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Blue Valley Creamery Company was a company that operated many creameries and milk plants across the United States. ==History== Before 1900, limitations in transportation and storage limited the geographic scope of creameries. To that time, creameries were primarily local, gathering cream from nearby dairy farms and distributed the produce locally. Also, cream separation was inefficient, primarily relying on gravity or centrifugal force. Advances in the railroad network and cold storage and practical implementation of a hand cream separator permitted creameries to serve larger areas and achieve economies of scale. These large de-localized creameries were referred to as "centralizers" - especially by those who suspected them of anti-competitive practice. Blue Valley Creamery Company was founded by Huston Wyeth (1863–1925) and James A. Walker around 1900. Huston Wyeth's father, William Maxwell Wyeth, had built a hardware, saddlery and real estate empire in St. Joseph, Missouri. Wyeth took over the business and branched into other endeavors, including formation of the Artesian Ice & Cold Storage Company in 1892. James Walker had been involved in the dairy business since 1888.〔 "Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, my name is J. A. Walker, 700 South Clinton Street, Chicago, Ill. I am vice president of the National Dairy Council, and vice president and treasurer of the National Dairy Show Association. I have been continuously connected with the creamery business since 1888. I am vice president of the Blue Valley Creamery Co., which has for the past 21 years been manufacturing creamery butter under the hand cream separator system, dealing directly with the farmers in the purchase of our cream. Our creameries and selling agencies are located in the following cities: Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Detroit, Mich.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; St. Joseph, Mo.; Sioux City, Iowa; Hastings, Nebr.; Parsons, Kans.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Springfield, Ill.; Columbus, Ohio; Clinton, Ill; Louisville, Ky.; St. Louis, Mo.; Cleveland, Ohio; and New York City, N. Y. Our total sales for the year 1920 were $22,963,038.66."〕 Their respective experiences with cold storage and transportation on Wyeth's part and dairy on Walker's part likely contributed to the formation and success of the venture. The Blue Valley Creamery Company was incorporated in Missouri on May 1, 1900. Business was to be conducted in St. Joseph. Initial stock holders are listed as G. M. Johnson, James A. Walker and H.S. Hamilton. The listed business purposes are "to manufacture, buy and sell, both at wholesale and retail all kinds of creamery and dairy products, especially milk, butter, cheese and ice creams, and any and all such other articles and products as are usually bought, manufactured and sold by parties or companies engaged in a general dairy and creamery business and to purchase, hold, manage, mortgage and convey, or otherwise acquire, control and dispose of, all such real and personal estate materials, machinery, appliances and fixtures, as may be necessary to effectually conduct and perform the business and purposes for which this company is incorporated." Capital stock was increased in 1901, 1905, and 1915 based on meetings held in St. Joseph with James A. Walker as secretary and, for the first two meetings, Huston Wyeth as chair and, for the last, L.C. Hamilton as chair. The 1915 statement lists shareholders, residence and share count as: Huston Wyeth, St. Joseph, Mo., 1672; L C Hamilton, St. Joseph, Mo., 1628; C J Walker, Chicago, Ills., 1100; and J A Walker, Chicago, Ills., 1100. On 13 May 1918, Blue Valley Creamery Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Missouri "transferred all of its property and assets to the Blue Valley Creamery Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware" and dissolved.〔5/1/1900 "Creation Filing" is Articles of Incorporation of the Blue Valley Creamery Company. Business to be conducted at St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri. Initial stock holders listed as G. M. Johnson, James A. Walker and H.S. Hamilton. Purposes are "to manufacture, buy and sell, both at wholesale and retail all kinds of creamery and dairy products, especially milk, butter, cheese and ice creams, and any and all such other articles and products as are usually bought, manufactured and sold by parties or companies engaged in a general dairy and creamery business and to purchase, hold, manage, mortgage and convey, or otherwise acquire, control and dispose of, all such real and personal estate materials, machinery, appliances and fixtures, as may be necessary to effectually conduct and perform the business and purposes for which this company is incorporated." Executed on 30 Apr 1900. 9/23/1901 "Amend/Restate" is Statement for Increase of Capital Stock. On 21 Sep 1901, the stockholders met at the company's offices in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri with notice provided in the St. Joseph Weekly News. The "meeting was organized by choosing Huston Wyeth, a director in said company, chairman and James A. Walker secretary thereof. Authorized capital stock was increased from $5,000 to $12,500. 8/9/1905 "Amend/Restate" is substantively the same as the 1901 statement except increasing authorized capital stock from $12,500 to $200,000. 11/12/1915 "Amend/Restate" is substantively the same as the 1901 and 1905 statements except (1) the "meeting was organized by choosing L. C. Hamilton, a director in said company, chairman and James A. Walker secretary thereof" an d(2) increasing authorized capital stock from $200,000 to $750,000. Lists shareholders, residence and share count as: Huston Wyeth, St. Joseph, Mo., 1672; L C Hamilton, St. Joseph, Mo., 1628; C J Walker, Chicago, Ills., 1100; and J A Walker, Chicago, Ills., 1100. 5/15/1918 "With/Term/Dissolve" is Affidavit of Dissolution. On 13 May 1918, Blue Valley Creamery Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Missouri "transferred all of its property and assets to the Blue Valley Creamery Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware" and dissolved.〕 Blue Valley was one of the larger centralizers from its inception, alleged by one source to be the largest in 1904. In 1917, Blue Valley hired noted dairy educator Otto Frederick Hunziker to establish a laboratory and manage manufacturing operations. According to the FTC, in 1918, Blue Valley Creamery Company was the fourth largest U.S. butter marketing company, producing 26,484,000 pounds, 3.2% of the total market. (Swift, Beatrice and Armour were larger.) Total sales for the year 1920 were $22,963,038.66.〔 Blue Valley Creamery was acquired by Beatrice Creamery Company in 1939.〔 Beatrice Creamery Company has purchased the business, good will, trade names, trade marks and other assets of the Blue Valley Creamery Company at above locations and will continue the business at said locations under the name of Blue Valley Creamery.〕〔Blue Valley "has been purchased by Beatrice Creamery Co. of the same city. The latter took over the fourteen Blue Valley plants as of March 1. Blue Valley products will continue to be distributed under that name."〕 This consolidation of the two Chicago-based centralizers raised regulatory eyebrows, but was not expressly challenged.〔 "The facts in the files of the Commission indicate that the acquisition of the business and assets of Blue Valley Creamery Co. by Beatrice Creamery Co. had the effect of substantially lessening competition between the acquiring corporation and the corporation who assets were acquired in the manufacture and ..."〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Blue Valley Creamery Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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