Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist) Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist) Joseph Rowntree (24 May 1836 – 24 February 1925) was an English Quaker philanthropist and businessman from York. Rowntree is perhaps best known for being a champion of social reform, partner and friend of Charles Booth, and his time as a chocolatier at family business "Rowntree's", one of the most important in Britain. Even as a powerful businessman, he was deeply interested in improving the quality of life of his employees; this led to him becoming a philanthropist, pursuing many charitable causes. In 1904 he created three trusts, the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust (JRVT) which was originally
History of Quaker Oats crystal radio and introduced "Quaker Quick Oats" an early convenience food. In the 1930s, Quaker was one of the many companies using the Dionne Quintuplets for promotional purposes. In 1946, artist Jim Nash was commissioned to produce a head portrait of the Quaker Man, which became the basis for Haddon Sundblom's famous version of 1957. In 1972, John Mills designed the current logo. In 1969, Quaker acquired Fisher-Price, a toy company. In the 1970s, the company financed the making of the film "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory", in return obtaining a license to use a number of the product