| Betty Crocker | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Betty Crocker |
|
First Appearance |
Saturday Evening Post (1921) |
|
Original Publisher |
General Mills Inc |
|
Created by |
Bruce Barton |
Origin[]
Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 as a way to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. In 1954, General Mills introduced the red spoon logo with her signature, placing it on Gold Medal flour, Bisquick, and cake-mix packages. A portrait of Betty Crocker appears on printed advertisements, product packaging, and cookbooks.
The character was developed in 1921 following a unique Gold Medal Flour promotion featured in the Saturday Evening Post. The ad asked consumers to complete a jigsaw puzzle and mail it to the then Washburn-Crosby Company, later to become General Mills, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In return, they would receive a pincushion in the shape of a bag of flour. Along with 30,000 completed puzzles came several hundred letters with cooking-related questions. Realizing that especially housewives would want advice from a fellow woman, the company’s Advertising Department convinced its board of directors to create a personality that the women answering the letters could all use in their replies. 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
Public Domain Appearances[]
Public Domain Radio Drama Appearances[]
- Recipe by Radio (1921)
Public Domain Advertisement Appearances[]
- Saturday Evening Post (1921-1928)
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Betty Crocker picture cooky book(1948)
- Betty Crocker's Bisquick Cook Book: 157 Recipes and Ideas
- 133 Quicker Ways to Homemade, with Bisquick
- Betty Crocker's Frosting Secrets