INDIANAPOLIS – There are many who swear by Bar Keeper’s Friend. It’s a safe type of abrasive, based on plants. Bar Keeper’s Friend is great for cleaning copper-bottomed kitchen pans. Its main ingredient is oxalic acid; its distinctive scent just smells like cleanliness. Its mild abrasives clean everything from fiberglassMORE HERE
In today’s pantheon of toothpaste brands, there is Colgate and Crest, and others. Of the popular 20th century brands, there was also Gleem, which dates to 1939 and most recently renewed by Procter & Gamble as a trademark in 2018. Gleem had been discontinued, but it has returned, both asMORE HERE
Promoting regional food manufacturers and suppliers is good business. But national retailers have been aggressive about getting rid of smaller suppliers, preferring to reduce the number of SKUs, or products, and allowing manufacturers to buy up and fill up center aisles. These trends go in cyles; the chain like WalmartMORE HERE
At one time, not too long ago, there was no such thing as “decaffeinated” coffee. You either had coffee, or Sanka. And a key part of the Sanka identity was orange. Orange appeared on the bands on decaf coffee pots in restaurants, and in the packaging of Sanka. However, overMORE HERE
ATLANTA – One of the happier trademarks in the U.S. is Mod Podge, the decoupage coating. Georgia entrepreneuse and interior designer Jan Wetstone, whose Buckhead shop Jan’s Interiors is shown as the original owner of the brand, invented the Mod-Podge in 1965. Note that it was first trademarked with aMORE HERE
Comstock is one of the nation’s early canned pie fillings and may be the nation’s first. The idea? Instead of cutting and cooking apples before you bake them in a pie, all you have to do is buy a crust, open the can, pour it in, and bake. No Peel!MORE HERE
SAN FRANCISCO – The Snap-E-Tom tomato cocktail was a product of the Pioneer Ortega company, and later Heublein, and today owned by Del Monte. Made with chile peppers, onions and tomatoes, it was a Bloody Mary mix that advertised itself as the Big Brother of the Bloody Mary, Bloody Thomas.MORE HERE
Even large companies abandon brands in favor of something new. Proctor & Gamble had a predecessor brand to laundry soaps like Tide, Era and Gain, the behemoth detergent brands of today. The brand was Chipso, a flake brand in boxes that promoted the use of safe suds for washing. ItMORE HERE
PEACH GLEN, Penn. – Supporting local farmers is often seen as finding fresh, local produce, or visiting a locavore restaurant. But there are easier ways to change the food process. Buy American, and buy from co-ops and smaller suppliers in the center aisles, with prepared and canned foods. Lucky Leaf,MORE HERE
WALLED LAKE, Michigan – If you have ever purchased ammonia, the oldest and best-known brand is Parsons Household Ammonia, which dates from 1881. That makes it one of the older consumer products in the United States. Today, it has a new life as a sister product to the Brillo pad.MORE HERE