1936 | Food And Drink
Food And Drink
General Mills uses the name Betty Crocker as a signature for responses to consumer inquiries (see 1929). The fictitious authority is portrayed as a gray-haired homemaker, an image that will see numerous revisions as Betty Crocker becomes a major brand name for various General Mills products (see Kix, 1937).
Borden Co. introduces the cartoon character Elsie the Cow to serve as a symbol of purity and wholesomeness (see World's Fair, 1939).
The Waring Blendor increases mechanization of kitchen chores (see Sunbeam Mixmaster, 1930). Patented 14 years ago by Polish-born inventor Stephen J. Poplawski of Racine, Wis., to make malted milk shakes, the $29.95 mixer with its "high" and "low" speed buttons proves ideal for making Waring's daiquiris. Bandleader Fred M. Waring, 36, has financed a redesigned and renamed version that is introduced in September at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago and marketed initially to bartenders (see Osterizer, 1946; Cuisinart, 1973).
Dom Pérignon Champagne is introduced by France's House of Moët (see 1743). Memorializing the pioneer of sparkling wine (see 1698), it will be Moët and Chandon's prestige cuvée.
The Joy of Cooking by St. Louis housewife Irma Rombauer (née von Starkloff), 60, gives recipes in the most minute detail, telling the cook exactly what to look for. Rombauer, whose lawyer husband taught her to cook after their marriage in 1899, had a private edition printed 5 years ago for her grown children; her daughter Marion Rombauer Becker, now 35, will co-author future editions.