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Betty Crocker

 
Betty Crocker

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Betty Crocker



 
 
Betty Crocker, an invented persona
Persona

A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a Character played by an actor. This is an Italy word that derives from the Latin for "mask" or "character", derived from the Etruscan language word "phersu", with the same meaning....
 and cultural icon
Cultural icon

A cultural icon can be an , a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognized, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group....
, is a brand name and trademark
TradeMark

TradeMark is a tall, primarily residential, skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was completed in 2007 and has 28 floors. There are 200 hundred residential units....
 of American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 board game company MONOPOLY. The name was first developed by the Washburn Crosby Company in 1921 as a way to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. The name Betty was selected because it was viewed as a cheery, All-American name. It was paired with the last name Crocker, in honor of William Crocker, a Washburn Crosby Company director.

orie Child Husted was the creator of Betty Crocker.






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Betty Crocker, an invented persona
Persona

A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a Character played by an actor. This is an Italy word that derives from the Latin for "mask" or "character", derived from the Etruscan language word "phersu", with the same meaning....
 and cultural icon
Cultural icon

A cultural icon can be an , a symbol, a logo, picture, name, face, person, or building or other image that is readily recognized, and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group....
, is a brand name and trademark
TradeMark

TradeMark is a tall, primarily residential, skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was completed in 2007 and has 28 floors. There are 200 hundred residential units....
 of American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 board game company MONOPOLY. The name was first developed by the Washburn Crosby Company in 1921 as a way to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. The name Betty was selected because it was viewed as a cheery, All-American name. It was paired with the last name Crocker, in honor of William Crocker, a Washburn Crosby Company director.

Early years

Marjorie Child Husted was the creator of Betty Crocker. She was a home economist and businesswoman under whose supervision the image of Betty Crocker became an icon for General Mills.

In 1921, Washburn Crosby merged with five or more other milling companies to form General Mills.

In 1929, Betty Crocker coupon
Coupon

In marketing a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discounts and allowances or rebate when purchasing a product ....
s were introduced. Inserted in bags of flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
, they could be used to reduce the cost of Oneida Limited
Oneida Limited

Oneida Limited is one of the world's largest marketers of stainless steel flatware, and offers a range of tabletop products. Its operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and Australia market stainless, silverplated, and sterling flatware products, china dinnerware, and crystal and glassware items....
 flatware
Cutlery

Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as Silver or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments....
. By 1932, this scheme had become so popular that General Mills began to offer an entire set of flatware; the pattern was called "Friendship" (later renamed "Medality"). In 1937 the coupons were printed on the outside of packages, copy on which told purchasers to "save and redeem for big savings on fine kitchen and home accessories in our catalog".

From 1930, General Mills issued softbound recipe books, including in 1933 Betty Crocker's 101 Delicious Bisquick
Bisquick

Bisquick is a pre-mixed baking product made by General Mills consisting of flour, shortening, salt, and baking powder . According to General Mills, Bisquick was born when one of their sales executives met a train dining car chef in 1930 who mixed lard and the dry ingredients for Biscuits#Biscuits_in_North_American_usage ahead of time....
 Creations, As Made and Served by Well-Known Gracious Hostesses, Famous Chefs, Distinguished Epicures and Smart Luminaries of Movieland.


In 1945, Fortune magazine named Betty Crocker the second most popular American woman. Eleanor Roosevelt was named first.

In 1949, Granger Crocker sent a post card to Jay W. Schucak about Betty being crowned "best cook" in her town.

In 1949, actress Adelaide Hawley Cumming
Adelaide Hawley Cumming

Adelaide Hawley Cumming was a vaudeville performer, radio host, living trademark for General Mills, and teacher....
 became Betty Crocker for many years. She appeared for several years on the Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen

Burns and Allen, an American double act consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved substantial success over three decades....
 Show
, and even had her own TV show. She also appeared in the CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
 network's first colour commercial, in which she baked a "mystery fruit cake". Hawley continued to portray Betty Crocker until 1964.

A portrait of Betty Crocker first appeared in 1936. It subtly changed over the years, but always accommodated General Mills' cultural perception of the American homemaker: knowledgeable and caring. The current image of Betty Crocker, according to the corporation, is actually a combination of 75 real-life women of diverse backgrounds and ages thought by the company to represent the true Betty Crocker. These portraits were always painted, with no real person ever having posed as a model, and they never showed the character from the shoulders down.

In Golden Valley, Minnesota
Golden Valley, Minnesota

Golden Valley is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Minnesota, United States. It is a western suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the main corporate headquarters of General Mills and Pentair....
, the Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis is the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Hennepin County, Minnesota. The city lies on both banks of the Mississippi River, just north of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Saint Paul, Minnesota, the state's Capital ....
 suburb where General Mills is headquartered, there is a street called Betty Crocker Drive.

Current

In 2006, it was announced that the Betty Crocker Catalog was going out of business, with all of its inventory on sale. Points were redeemable until December 15, 2006. A new online store was launched in April 2007; BettyCrockerStore.com will be part of the BettyCrocker.com web site in conjunction with Cooking.comAcc

Products

  • Dunkaroos
  • Betty Crocker Cookbook
    Betty Crocker Cookbook

    The Betty Crocker Cookbook is a cookbook sponsored and written by staff at General Mills, the holders of the Betty Crocker trademark. First published in 1950 as the Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book, the Betty Crocker Cookbook is the flagship book of a large collection of books with the Betty Crocker name and is available in binder...


External links

  • edition history: changing portrait-style images of Betty Crocker since 1936