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the history of Leyton and Leytonstone
from . dot to … dots – with plenty of spaces
the later Victorian and Edwardian times 1890 to 1919
business
In 1908 Caribonum Ltd, a carbon paper manufacturer, set up new premises off Church Road, Leyton. It had to improve its product to equal that coming from the United States. Under the leadership first of Robert Clark and then of C F Clark, who were not related, it operated in markedly American ways. Instead of selling through intermediaries, it had salesmen call on potential customers every 4 weeks to obtain orders, using centrally devised methods calculated to optimise efficiency. In having new premises built in 1918 Caribonum Ltd was one of the first clients of Wallis Gilbert, an architectural practice that would later design the west London factories of the large American companies Firestone and Hoover (photo below). The Caribonum building had some Egyptian styling, and would have had even more if the initial design had been implemented.
