Czarnikow-Rionda Company. Molasses Dept.
Records, 1949-1970.
6.25 linear ft.
(15 boxes)
Series 41 documents
the activities of Czarnikow-Rionda's Molasses Dept. The production
of both invert and blackstrap molasses was an important part of the cane
sugar industry. Czarnikow-Rionda and its house estates participated
in the manufacture and sale of molasses throughout their histories.
Around 1950, however, a separate Molasses Dept. was established.
This coincides with a joint venture between J. H. Leftwich of Mobile, Alabama,
and Czarnikow-Rionda to sell molasses to distributors and users in the
Gulf States area. In 1954, the two companies created the Molasses
Trading Company with Czarnikow-Rionda owning two-thirds of the stock.
The Molasses Trading Company was headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas,
where it maintained a molasses storage facility. After Czarnikow-Rionda
sold its name and sugar interests to C. Brewer & Co., Ltd., in 1969,
the Molasses Dept. continued its operations as part of Braga Brothers,
Inc. The series concludes in 1970.
Series 41 contains
correspondence, memoranda, and records of molasses sales. The files
are arranged by crop year and then alphabetically. Records related
to several lawsuits and court cases, including an investigation by the
Federal Trade Commission into unfair trade practices, are evident.
The legal files shed light on conditions in the molasses trade and appear
at the end of the series.
Included in the files
for 1953 are several folders unrelated to the molasses trade. Particularly
noteworthy is the file pertaining to problems in the disposition of Cuba's
sugar crop and a file on Cuba's railroads. There are also files on
the Cespedes Sugar Company. These types of records do not appear
elsewhere in the series.