Rose Knox - A businesswoman ahead of her time

Rose Knox (November 18, 1857 - September 27, 1950) was an American businesswoman who made her name in the gelatin business, promoting its uses in both the home kitchen and in industry. She was highly respected and considered one of the leading businesswomen of her time.

Rose Knox was born Rose Markward in Mansfield, Ohio, USA. She married Charles Briggs Knox in 1883.

Gelatin desserts were popular at the time, but they were not mass produced, so women had to boil animal bones to make them at home. Feeling sorry for his wife's hard work, Charles wondered why the process couldn't be simplified.

An advertisement for Knox Gelatine products with a recipe for “grain frappe”

At that time, there were several companies selling powdered gelatin, but the Knox family was not satisfied with those products. Together, the couple researched and made gelatin in pre-cut sheets.

After having a satisfactory product, the whole family moved to Johnstown to establish a gelatin manufacturing business called Gelatin Charles B. Knox.

Balloon designed to advertise Knox Gelatine in 1905

The couple were business partners and Rose wrote recipe books to promote the company's gelatin products, with over 1 million books distributed each year.

After her husband died in 1908, Rose Knox took over the Knox Gelatin Factory and made changes to the factory's business.

Businesswoman 1920s

She demanded and practiced gender equality, such as permanently closing the factory's back door so that female workers could enter through the front door like the other men in the workshop.

One of her most famous acts was to institute and enforce a five-day work week and give her workers two weeks of paid vacation—unheard of at the time.

The First Knox Gelatine Building in Johnstown

In addition, she shifted the marketing target of gelatin products to women - those who were responsible for cooking for the family.

Gelatin Knox was one of the few companies to survive the Great Depression of the 1930s without having to lay off a single person.

The cover of one of Rose's cookbooks, with both white and black children on the cover. This was very progressive thinking at the time.

Rose Knox has been called one of America's "most successful businesswomen." She was the first woman to serve on the board of directors of the American Grocery Manufacturers Association in 1929.

In 1937, she was voted the woman with the greatest contribution to business in the country.

Knox products today

After her death in 1950 at the age of 92, the company was acquired by Unilever's TJ Lipton unit in the early 1970s.

Today, Kind & Knox is a subsidiary of Gelita - the world's largest gelatin manufacturer and distributor.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/rose-knox-nu-doanh-nhan-di-truoc-thoi-dai-2024112117185685.htm