Mother's Cookies
Company type | Private (1914–1998) |
---|---|
Industry | Food |
Founded | 1914 |
Founder | N.M. Wheatley |
Fate | Declared bankruptcy in 2008, becoming a brand |
Owner |
|
Website | motherscookies.com/ |
Mother's Cookies is a food brand owned by Italian conglomerate
History
Mother's was founded in 1914[7] when N.M. Wheatley, a newspaper vendor, purchased the rights to a cookie recipe from a customer. A year later, Wheatley opened a one-person operation on 12th Avenue in Oakland.[1][8][9] On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson had issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day[10][11]
Archway was founded in 1936 by the Swansons, a husband-and-wife team who baked soft-batch cookies in their garage. The Swansons expanded their company nationwide in the 1940s, changing its name to Archway to avoid conflict with Swanson, a maker of frozen dinners. In 1962 the founders sold the company to their vice president, George Markham, who bought most of the franchises back over the next several years.[4] Markham in turn sold the company to two employees, who operated it from 1983 to 1998. The company was sold to Specialty Foods in 1998, reportedly for $100 million.[12][13] The transaction made Specialty Foods the third largest cookie maker in the United States[4][14] after Keebler and Nabisco.[15]
The two companies then went through a succession of owners. Mother's was sold to Artal NV, a Belgian company, then bought by Specialty Foods Corp., a conglomerate formed by
Brand and product returns
In December, 2008,
In April 2019, Kellogg's announced the sale of Mother's Cookies, among other brands, to Italian confectioner Ferrero SpA, creators of Nutella.[25]
Products
Mother's is known for pink and white iced "Circus Animal Cookies", "Taffy Sandwich Cookies" (original recipe), "Peanut Butter Gauchos", and iced
Promotions
The company included collectable baseball cards in their packs of cookies, featuring the Pacific Coast League (1952–53) and several west-coast Major League Baseball teams (1983-2002).[8] Many of those cards were distributed by the teams themselves as promotional stadium giveaways. In the presidential election year of 1992, the company also produced collectable cards featuring the Presidents of the United States.
References
- ^ a b c d George Raine (2008-10-09). "Mother's Cookies abruptly shut down". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearts.
- ^ "Mother's Cookies, O'Boisie Corporation sign distribution agreement". Business Wire (press release). 1996-05-13.
- ^ Mike Nolan (2008-10-09). "Operations Halted:Michigan company has distribution center in Mokena". Chicago Sun Times. Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2011-01-11. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
- ^ a b c d "Archway Cookies, Inc". Funding Universe.
- ^ Kellogg Company Acquiring Trademarks and Recipes of Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. Retrieved Dec 3, 2008
- ^ "Mother's Cookies After Kellogg's Purchase". Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2009-01-21.
- ^
Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Trademarks. U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office. 2007. p. 1203.
MOTHER'S COOKIES CALIFORNIA ORIGINAL SINCE 1914
- ^
Linda Civitello (2007). Cuisine and Culture. John Wiley & Sons. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-471-74172-5.
- ^ Today in History: May 9 Library of Congress
- ^
Rice, Susan Tracey and Robert Haven Schauffler (1915). Mother's day: its history, origin, celebration, spirit, and significance as related in prose and verse. Moffat, Yard & company. pp. 3–5.
in 1914 Congress passed a law, which Wilson signed on May 8, 1914, 'designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day', and authorizing and requesting that Wilson issue a proclamation 'calling upon the government officials to display the United States flag on all buildings, and the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.'
- ^ "Archway Cookies closing in Battle Creek". WOOD TV 8. 2008-10-03. Archived from the original on 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
- ^ "Specialty Foods to Pay $100 Million for Two Companies". New York Times. 1998-10-15.
- ^ a b c Robin Sidel (2003-12-31). "Appetite Is Growing For Parmalat's Archway Cookie Unit". Wall Street Journal.
- ^ Kevin McCoy (2004-01-13). "Parmalat's American workers uneasy, while investors are angry". USA Today.
- ^ "Specialty Foods Sells Archway Cookies And Mother's Bakery To Italy's Parmalat". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014.
- ^ Chandler, Susan (September 13, 2000). "Specialty Foods Sells Archway Cookies And Mother's Bakery To Italy's Parmalat". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Alec Rosenberg (2002-06-05). "Mother's Facelift: Cookie firm not crumbling in face of competition". Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
- ^ Tom Abate (2006-04-04). "Mother's Cookies crumbling: Oakland bakery abandoning area where it was born". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Creswell, Julie (May 30, 2009). "Oh, No! What Happened To Archway?". The New York Times.
- ^ Ginger Christ (2008-12-03). "Lance, Inc. approved to buy Archway Cookies, Kelloggs approved by the bankruptcy court to buy Mother's Cookies". Ashland Times-Gazette.[permanent dead link]
- ^ John King (2008-12-23). "Shuttered bakery reopens, rehires workers". CNN.
- ^ Mother's Cookies website
- ^ "41 Results - Mothers Taffy Cookies Changed". Archived from the original on 2021-11-17. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
- ^ "Iconic Oakland cookie company bought by Nutella's parent company". San Francisco Chronicle. April 1, 2019.
- ^ David Morrill (2008-10-09). "Mother's Cookies closes down". Contra Costa Times.
- ^ Jane Irene Kelly (1998-03-09). "Mother's Cookies Gets Giddy With KB&P West". Adweek.