Taking the Industrial Biscuit

An essay in London’s Kitchen, Industry, Culture and Space in Park Royal, 2021

This book was commissioned as part of the London’s Kitchen project, a series of six limited edition products connected to and inspired by Park Royal, its character, its links and its changing industrial heritage. Taking the McVitie’s biscuit factory as a starting point, my contribution considers the biscuit’s intimate relationship to industrial work.

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Author: Catherine Flood 
Editor: Åbäke
Editor: May Rosenthal Sloan
Commissioner: Panel Glasgow

A cup of tea and a biscuit became part of an everyday psychological pattern of work and reward and the industrial tea-break was enshrined in British law, the smallest denomination amongst the sanctioned, hard-won, breaks that constitute ‘time-off’ in industrial society.