Category: Advertising Covers

The African Life Assurance Society Ltd

The African Life Assurance Society Ltd

Salisbury

The African Life Assurance Society Ltd was established by Isidore Williem Schlesinger at the end of 1904 with the £20,000 he had earned from the development of the suburb of Parkhurst, Gauteng, South Africa. During its first year in business, the company sold 2,274 policies worth £1 million, a record for a new business in the industry at the time.

In 1905, he bought the financially struggling Robinson South African Bank (founded by J.B. Robinson) and converted it into the Colonial Banking and Trust Company, which specialised in small business loans. In 1911, he founded the African Guarantee and Indemnity Corporation to provide all types of insurance.

The company had branches and agencies in the Union as well as in Khartoum, Assouan, Syria, Cairo and Alexandria. In 1912 it expanded its operations to Natal and amazement was expressed at the large volumes of new business that it generated. By 1925, the business was one of the four dominant insurance companies in South Africa.

African Life is now part of the SANLAM group.

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SANLAM

SANLAM

The Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Trust en Assuransie Maatskappij Beperk (South African National Trust and Assurance Company Limited), Santam, was registered on 28 March 1918. It was then decided to convert the life assurance department into a separate company, and the Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Lewens Assuransie Maatskappij Beperk (South African National Life Assurance Company Limited), Sanlam, was registered on 8 June 1918.

Sanlam, the subsidiary, later became the spearhead of the operation, while Santam remained focused on short-term insurance. Santam remained the controlling shareholder until 1954 when Sanlam became an independent mutual life assurance company, as well as the largest single shareholder in Santam.

Sanlam Group has developed over time into a diversified financial services business. Through its business clusters – Sanlam Personal Finance, Sanlam Emerging Markets, Sanlam Investments, Sanlam Corporate and Santam.

The group’s areas of expertise include insurance, financial planning, retirement annuities, trusts, wills, short-term insurance, asset management, risk management and capital market activities, investment and wealth. The group operates in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, India, Malaysia and the UK and has business interests in the US, Australia and the Philippines. It has a stake in micro-insurance specialists, UK-based Micro-Ensure Holdings Limited, which has a footprint across Africa and India servicing more than 10 million enrolled clients.

Reference

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Union-Castle Line

Union-Castle Line

The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line.

It merged with Bullard King and Clan Line in 1956 to form British & Commonwealth Shipping, and then with South African Marine Corporation (commonly referred to as SAF-Marine) in 1973 to create International Liner Services, but maintained its separate identity throughout.

Its shipping operations ceased in 1977.

Postcards

References

Contributors
  • Keith Harrop
  • Walter Herdzik
  • George Stewart

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Netherlands Bank of Rhodesia Limited: Gwelo

Netherlands Bank of Rhodesia Limited

Gwelo

Victoria Falls Casino Hotel

Victoria Falls Casino Hotel was constructed in 1966 on the site immediately next to the Victoria Falls Hotel due to growing tourism demands. The casino was the first in the country and an added attraction advertised even by the Falls Hotel itself.

In 1969 it was extended with the addition of a new wing comprising 54 bedrooms and three luxury suites, at a cost of £175,000, and by 1979 the Hotel boasted four luxury suites and 102 bedrooms all with private bathroom, shower, radio and telephone.

Controversially the development broke the local skyline of the Falls, infringing a local council building requirement that no construction should be built above the tree-line, and so be visible from the river and Falls.

It was later known as the Makasa Sun Hotel.

Postcards

Victoria Falls Casino Hotel (Type 1)

1971 – Big Game Photography – Grey Back – Type IIG (V Series)

1972 – Victoria Falls Casino Hotel (Type II)

 

Contributors
  • James Gavin
References

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A M Badat & Co

A M Badat & Co

Lusaka

A.M. Badat & Co. was founded in South Africa in 1908. Badat was a general trader. They eventually became wholesale merchant specialists in ladies, gents and children’s shoes and all types of clothing, hosiery and household goods.

The business continues to trade today.

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V M Day

V M Day

Bulawayo

V. M. Day came to Bulawayo in 1910 to work for Lennon Ltd. In March 1919, he commenced his own business and gradually built it up, branching out into a number of locations.

Due to the Great Depression conditions in Rhodesia, he sold the business back to Lennon Ltd in 1931.

References

  • The Chemist and Druggist, April 1931

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Northern Produce and Livestock Company

Northern Produce and Livestock Company

Lusaka

The Northern Produce and Livestock Company was set-up by Henrie Kollenberg in 1930. Kollenberg was a Latvian Jew who came from a prominent trader family in Northern Rhodesia. He a farmer and trader in Lusaka.

References

  • An African Trading Empire: The Story of Susman Brothers & Wulfsohn, 1901-2005 – Hugh MacMillan
Contributors
  • Walter Herdzik

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Atlas Copco Southern Rhodesia (Pvt) Ltd

Atlas Copco Southern Rhodesia (Pvt) Ltd

Bulawayo

Atlas Copco (Compagnie Pneumatique Commerciale) is a Swedish industrial company that was founded in 1873. It is a global industrial group of companies headquartered in Nacka, Sweden. In 2017, global revenues totaled SEK 86 billion, and by the end of that year the company employed about 34,000 people. The company manufactures products at about 100 production sites in more than 20 countries.

In 1952, it established itself in Southern Rhodesia under the management of Peter Wallenberg (later Honorary Chair of Atlas Copco).

Atlas Copco companies develop, manufacture, service, and rent industrial tools, air compressors (of which it is the world’s leading producer), construction and assembly systems. The Group operates in four areas: Compressor Technique, Vacuum Technique, Construction Technique and Industrial Technique

References

Contributor
  • Walter Herdzik

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A. B. C. Railway Guide

A. B. C. Railway Guide

Bulawayo

The original ABC Alphabetical Railway Guide was first published in 1853, and was probably the most significant competitor to the more well known Bradshaw’s. Unlike Bradshaw’s, which disappeared from Britain’s railway stations at around the same time as steam trains, the ABC Railway Guide persisted into the 21st century after being renamed firstly to the ABC Rail Guide and finally as the OAG Rail Guide.

OAG finally ceased publication of the OAG Rail Guide in 2007, but the title was picked up by Ian Allen Publications for a new series of books by Colin Marsden starting with the abc Rail Guide 2010. Unlike the previous versions, the abc Rail Guides (with a lower case ‘abc’) do not contain timetable and travel information; instead, they are aimed at the rail enthusiast and, as the publisher blurb puts it, are “designed to guide railway enthusiasts through the pitfalls of spotting, and to provide tips on how to make the most of this popular hobby.”

References

Contributors
  • Walter Herdzik

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