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Georges Bormann Chocolate and Candy steam factory in St. Petersburg

Behind any successful company is the person who founded it. In the case of the chocolate factory "Georges Bormann", it is Grigory Nikolaevich Bormann, born in St. Petersburg in 1837.

Grigory Nikolaevich Bormann

In 1862, after graduating from the university, during which he worked as a salesman in a candy store, our hero decides to open his own business. As a result, a small shop with the name "Georges Bormann" appeared on Nevsky Prospekt. Production in it was completely manual, and was carried out with the help of a single machine for making chocolate [1].


Confectionery shop "Georges Borman" in St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, 65. The beginning of the 20th century

The resulting income was invested in the development of the business and in 1866 Borman acquired a chocolate factory on Angliyskiy Prospekt. Thanks to hard work and dedication, confectionery products were awarded the bronze medal of the All-Russian Exhibition of 1870 in St. Petersburg and already in 1872 Bormann expands production and completes the workshops to his factory. Up to 90 poods (1500 kg!) of chocolate were made daily [4].


[2] GEORGE BORMAN Factory building

In the following years, the business of our hero and his sweet factory went only uphill. In 1876, Grigory Nikolaevich Borman was awarded the title of "Supplier of the Court of His Imperial Majesty" with the right to depict the state emblem on his products.


Badge of the supplier of the Court of His Imperial Majesty

The evaluation of the company's activities at such a high level contributed to the expansion of the business and the development of additional sales markets. In 1876, the first wholesale warehouse of confectionery products was opened in Apraksin Dvor, and two years later wholesale warehouses were opened in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod. In 1878, the trademark "Georges Bormann" at the World Exhibition in Paris receives the first gold medal. In 1895, the company's products won two gold medals at an exhibition in Paris. In the same year, at the exhibition in Chicago, Grigory Borman received an honorary diploma with a medal.


[5] Wholesale price list of 1913

But what contributed to such a rapid success and huge popularity?


As it is written in the book "The Steam Factory of Chocolate and Confect Georges Bormann in St. Petersburg"[2]: "Such a huge popularity Georges Bormann owes solely to the energy and the conscientiousness with which he conducts this business. His factory has set itself the goal: not chasing big profits and big benefits, to satisfy the tastes and needs of the public, offering them fresh and beautifully crafted products.". And if, to our great regret, we can't taste how delicious the factory's products were, then we can still admire Bormann's ideas and assess how much they influenced his success.

The products of the company "George Borman". Chocolate and cocoa

First of all, I would like to note the technology introduced by Grigory Borman to use a steam engine in his production to set in motion the latest confectionery machines, which allowed to increase the scale of production and the variety of the assortment at times.


[2] Manufacture of chocolate
[4] Forming chocolate bars
[2] Workshops packaging of caramel
[4] The Department for the manufacture of dragee and liquor sweets.

Along with the technological progress in production, an equally important role was occupied by what it is called in our time – marketing. Bormann spent a lot of money on creating interesting and memorable packages. I suggest you take a look at the thematic series of wrappers "Children's Wizard". Such attention-grabbing packaging contributed to fame, and the desire to collect the entire collection and the curiosity of the main consumers of Bormann's products-small sweet tooths, contributed to an increase in sales [3].


Amazing pendulum


The essence of the experiment is that it

is necessary to fill a glass of wine with water and cover it with thick paper so that no air penetrates under the paper. The outside air pressure is so high that even when tilted, nothing will spill. For more effect, you can attach a rope to the cardboard so that you can use the glass as a pendulum. For a more successful experience, it does not hurt to lightly lubricate the edges of the glass with fat.







Carousel on a needle


Although the tip of the needle is small, but you can place a lot on it. Take a bottle and plug it with a cork, stick a needle in this cork. In the other plug, insert two forks at an equal height and exactly opposite each other. In the middle of the top stopper, vertically fix the coin with the edges of the minting. Put the stopper by a coin edge on the tip of the needle and the entire upper system will spin even from the slightest push with your hand.







A cannon shot from a bottle


In a large bottle of champagne, pour one and a half glasses of water, with a solution of soda. Another powder is taken, with tartar salt, in a tube from the map, plugged at the bottom with a cork made of pass paper. In the base of such a cartridge, a pin is threaded, which is attached with a string to the cork of a bottle standing vertically on the table. The open end of the tube is facing up. The bottle is tightly sealed, so that the base of the projectile does not touch the water. To make a shot from the cannon, put the bottle horizontally on two round pencils, replacing the carriage. The water penetrates the projectile, dissolves the tartaric salt, and the gas produced by the reaction throws out the cork, and the bottle on the pencils rolls back.


