How Betty Crocker got its start

A puzzle and a pincushion

In late October 1921, an edition of The Saturday Evening Post was published with a unique Gold Medal Flour ad in it.

The ad asked consumers to complete a jigsaw puzzle and mail it to our predecessor company, Washburn-Crosby 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.

In a stroke of marketing genius, 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 surname Crocker was chosen in honor of a retired executive, William G. Crocker. Betty was chosen because of its friendly sound.

An informal contest was held between female employees to find the most distinctive Betty Crocker signature. Florence Lindberg’s version was chosen. It’s still used today, with only slight revisions.

Sponsored cooking schools

Washburn-Crosby quickly recognized the importance of using Betty Crocker to help people become better bakers and cooks.

So the company started sponsoring cooking schools across the U.S. and employing home economists to carefully test and demonstrate its flour. Meanwhile, the demand for baking information continued to grow along with the staff in the company’s Home Service Department.

The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air

In 1924, Betty got her voice, literally. She appeared in daytime radio’s first cooking show – the “Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air.”

It started on October 2, 1924. on WCCO radio in Minneapolis. It later expanded to 13 regional stations.

Each station had its own Betty Crocker voice, reading scripts written by the Home Service staff. In 1927, the cooking school became a program on the fledgling NBC network, continuing for 24 years with more than one million listeners enrolled.

Betty’s first official face

Betty didn’t receive an official persona until her 15^th anniversary in 1936. Neysa McMein, a prominent commercial artist, was commissioned to create a portrait. Her rendition, putting Betty in a red jacket with a white collar, established a tradition for future portraits.

There have been eight portraits, evolving Betty’s look with a variety of hairstyles and fashions. After 1936, portraits also were done in 1955, 1965, 1969, 1972, 1980, 1986 and 1996.

The last one, for Betty’s 75^th birthday, was made from a computerized composite of 75 women (and the 1986 portrait).

The women of diverse backgrounds and ages were identified in a search across the U.S. for women who embodied the characteristics that make up the spirit of Betty Crocker: enjoys cooking and baking, committed to family and friends, resourceful and creative in handling everyday tasks, and involved in her community.

In 1958, the test kitchens moved out to our new headquarters in Golden Valley, Minnesota. They were renovated in 1966, with seven test kitchens, each named after a region of the world famous for its distinctive cuisine, such as the Latin American Kitchen and the Japanese Kitchen.

Nicknamed “Big Red,” it quickly became a best-seller. Over 2.5 million copies were sold in its first year.

The cookbook was designed to be used by any cook no matter their skill level. Each recipe was thoroughly tested in the Betty Crocker Kitchens.

Using the existing logo as a foundation, New York-based public relations firm Lippincott & Margulies changed the oval into the bowl of a spoon, added a stem and handle, and tweaked the signature.