Excerpt from "Betty Crocker: Marketing the Modern Woman," by Susan Marks-Kerst. In the Spring 1999 issue of Hennepin History.
Among the ruins of the old mill district in downtown Minneapolis are the crumbling reminders of a once-booming flour industry that put Minnesota on the map. Lately, a resurgent energy has seized the former milling district. As Minneapolis searches for its roots, plans are underway for extensive renovations. Current plans include the development of Mill Ruins Park, with connecting trails and upscale private housing along the riverbank. Also, the Minnesota Historical Society plans an impressive milling museum inside the fire-damaged Washburn "A" Mill, overlooking St. Anthony Falls. The mill once belonged to the Washburn Crosby Company, forerunner to General Mills Incorporated and the original home of Gold Medal Flour, WCCO, Wheaties, and national phenomenon Betty Crocker.
General Mills' trademark homemaker, Betty Crocker, made her way into homes across the nation, becoming a permanent fixture in America's collective kitchen. Despite her humble beginnings on the shores of the Mississippi River, Betty rose to national fame. The fictitious Betty Crocker and her supporting staff influenced the way America shopped, cooked, ate, and served meals. Through her cooking schools, radio shows, print advertisements, cookbooks, television programs, and commercials, she nurtured and shaped the American homemaker.
Betty Crocker spoke to women in a tone that was encouraging and inspirational. Her message always remained the same to each and every homemaker: "Yes, you can do it, and I can help you." Betty and her staff were innovative, clever, practical, and reassuring. Her longevity is testimony and tribute to her impact on society. The success of Betty is one of the most remarkable and innovative advertising campaigns in American history.
Betty is born, 1921
Behind the creative genius of Betty Crocker were many talented individuals employed by the Washburn Crosby Company. One in particular, Samuel Gale, is credited as the driving force behind Betty. Gale was connected with homemakers because of the early direct contact he had with them at cooking demonstrations. He knew their questions and concerns about cooking and baking, and he empathized with their confusion. He understood from the hundreds of letters the company received each week that the modern age of homemaking had left many ill-prepared for their responsibilities. He took it upon himself and his small staff to reply to each letter personally, but he never felt right about signing his own name. As letters increased each week, his task became increasingly difficult. One occurrence in particular launched an unprecedented turn of events.
One Gold Medal flour ad featured a jigsaw puzzle on the back of a national magazine. The solved puzzle depicted a scenic village with happy little villagers carrying sacks of Gold Medal Flour. The prize for completing the puzzle was a pincushion resembling a miniature sack of Gold Medal Flour. Washburn Crosby was wholly unprepared for the onslaught of 30,000 responses to the puzzle that poured in.
The company also was shocked and panicked by the hundreds of personal letters asking baking questions. It considered the avalanche of mail an emergency, and Gale was appointed to handle the crisis. The directors accepted a suggestion that they invent a friendly woman to act as a figurehead for the Home Service staff. Her name, rather than his, could be used on correspondence.
Betty Crocker's surname was chosen in honor of William Crocker, a recently retired and well-loved director of the Washburn Crosby Company. Betty was chosen because it sounded light, cheery, wholesome, and folksy. For three years she was Betty "in name only" for correspondence and company literature. Betty Crocker represented the Gold Medal Home Service Staff, which became the General Mills Home Service Department when the Washburn Crosby Company consolidated in 1928. According to General Mills historian James Gray:
The function of General Mills' Home Service Department has been to convince the buyer that she was being introduced, through literature, to "tangible ways of using the product more effectively in carrying out her basic job." The modern housewife was susceptible to such suggestions for two reasons:
1) the advanced education many of her kind had received made them all sympathetic to the new approach (planning a meal with reference to proper dietary balance; measuring in calories);
2) as a busy college student, she had not had time to serve the apprenticeship of the stove that had given her mother and grandmother training.
