Hi, I found these boxes of corn starch in my mom's house several years ago. HOw many of you used corn starch over the holidays? The Cream Corn Starch box fascinated me as it looked really old, so I did some research on both brands. Hope you enjoy the comparision. (Check out the price on the Cream Corn Starch box top)
The A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company (referred to henceforth as "Staley") was the first major company existing today to begin crushing soybeans to yield oil and meal; they started in 1922. Indeed Mr. A.E. Staley was one of the first Americans to see the great potential of the soybean as a source of oil, meal, and flour.
Augustus Eugene (Gene) Staley was born on 25 February 1867 in a log cabin in Randolph County near Julian, North Carolina, on his father's 265-acre red clay farm.
Busy with farm work, Gene dropped out of primary school after a few years. At age 14 he successfully sold a wagon load of his father's produce in the nearest town. Soon he decided he liked selling better than farming, so he left the farm in 1883 (at age 16) and went on the road selling food products, including starch, for various companies. In 1898 he founded his own company, A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company?? in Baltimore, Maryland, and began packaging and selling "Cream" corn starch.
In 1906 he incorporated the company in Baltimore. In 1909, wanting to manufacture his own corn starch, he bought a plant in Decatur, Illinois.
Augustus Eugene (Gene) Staley was born on 25 February 1867 in a log cabin in Randolph County near Julian, North Carolina, on his father's 265-acre red clay farm.
Busy with farm work, Gene dropped out of primary school after a few years. At age 14 he successfully sold a wagon load of his father's produce in the nearest town. Soon he decided he liked selling better than farming, so he left the farm in 1883 (at age 16) and went on the road selling food products, including starch, for various companies. In 1898 he founded his own company, A.E. Staley Manufacturing Company?? in Baltimore, Maryland, and began packaging and selling "Cream" corn starch.
In 1906 he incorporated the company in Baltimore. In 1909, wanting to manufacture his own corn starch, he bought a plant in Decatur, Illinois.
1892--Argo corn starch is launched. The name, Argo, continues to be a source of much conjecture even to the present. It may have derived from the fact that customer price lists were printed in alphabetical order, and the name Argo would appear above then-competitor Kingsford's.
1899--Argo, Kingsford's and two other starch companies merge to form the United Starch Company, a forerunner of The Corn Products Refining Co.
1940’s--A 1940s Argo Corn Starch label features a recipe for corn-starch based Creative Clay, a homemade moldable material that children can use to fashion ornaments and gifts.
1964--A new corn maiden appears on the Argo corn starch package.
Information from http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/ae_staley_manufacturing.php and http://cornstarch.com/about_us.html
Interesting information on the corn starches.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Southern Belle!
ReplyDelete