La Choy
ConAgra Foods | |
Introduced | 1922 |
---|---|
Website | www |
La Choy (stylized La Choy 東) is a
Early history
The company was founded in 1922 by Dr. Ilhan New, later founder of Yuhan Corporation in South Korea, and Wallace J. "Wally" Smith from the University of Michigan. The first product, canned mung bean sprouts, was originally sold in Smith's Detroit, Michigan, grocery store.[1]
New left the company for personal reasons in 1930, and Smith was killed by lightning in 1937.
The company capitalized on the growing fascination Americans had with East Asia, including an entirely different type of cuisine. In 1937, the company built its first manufacturing facility in Detroit, featuring 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of production space.[4]
To reduce overhead costs and maintain profitability during
On June 23, 1957, three principals of the La Choy company, all from Archbold, appeared as contestants on the TV panel show
Marketing and advertising
A popular advertising jingle from the 1970s included the slogan "LaChoy makes Chinese food swing American."[citation needed][7]
Muppets
Early in his career, Jim Henson created a series of television commercials from 1965 to 1967 featuring a Full-Bodied Muppet character called Delbert the La Choy Dragon (performed by Frank Oz and voiced by Jim Henson) which used the catchphrase "quick cooked in dragon fire" to describe the product.[citation needed]
Delbert was accompanied in later commercials by a timid character named Mert (performed by Jim Henson). Delbert was one of Oz's few full-bodied Muppet performances, since he did not like performing in their costumes.[citation needed]
See also
- Mein gon (crunchy chow mein noodles)
- Chop suey
- Chow mein sandwich
Notes
- ^ "La Choy". ConAgra Foods. Archived from the original on 2005-12-29.
- ^ Bonesteel, Joyce (2012-06-27). "Lightning strike in '37 kills 2". The County Press. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
- ^ "N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records | Contents | SOVA".
- ^ "La Choy Food Products | Historic Detroit". historicdetroit.org.
- ProQuest 350369500. Retrieved 23 April 2022 – via ProQuest.
- ^ What's My Line? - Gene Kelly; Martin Gabel [panel]; James C. Hagerty [panel] (Jun 23, 1957), retrieved 2021-06-09
- ^ "La Choy Makes Chinese Food Swing American commercial". YouTube. Retrieved 5 February 2022.