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The enterprising men also produced an 80 page monthly mail order catalogue,

The Housekeeper

, which provided articles of interest, recipes and hints to

housewives.

Christopher Pond died in 1881 and Felix Spiers took sole charge of the company.

Felix died in Paris in 1911. The firm founded by the two men, Spiers and Pond,

ultimately owned 12 major hotels, including the Grand Hotel at Brighton. In 1957

the company was acquired by Chicken Inns and in 1960 was amalgamated with

the Express Dairy Co. In 1969 it in turn was acquired by Grand Metropolitan

Hotels.

”

Special thanks to Ron Spiers for his input.