Charles Day

Who is Charles Day?

Charles Day was a British industrialist who was co-founder and then sole proprietor of the Day and Martin boot blacking company, founded around 1801 in partnership with Benjamin Martin.

It is said that the "Real Japan Blacking" "Black Diamond" formula was originally obtained in return for a favour from a soldier in Doncaster by Benjamin Martin's brother-in-law. Benjamin Martin took the formula to London where he worked as a hairdresser with Charles Day's father. Martin and the Days then began manufacturing and selling the product. Business grew rapidly and by the end of 1805 Day and Martin had acquired new premises at 97 High Holborn. Day bought out Martin for £10,000 in 1808. Some versions of the story suggest Charles Day was also initially a hairdresser, but in 1835 the company stated he had only ever been in the blacking business.

The Day and Martin company is an early illustration of the power of advertising and marketing. It is reported they promoted the product by hiring large numbers of men wearing suits to ask for it in shops around London. The company also features in company law because they had to take legal action against numerous copiers and counterfeiters. One of these, after Day's death, was his own nephew, William Charles Day.