Legend of E&O
In late June of 1827, young Dr. Theodore Bailey checked out of his suite at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and set off for the spice markets of Sumatra. He had heard through the local grapevine that the herb and spice markets of Sumatra were the greatest in the region and that during the eighth full moon of the year, the dockyards of Sumatra transformed into the largest outdoor trading extravaganza in all of Southeast Asia. There, it was told, great quantities of exotic and medicinal herbs and spices were exhibited for trade.
Dr. Bailey, age 35, had come to southeast Asia in April of 1825 to open up new trading routes for his family's booming India Pale Ale (IPA) trade. An eccentric, yet brilliant botanist and dedicated home brewer, Bailey had eagerly volunteered for the mission to Java. It was his father's suggestion that Theodore take charge of the family's burgeoning interest in south Asia. Perhaps here he would find the sense of destiny that had so eluded him in the stuffy halls of aristocratic London. After a year of prospecting in Bangkok and 18 months in Singapore, Bailey had rooted a growing and prosperous trading business importing the bitter and alcoholic IPA that was his family's claim to fame, and exporting rare teas and spices. It was his commitment to export that drove him to Sumatra.
The great festival did not disappoint Bailey. For days he roamed the many lanes of kiosks and carts stopping often to converse in rudimentary Chinese with the local merchants. On the third day of the festival, Bailey met a fascinating character named Nioman. Nioman was a gregarious man who wore his long silver hair pulled back in a ponytail. He was a shaman whose herbs and spices seemed to stand out from the commodities that crowded most of the merchants' booths. His depth of botanical knowledge and willingness to explain in detail the mythology and cosmology of his profession struck Bailey deeply.
Over the next several weeks, Bailey and Nioman developed a warm friendship and became inseparable. Many times, Nioman and Bailey would stay up all night discussing mythology while Nioman's beautiful daughter, Ma-De, served delicious small plates of local satay, corn fritters and noodles from her small wood-burning grill.
Bailey and Nioman quickly decide to join together in business - traveling often to Sumatra and Singapore, expanding the Bailey family's IPA trading reach and establishing new accounts for Nioman's herbs and spices. Their new trading company was designed to leverage the burgeoning spice trade and growing demand for IPA in Southern Asia. They called it the Eastern & Oriental Trading Company.
Within a few years, the dynamic duo was also dealing in artifacts, textiles, precious jewels and furniture. The Eastern & Oriental Trading Company established satellite warehouses in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, San Francisco, New York and London. The Nioman-Bailey team was quickly gaining renown within the region and attracting the curious attentions of its western rivals.
Today, the legacy of the great E&O Trading Company lives on. Although the company itself was long ago merged into a multi-national trading concern based in Jakarta, the spirit of Theodore Bailey and his partner and great friend Nioman fills the imagination of any student of history and lover of fine foods and ale.