Flying Coin


Each coin can become flying in the right hands. It doesn't need wings to do that. Take a glass that expands to the edges, which is slightly larger than a ruble coin at the top. At the bottom of the glass, lower a small silver coin and cover the top with a ruble. Now you can get the bottom coin without touching either the glass or the ruble. It is only necessary to blow hard on the edge of the ruble, it will turn, stand upright, and the resulting compressed air will throw out a small coin from the glass.






Flying butterflies


A jar with a wide neck is sealed with a cork with a hole in which a glass funnel is inserted. All the cracks are covered with sealing wax. The jar is half filled with water, into which soda and tartaric acid are poured. These two powders form a gas that will escape through the funnel. If you put balls or beads in it, the gas will throw them out. The balls can be decorated with wings, so they will look just like butterflies flying out of a bottle.








Artificial lilies of the valley


Tilt a burning stearin candle over a glass of cold water. Each drop of stearin will turn into a small cup, exactly like a lily of the valley. By tilting or lifting the candle, you can change the size of the cups. Then heat the end of a thin wire and thread it through the center of the stearin cup while it floats on the water. Move the cup to the other, rounded end of the wire, completed with a hook holding the lily of the valley. Connect several of these wires together, placing the smaller cups above, and put them in a vase, removing them with wide, pointed leaves of green paper. The flowers will be completely similar to the forest lilies of the valley.


Docile fish


From the raw egg, all the contents are released through small holes at the ends. One of the holes is carefully sealed with wax; a round eye is drawn on the shell with a pencil on each side. From two pieces of red flannel, cut out the figure of a fish, as shown in the figure, and sew it along the dotted line. In the bag, put a few pellets and a shell for ballast, with the eyes and the hole out. The eggshell is stuck to the flannel with red sealing wax — and the fish is ready. The jar filled with water is tied with a rubber film or bubble. The ballast in the fish must be adjusted so that the fish floats on the surface of the water and sinks to the bottom at the slightest pressure of the hand. When the bubble is slightly pressed, a few drops are poured into the hole of the shell, the fish sinks. The hand is taken away — - the compressed air pushes out the water — the fish comes up again


How did the poles form?


The earth, solidified from the molten mass, is flattened at the poles and thickened at the equator. The simple apparatus shown in our drawing clearly shows how the centrifugal force was manifested in this case. The circle from the folder is rotated by means of threads threaded through a hole near the center; they are twisted and unwound by hands. On the four halves of the pins, pierced through a stick, are loosely held together at right angles strips of cardboard, the width of a finger; these strips form the contours of a ball, or the meridians of the earth. The upper points where the stripes cross, similar to the south and north poles. By twisting and pulling the threads, we will spin them, giving the device a rapid rotational movement, similar to the rotation of the earth around its axis. In this case, the meridian strips will lose their correct roundness.


Eyes on the back of the head


Seeing what's going on behind your back is quite a difficult task. For this purpose, the easiest way would be to get eyes on the back of the head. Optics have not yet reached this point: we have to limit ourselves to an artificial device. His name is postoscope. Despite the tricky name, it is easy to make the device. The postoscope consists of a small cardboard box, one of the edges of which is open; a hole is made on one of the sides. Diagonally, the box is crossed by a vertically placed piece of mirror. Attach the eyes to the orifice of postoscope, and you will unmistakably tell you everything that happens behind your back. Postoscope perfectly replaces "eyes in the back of your head".


The history of the production of Grigory Borman is extensive and interesting, and you can touch it personally in our time in the museum "Chocolate stories of Georges Borman", located at the same address, bought in 1866, the factory: St. Petersburg, English Avenue, house 16.


Sources:

  1. A cannon shot from a bottle[Electronic resource] URL: https://ar.culture.ru/ru/subject/pushechnyy-vystrel-iz-butylki

  2. A.F. Marks. Georges Bormann Chocolate and Candy steam factory in St. Petersburg [Electronic resource] URL: http://eb.pl.spb.ru/pdfviewer.html?file=/static/pdf/Petra/PRNB0013_18.198.2.402.pdf#1

  3. "Georges Bormann": chocolate series "Children's wizard". The beginning of the XX century [Electronic resource] URL: http://tehne.com/event/arhivsyachina/zhorzh-borman-shokolad-serii-detskiy-volshebnik-nachalo-xx-veka

  4. Confectionery factory " Georges Bormann" [Electronic resource] URL: https://www.citywalls.ru/house640.html?s=ks1bqcdvmt6vjftnjkph84ca46

  5. Wholesale price list of the Georges Bormann Partnership, January 1913 [Electronic resource] URL: https://humus.dreamwidth.org/9035320.html


 

Паровая фабрика шоколада и конфет Жоржа Бормана в Санкт-Петербурге


За любой успешной компанией стоит личность, которая её основала. В случае с шоколадной фабрикой «Жорж Борман» ей является Григорий Николаевич Борман рожденный в Санкт-Петербурге в 1837 году.