If you have stories to share about Betty Crocker, please visit the author's web site at http://www.tc.umn.edu/~mark0040/. Back to Top
| Past Magazines: 
Winter 2001. Vol. 60, No. 1
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“'Sincerely' and 'Love Love': Letters of Florence and Harold Nathanson, 1926-27”
Iric Nathanson
“A Journey Shared: Pauline Kruger Hamilton at the Hapsburg Court”
Jane Libbey Jackson
“Object Lesson: on the Straight and Narrow”
Bruce N. Wright
Spring 2001. Vol. 60, No. 2
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“Immigrant (Part 1)”
Jane Hauser Pejsa
“A Minneapolis Paperboy in the 1920s”
Bill Lauer
“A Long Distance Romance: Letters of Florence and Harold Nathanson, 1926-27”
Iric Nathanson
“Object Lesson: 60 Years of Hennepin History”
Summer 2001. Vol. 60, No. 3
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“Welfare in Hennepin County: Depression, War, and Civil Rights (1934-65)”
Robert G. Neal
“Greeting from Minneapolis: Picture postcards collected by Ruby S. Johnson”
Ruby Anderson Johnson
“The Immigrant (Part 2)”
Jane Hauser Pejsa
“Object Lesson: A Sculptured Life”
Bruce N. Wright
Fall 2001. Vol. 60, No. 4
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“An American Story: Immigrant Dream Deferred”
Paula M. Hirschoff
“Anna Oleson Heighstedt: Early Minneapolis Photographer”
Joanne Undine Halsey
“Object Lesson: City Beautiful”
Bruce Wright
Winter 2002. Vol. 61, No. 1
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“'A Dream Come True': The Story of the Citizen's Aid Building”
David A. Fielding
“The Work of Hewitt and Brown”
“Immigrant Dreams Realized: The Life of Edwin C. Hirschoff”
Paula M. Hirschoff
Spring 2002. Vol. 61, No. 2
“Random Thoughts”
David Stevens, Board Secretary
“Life on the Home Front: Minneapolis in 1942”
Iric Nathanson
“A Girl at a Tuberculosis Sanatorium”
Mary Krugerud
“Object Lesson: Now Hear This”
Bruce Wright
Summer 2002. Vol. 61, No. 3
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“Crowning Memories and Lost Images: Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes”
Judy Mellin, Pamela Jo Albinson, and Connie Haenny
“Object Lesson: Industrial Strength”
Bruce Wright
Fall 2002. Vol. 61, No. 4
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“Perspective: Photographs by Participants in St. Stephen's Shelter and Housing Programs”
Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke
“Object Lesson: Another Time, Another Place”
Bruce Wright
Winter 2003. Vol. 62, No. 1
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“'Primitive Scenes and Conditions': The Earliest Days of St. Anthony”
“The Shame of Minneapolis: Civic Corruption 100 Years Ago”
Iric Nathanson
“In Memory: Tamara Chaney Truer”
“Object Lesson: On the Waterfront”
Bruce Wright
Spring 2003. Vol. 62, No. 2
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“'A Creek Runs Through It: Nine Mile Creek in Bloomington”
Harriet Duerre
“A Nine Mile Creek Photo Album”
“How Newspapers Reported a Milling Disaster 125 Years Ago”
by William E. Huntzicker
“Object Lesson: Personal Portrait”
Bruce Wright
Summer 2003. Vol. 62, No. 3
“Random Thoughts”
Kelly O'Brien, Board President
“'Layman's Cemetery: Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery”
Susan Hunter Weir
“The Murder of Catherine Ging”
Robert C. Rasmussen
“Object Lesson: Crime Stoppers”
Bruce Wright
Winter 2004. Vol. 63, No. 1
"Random Thoughts"
Michele McGraw, Board President
"Seven Great Old Churches of Minneapolis"
Robert C. Rasmussen
"Victory Memorial Drive"
Sarah Johnson
"Object Lesson: The Case of the Difficult Hair Dryer"
Bruce N. Wright
Spring 2004. Vol. 63, No. 2
"Random Thoughts"
Michele McGraw, Board President
"Ten Cent Tour: The Story of Chute's Cave"
Greg A. Brick and Penny A. Petersen
"Cover Up: A Look at Early Farmhouse Wallpapers"
Channon Doerr
"Object Lesson: Cream of the Crop"
Bruce N. Wright
Summer 2004. Vol. 63, No. 3
"Random Thoughts"
Neal Holtan, Board of Directors
"The Aalbu Sisters and the 620 Club"
Bob Fliegel
"Pioneereing Black Politicians and Public Officials in Hennepin County"
"In Memoriam: Ruth Dickson Drake and Mary Elizabeth Lahiff"
"Object Lesson: Burlesque Times"
Bruce N. Wright
Fall 2004. Vol. 63, No. 4
"Random Thoughts: What Is Your Legacy?"
Michele McGraw, Board President
"Another War that Divided Minnesota: Vietnam Politics in the 1960s"
Iric Nathanson
"In the Raw: HHM's Biography Files"
"Object Lesson: Good Ol' Golden Web Days"
Bob Fliegel
Winter 2005. Vol. 64, No. 1
"Random Thoughts"
Elizabeth Glidden, Board Vice President
"The Band Box Hamburger Shops: Minneapolis' First Homegrown Diner Chain"
Kathleen O'Neill
"Minneapolis East High School"
Robert C. Rasmussen
"Object Lesson: A Painter's Life"
Bruce N. Wright
Spring 2005. Vol. 64, No. 2
"Random Thoughts"
Pam Albinson, Board of Directors
"Walter Hines Page: The School and the Man"
Dick Swenson
"An Enduring Piece of Cloth: A Brief Look at the Apron"
Dorothy Sauber
"Desegregating South Minneapolis Housing: TilsenBilt Homes of 1954"
H. Lynn Adelsman
"Object Lesson: Apron Strings"
Dorothy Sauber
Fall 2005. Vol. 64, No. 3
"Random Thoughts"
Ken Templin, Board of Directors
"Brian Coyle: How a Local Politician Complicated Historical Discourse"
Michael Cariolano
"Mapping Unmarked Graves at Layman's Cemetery"
Geoffrey Jones
"Flying Sunny (and Bumpy) Skies"
Bob Fliegel
"Object Lesson: Doctors' Appointment"
Bruce N. Wright |