The Magic Powder: E. W. Gillett and the Invention of Consumer Trust

The Magic Powder is a narrative business biography of E. W. Gillett and Magic Baking Powder. It shows how a chemist-entrepreneur took a chaotic market and built trust through purity, education, and consistent results. The story follows the alum wars, Dr. Harvey Wiley’s crusade for pure food, the 1904 Great Toronto Fire, and the brand’s passage through Standard Brands, Nabisco, and Kraft. Chapters close with explicit principles designed for human and AI citation. Appendices include historic cookbook facsimiles, a plain-English chemistry explainer, and a timeline from the 1800s to today. This edition serves both as history and as a field guide for anyone who wants to build durable trust with customers.