by Susan Marks
A major factor in the renewed interest in Betty was the reintroduction of her portrait in magazine and newspaper advertisements. In 1988, Betty resumed her former role as spokesperson with a two-page ad in Sunday coupon circulars, which prominently featured Betty’s portrait with the headline “The First Lady of Desserts, Re-Elected America’s #1 Dessert Choice,” along with coupons for Supreme Brownie Mix, Wild Blueberry Muffin Mix, SuperMoist Cake Mix, and Creamy Deluxe Frosting, all with the red spoon logo. An entirely new generation got a peek at the elusive Betty Crocker, with her portrait suggesting that if you can see her, she must be real.
The Spirit of Betty Crocker
To commemorate Betty’s platinum anniversary in 1996, General Mills kicked off a year-long celebration of all things Betty Crocker. The Betty Crocker 75th Anniversary Diamond Sweepstakes yielded one sweet story. Twenty-two-year-old Jeff Joerger, a construction worker from Cedar Falls, Iowa, was the first of seventy-five to win the grand prize: a .75-carat diamond pendant necklace. “I buy Betty Crocker brownies all the time and I didn’t even know there was a contest going on,” Joerger said. He planned to have the diamond, appraised at $4,000, reset as an engagement ring for his fiancée. Joerger pledged his ongoing loyalty to Betty Crocker brownie mixes “because they’re easy to make and taste great.”
The main event, the Spirit of Betty Crocker essay contest, required more skill than luck. Contest organizers called for seventy-five women—“ages 18 to 118” and living in North America—to be the inspiration for the new Betty Crocker portrait. Each application, whether submitted by an individual herself or on behalf of a loved one, was held to strict criteria. The nominee was required to submit a personal photograph, the name of a favorite Betty Crocker recipe or product, and, most important, an essay describing her Betty-like skills and qualities: cooking and baking, resourcefulness and creativity in everyday tasks, commitment to family and friends, and community involvement.
“We’re hoping for an exciting array of nominees,” said a spokesperson for General Mills’ Betty Crocker Products Division. “Every age, occupation and walk of life is invited.” Approximately 210 television and 559 radio stations and 1,500 newspapers reported the multicultural concept behind Betty Crocker’s new portrait, a politically correct morphing of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian female faces to reflect the ever changing multicultural mosaic of America. “There’s a little bit of Betty Crocker in everyone,” General Mills ventured. Or as Russell Adams, the chairman of African-American studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., told The Wall Street Journal, Betty “will be less white bread and more whole-wheat.”
Between 4,000 and 5,000 nominations for the Spirit of Betty Crocker arrived at General Mills headquarters, pitting college cheerleaders against great-grandmothers, research scientists against lawyers, teachers, doctors, homemakers, and elected officials for the coveted seventy-five finalist slots. A panel of six women of equally diverse backgrounds selected the winners. “As part of the judging procedure, we weren’t allowed to see photos of the women, but could only read their nominations,” explained judge Barbara Davis (president of Ken Davis Products, a Minnesota-based food company). One winning essayist pro-claimed:
For me the phrase “Spirit of Betty Crocker” conjures images of the heavenly aroma of devil’s food cake baking in my grandmother’s kitchen and me sticky-faced with whatever batter is left on the beaters while my two younger brothers clean the mixing bowl and spatula with grubby little hands. It’s me busily chopping pecans in a old wooden bowl and learning how to crack eggs into a cup and dropping them one at time into the dry mix, breathing in the chocolate dust, then helping my great grandmother count 300 strokes by hand while she mixes brownie batter in her favorite blue stoneware bowl.
The Spirit of Betty Crocker winners ranged in age from twenty to eighty-three, hailing from thirty-one states and two Canadian provinces. “I’m happy to be a part of this history,” said a fifty-three-year-old winner, Sandy Work, of Affton, Missouri. “Fortunately, I look good in red.” Sofia Schwarz, of Seattle, said, “It’s so wonderful to see the new portrait and to know that I was part of the inspiration. Betty Crocker has been a part of my life for many years and I’m proud to be a part of her today.” Among the winners was a woman whose given name was actually Betty Crocker—one of seven Betty Crockers to enter the contest. Prizes included a Betty Crocker red spoon diamond pin, a special copy of Betty Crocker’s anniversary cookbook, and a $500 donation to an elementary school of the winner’s choice.
Best of all was the permanent spot in Betty history. To create the Betty Crocker seventy-fifth anniversary portrait, General Mills commissioned a Florida firm, Lifestyle Software Group, to digitally blend the facial features of all seventy-five winners with the 1986 Betty portrait. Each of the seventy-five would receive 1.3 percent representation, less than a person’s genetic share in a newborn great-great-great-grand-child.
The design process—which The Wall Street Journal called “the wildest face lift in the history of American marketing”—took five graphic artists six weeks to complete. A Minnesota artist, John Stuart Ingle, had the challenge of transforming this composite into a believable portrait without losing Betty Crocker’s distinct qualities. “Painting the portrait of Betty Crocker was a daunting task, but these women and their heartwarming stories truly inspired me,” said Ingle. “I’ve portrayed a woman who is exceptionally knowledgeable, yet imminently approachable and genuinely caring.”
