When Daisy Met Harold: An Edwardian Marketing Ploy

Promotional brochure for Harold Baker, photographer [MS 2938]

This photograph of the Countess of Warwick has pride of place in the brochure announcing the relocation of Harold Baker’s photographic studio.  The Countess is just one of Harold’s many illustrious clients and I have wondered why in a deferential age, he does not lead with Prince Edward, Princess Victoria or one of the other members of royalty gracing the client list.

My assessment is that Baker made a very shrewd choice, given the colourful reputation of the Countess as a socialite. It seems that then as now, a mixture of celebrity and notoriety can be a successful marketing device. Frances Evelyn Greville, Countess of Warwick was popularly known as ‘Daisy’ and her personal life did not command privacy. She was associated through high profile affairs with amongst others, the Prince of Wales. ‘Daisy’ also had a reputation as ‘the Socialist Countess’, being a supporter of the Pen Workers’ Union, formed in Birmingham in 1897 and concerned with protecting a largely female workforce.  In 1904 she joined the Social Democratic Federation, at about the time that this brochure was published.

Harold Baker appears to be very comfortable in linking his business with such a well known and (perhaps for some) notorious person. Alongside her image, he highlights the advantages of his new studio at the corner of Cherry Street and Cannon Street, Birmingham. These include a lift to carry clients to the studio and dressing rooms, strategically placed on the fourth floor to catch the most natural light for effective photography. A powerful electric lamp permits night photography.