Григорий Николаевич Борман

В 1862 году, после окончания университета, во времена которого он подрабатывал продавцом в магазине сладостей, наш герой решает открыть свое дело. В результате чего на Невском проспекте появился небольшой магазин с названием «Жорж Борман». Производство в нем было полностью ручным, и осуществлялось с помощью единственной машинки по выделке шоколада. [1]


Полученный доход вкладывался в развитие бизнеса и в 1866 Борман приобретает шоколадную фабрику на Английском проспекте. Благодаря упорному труду и преданности делу, кондитерские изделия были отмечены бронзовой медалью Всероссийской выставки 1870г. в Санкт-Петербурге и уже в 1872г. Борман расширяет производство и достраивает цеха к своей фабрике. Ежедневно изготавливалось до 90 пудов (1500 кг!) шоколада. [4]


[2] Здание фабрики Жорж Борман

В последующие года дела нашего героя и его сладкой фабрики шли только в гору. В 1876 году Григорий Николаевич Борман удостоился звания «Поставщик Двора Его Императорского Величества» с предоставлением права изображения государственного герба на своей продукции.


Знак поставщика Двора Его Императорского Величества

Оценка деятельности фирмы на столь высоком уровне способствовала расширению бизнеса и освоению дополнительных рынков сбыта. В 1876 году был открыт первый оптовый склад изделий кондитерской фабрики в Апраксином дворе, а через два года оптовые склады открылись в Москве и Нижнем Новгороде. В 1878 году торговая марка «Жорж Борман» на Всемирной выставке в Париже получает первую золотую медаль. В 1895 году продукция фирмы получила две золотых медали на выставке в Париже. В том же году на выставке в Чикаго Григорий Николаевич Борман получил почётный диплом с медалью.

[5] Оптовый прайс-лист 1913 года


Но что способствовало такому стремительному успеху и огромной популярности?


Как пишется в книге «Паровая фабрика Шоколада и Конфект Жорж Борман в Санкт-Петербурге»[2]: «Такой огромной популярности Жорж Борман обязан исключительно той энергии и той добросовестности, с какой он ведет это дело. Фабрика его поставила себе целью: не гоняясь за большим барышом и крупными выгодами, удовлетворить вкусам и потребностям публики, предлагая ей свежие и прекрасно выделанные продукты». И если, к нашему большому сожалению, попробовать на вкус насколько восхитительной была продукция фабрики мы не можем, то восхититься идеями Бормана и оценить насколько они повлияли на его успех мы можем и сейчас.


В первую очередь хочется отметить введенную Григорием Николаевичем Борманом технологию использования паровой машины на своем производстве для приведения в движение новейших кондитерских машин, что позволило увеличить масштабы производства и разнообразие ассортимента в разы.

[2] Производство шоколада

[4] Формирование шоколадных плиток
[2] Мастерские упаковки карамели
[4] Отделение для выделки драже и ликерных конфект.

Вместе с техническим прогрессом в производстве, не менее важную роль занимал, как он называется в наше время – маркетинг. Немалые средства Борман тратил на создание интересных и запоминающихся упаковок. Предлагаю взглянуть на тематическую серию обёрток «Детский волшебник». Такие цепляющие внимание упаковки, способствовали известности, а желание собрать всю коллекцию и любознательность главных потребителей продукции Бормана – маленьких сладкоежек, способствовала увеличению продаж. [3]



История производства Григория Бормана обширна и интересна, а чтобы коснуться её лично, то в наше время можно сходить в музей «Шоколадные истории Жоржа Бормана» находящийся все по тому же адресу, купленной в 1866 году фабрики: г. Санкт-Петербург, Английский проспект, дом 16.


Источники:

  1. Пушечный выстрел из бутылки [Электронный ресурс] URL: https://ar.culture.ru/ru/subject/pushechnyy-vystrel-iz-butylki

  2. А.Ф.Маркс. Паровая фабрика Шоколада и Конфект Жорж Борман в Санкт-Петербурге [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://eb.pl.spb.ru/pdfviewer.html?file=/static/pdf/Petra/PRNB0013_18.198.2.402.pdf#1

  3. «Жорж Борман»: шоколад серии «Детский волшебник». Начало XX века [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://tehne.com/event/arhivsyachina/zhorzh-borman-shokolad-serii-detskiy-volshebnik-nachalo-xx-veka

  4. Кондитерская фабрика "Жорж Борман" [Электронный ресурс] URL: https://www.citywalls.ru/house640.html?s=ks1bqcdvmt6vjftnjkph84ca46

  5. Оптовый прейскурант т-ва «Жорж Борман», январь 1913 [Электронный ресурс] URL: https://humus.dreamwidth.org/9035320.html

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