“Jiffy” Baking Mix-The little blue and white box
Date
circa 1930
Credits
- npr.com Website Creator
- Linda Field Elkin Author
Format
- Packaging 290
- Advertising 455
- Archive/Collection 14
Type of Work
- Finished work 5276
Publishers
Media
- newsprint 30
Techniques
- digital 143
- photography 61
- printing 348
Printed Pages
4
Locations Made
- Jiffy Baking Mix is manufactured is made Chelsea, Michigan. The Company is the Chelsea Milling Company and began in the 1900s. The iconic blue and white box design has become a symbol of home cooking in many homes in America, largely because the design has remained virtually unchanged for nearly one hundred years.The packages and all products are made on site. Modest updates to the design were made to make the food images on the box look more appetizing: a checked table cloth and a napkin, but, the company CEO and spokesperson, Howdy Holmes believes “We would be bonkers to change the design!” The company chose to eliminate the expense of advertising in order to retain employees. They are proud to say they have never laid off an employee in the entire time they have been in operation. Howdy's grandmother Mabel White Holmes is credited with inventing the first pre-packaged baking mix. Her concern for the working family prompted her to invent mixes that were delicious, affordable, and able to be made in a Jiffy!