Odd Vintage Imagery
There is no such thing as year 0, so if a century is every 100 years – the first century would be from year 1 to year 101. Following that pattern, every century starts with 01. For example: The 19th Century started on January 1st, 1801.
As someone who loves history, I am quite shocked it took me this long to find this out!
In 1898, the ambitious Adolphus Green cofounded the National Biscuit Company. He had a vision to rid the world of disgusting cracker barrels.[2]
Before Uneeda Biscuits, you would have to reach into a community-manhandled barrel of crackers. If you were lucky you got some off the top – still fresh and delicious. If you weren’t, you got mushy bits at the bottom. Apparently, like most people, Adolphus Green did not like soggy contaminated food. He helped patent the “In-Er-Seal” technology! [1]
Now your favorite delicious flaky snack was wrapped in wax paper and placed in cardboard. Fresh, dry, and endorsed by a sunglassed dog. Uneeda Biscuits had such innovative packaging that it changed the food industry. It inspired other companies to deliver nicely protected food packs to stores for consumers rather than troublesome bulk free-for-all bundles. This made the food quality higher and the products easier to transport! [3]
So, what seemed like a silly cute dog photo was the harbinger of doom for cracker barrels worldwide. Nice.
[1] American Profile (1982) by Edward Wagenknecht