of new consumer markets. Manufacturers began to vie aggressively for consumer spending. It was the advertising trade card that met the need for an effective national advertising medium, heralding the arrival of an extraordinary variety of manufactured goods newly available to the American public.