William Underwood Company

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William Underwood Company
B&G Foods
Websiteunderwoodspreads.com

The William Underwood Company, founded in 1822, was an American food company best known for its flagship product Underwood Deviled Ham, a canned meat spread. The company had a key role in time-temperature research done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 1895 to 1896, which led to the development of food science and food technology as a profession.

History

Canned foods

William Underwood (1787-1864).

Before moving to the United States, William Underwood (1787–1864) worked as an apprentice at Mackey & Company in London, bottling food and exporting it to South America. He moved to the United States in 1817, arriving at New Orleans.[1][2] According to family legend he walked from New Orleans to Boston.

The William Underwood Company of Boston was established by Underwood in 1822 in

pickled vegetables, and cranberries, primarily focusing on mustard and pickling. In 1836, Underwood shifted from glass to steel cans, coated with tin on the inside, because glassmakers in the Boston area could not keep up with product demands from the canning company.[3] The company shipped its products to South America, the West Indies and in Asia. In 1939, the bookkeepers of the William Underwood Company standardized the use of the word 'can' instead of 'tin canister'.[2]

Underwood's canned foods proved valuable to settlers during the

Manifest Destiny period of 1840–60. Later, Underwood sold canned foods to Union troops during the American Civil War of 1861–65. The number of canned products increased to include seafood products, such as lobster, oyster, and mackerel. William Underwood died in 1864, the same year that William Lyman Underwood, one of his three grandsons, was born. Underwood's son, William James Underwood, headed the business, as new retort technology was developed for use. In 1880, Underwood opened the first sardine factory in Jonesport, Maine, known as one of the largest sardine factories in the world.[4][5]

In 1896, the William Underwood Company started to export its spread ham to Venezuela, leading to the creation of the brand 'Diablitos Underwood deviled ham' in 1960 by

meat packing industry at the time, then banned its members from posting bills with devil images[why?] on them.[8] In 1907, a shipment of Underwood canned goods was denied entry on the territory by the Argentinian customs because small traces of boric acid were found in the canned foods.[9]

Research with MIT

From its beginning, the company encountered the problem of cans swelling, causing a great deal of product loss.

bacterial spores that were able to survive the processing. They learned that these spores' presence depended on the clams' living environment, and that these spores would be killed if processed at 250 °F (121 °C) for 10 minutes in a retort.[11][12]

These studies prompted similar research of canned

sardines, peas, tomatoes, corn, and spinach.[13] Prescott and Underwood's work was first published in late 1897.[13] This research, which was never patented,[14] proved beneficial to the William Underwood Company, the canning industry, the food industry, and food technology itself.[15]

In the mid-1950s, outgoing company president W. Durant brought new president George Seybolt to MIT to meet Prescott.[16] At the Institute of Food Technologists Northeast Section (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) meeting at Watertown, Massachusetts, in April 1961, the William Underwood Company dedicated a new laboratory in honor of both Prescott and William Lyman Underwood.[17]

Following Prescott's death in 1962, the William Underwood Company created the Underwood Prescott Memorial Lectureship in memory of both Underwood and Prescott.

Samuel A. Goldblith,[19] Gerald N. Wogan,[19] and since 1996, Steven R. Tannenbaum.[20]

Expansion in 1960s

Underwood acquired the Appert label in 1964,

Shippam's.[22]

Sale to PET

Underwood, which up to this point had been privately owned by the Underwood family, was sold to

Pillsbury Company acquired Pet, Inc.,[23] and began a modernization process that included warehousing, production, and processing. In 1999, New York's B&G Foods acquired the Underwood foods business, including the line of Underwood's canned meat spreads, sardines, B&M products, and Ac'cent flavor enhancer.[24]

Underwood first canned deviled ham in 1868, as a mixture of ground

trademarked in 1870. The company claims that it is the oldest food trademark still in use in the United States. The red devil that debuted in 1895 and started as a demonic
figure evolved into a much friendlier version when compared to the original.

The older version, in use during the first half of the 20th century, can be seen in many old magazine advertisements, such as one from Woman's Home Companion, August 1921.[25] It lacks the pitchfork and smile of the modern version, and has long fingernails or claws not found in the modern version. The barbed tail is in the shape of the letter W, and along with the lower-case M to the right of the devil forms the abbreviation "Wm.", for William, as in William Underwood.

The lettering in the logo and on the can spouting small flames, reinforcing the spicy devil concept. In 2008, B&G Foods updated the devil logo by adding color to the previously all-red image. The pitchfork became black, and small amounts of yellow were added in the tail and horns, along with shading to add depth. The yellow in the tail and horns was later removed.

The devil logo has appeared on Underwood products that are not deviled, as part of the overall brand identity, such as

sardines, liverwurst, corned beef and chicken spreads and chicken breast. In the 1980s, an animated version of the devil logo was created for TV advertising.[26]

Other companies have sold deviled ham products. In 1900, at least seven other companies produced their own versions of deviled ham, among them Armour and Company, and Libby's.[27]

  • An illustration of a can of Underwood Deviled Ham, 1921 advertisement.
    An illustration of a can of Underwood Deviled Ham, 1921 advertisement.
  • Advertising in the Ladies' Home Journal, 1948.
    Advertising in the Ladies' Home Journal, 1948.
  • 2008 logo from Underwood Chicken Spread. Color and shading were added to the previous logo.
    2008 logo from Underwood Chicken Spread. Color and shading were added to the previous logo.
  • Underwood Deviled Ham, 2019.
    Underwood Deviled Ham, 2019.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Underwood Company.

References

  1. ^ Andrew F. Smith (18 September 2009). Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. Columbia University Press.
  2. ^
    PMID 7017141
    .
  3. ^ Shaw, F. H. (1957). The history of the William Underwood Company, 1821-1954. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University. (HU 90.7263, film 6209.) Pp. 13-14.
  4. ^ "World's Largest Sardine Factory". Fishervoice.com. October 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Wm. Underwood Sardine Factory". Vamonde.com. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Our brands". Generalmills.com. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. ^ Shaw, pp. 95–96
  8. ^ Shaw, p. 96
  9. ^ "Minister Beaupré to the Secretary of State". State.gov. 20 July 1907. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  10. ISBN 0917678338
    .
  11. ^ Goldblith, pp. 21-3.
  12. ^ Anne Trafton (12 January 2011). "Canned, good". Mit.edu. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  13. ^ a b Goldblith, p. 22
  14. ^ Goldblith, p. 24
  15. ^ Goldblith, p. 28
  16. ^ Goldblith, p. 125
  17. ^ Goldblith, pp. 125-6.
  18. ^ a b Goldblith, p. 128
  19. ^ a b c Goldblith, p. 130.
  20. ^ Steven R. Tannenbaum. "MIT Reports to the President 1996-97". Mit.edu. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  21. ^ a b c B&M History
  22. ^ "Shippam's of Chichester". Thenovium.org. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  23. ^ a b B&G History at FundingUniverse
  24. ^ "Pillsbury sells 6 food brands, including B&M Baked Beans". Bangordailynews.com. 30 January 1999. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  25. ^ Woman's Home Companion. (Aug, 1921). P. 65.
  26. ^ Jill Ottman (9 April 2016). "Ottman: The old red devil at the grocery store". Trib.com. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  27. ^ Shaw, pp. 93–94.

External links

Archives at
LocationMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Distinctive Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
IdentifiersMC-0486
AccessThis collection is open.
SourceWilliam Underwood Company Records, Scrapbooks, and Artifacts
How to use archival material
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