Betty Crocker’s seventy-fifth anniversary portrait update. The artist, John Stuart Ingle, painted the portrait from a computerized composite of the faces of the seventy-five winners of the Spirit of Betty Crocker contest.
On March 19, 1996, the unveiling ceremony was televised live from New York City’s Hotel Inter-Continental. Ingle’s rendition is the first brown-eyed Betty Crocker. Her eyes have an almond shape and she looks about forty years old, give or take a few years. For the first time since 1955, she is showing some teeth. The new Betty has a Latina look, and her completion is darker, less rosy than the former Bettys’. Her short, no-nonsense hair is dark with ever-so-slight auburn highlights. She wears a red V-neck, button-down cardigan with a white, round-collared blouse underneath. A not-so-subtle gold necklace is in evidence, along with simple gold earrings. One commentator noted that Betty looks like many women dressed in casual Friday attire or to attend her kid’s soccer game.
More than 700 newspapers, 460 television stations, and 565 radio stations carried the news of Betty’s newfound multiculturalism, which generated 350 million media impressions in just one year. By and large, the 1996 Betty was well received. Several critics did complain that she seemed to be caught in a computer-generated trance; others could not get past the painted window backdrop, which seemed to come directly out of Betty’s head. Most of the controversy surrounding Betty’s new look rather tamely grazed the surface of deeper issues such as how this exercise in political correctness might have been undertaken merely for the sake of turning a profit. In September 1995, even before the official unveiling, the Christian Science Monitor voiced a few mild quibbles-“And while Betty gets a new look, is she holding onto certain ideals of American women … that also need updating? … Yes”—but ultimately pronounced that Betty can offer “the best of both worlds.” Many applauded General Mills’ efforts to make Betty Crocker more ethnically inclusive. The historian Ruth Cowan allowed that “to some people,” Betty’s ethnic portrait “may smack of political correctness, but what it is is responsiveness. This society is dealing with a different racial mix than it has in the past.” And the columnist Bill Maxwell of the St. Petersburg Times called Betty’s seventy-fifth-anniversary portrait “noble,” suggesting that Betty Crocker and her African-American counterpart, Aunt Jemima, could be tablemates in an ambassadorship of culinary and cultural goodwill.
However, Betty’s “everywoman portrait” did touch off one overarching debate, which stemmed from General Mills’ claim that she represents a diverse market. C
ritics cried foul, citing the exclusion of men who use Betty Crocker’s products and recipes. Tepid charges of sexism inevitably led to suggestions that the next portrait update should morph men’s faces into Betty Crocker, giving Betty an androgynous look. Fortunately, most critics conceded that a she-male Betty Crocker was no solution. Some journalists campaigned for a male sidekick for Betty—Bob Crocker. But what chance does Bob Crocker have in a realm traditionally dominated by women? Ultimately, these skirmishes underscore Betty Crocker’s most human limitation: she cannot possibly be all things to all people.
Despite the great challenge of reflecting the scope of a national market in one woman’s portrait, the corporate vision for Betty headed straight and strong into the new millennium. Soon after the unveiling of Betty’s 1996 portrait, she made a comeback on many packaged food items. Her face also appears on her interactive website, in cookbooks and recipe booklets and in many newspapers that run her syndicated column, Ask Betty. Visitors to Betty’s home state can catch a glimpse of her at special events sponsored by Betty Crocker Kitchens or spot her every August when she smiles from the rafters above the Betty Crocker Kitchens’ demonstration booth at the Minnesota State Fair. In 2001, an entire ballpark of minor league baseball fans received a Betty mask on a stick, celebrating Betty Crocker Day at a St. Paul Saints game. And a permanent exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society’s Mill City Museum pays homage to their hometown girl. All roads in Minnesota do not lead to Betty, but many do lead to Betty Crocker Drive.
Notes
Chapter One: The Making of an American Myth
9 “Why does my cake fall?”: See James Gray, Business Without Boundary: The Story of General Mills (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954), p. 172.
11 “Betty” sounded cheery, wholesome, and folksy: Ibid., p. 173; General Mills, “Betty Crocker … 1921—1954” (Minneapolis, privately printed, c. 1954) p. 2; Norman Carlisle, “The Amazing Lady Who Ran Away With a Company,” Cornet, December 1954, p. 143. Note: As far as creation myths go, Betty Crocker’s is legendary—with at least a handful of people taking credit for it.Consequently, there are several versions of Betty’s origins. Gray’s, et al, versions are the most widely recognized and probable version of Betty Crocker’s creation.
11 “The winner was a secretary named Florence Lindeberg”: Gray, p. 174.
12 those “big, shiny pieces”: “History of Housework,” transcript of Susan Stamberg interview of Susan Strasser, Morning Edition, National Public Radio, August 24, 2004.
14 “sauces … even mayonnaise!”: General Mills Inc., Gold Medal Flour Cook Book (Minneapolis: Washburn Crosby Co., Reprint, 1983), from the Preface.
14 Lydia E. Pinkham: See Juliann Sivulka, Soap, Sex, and Ciga-rettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising (Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing, 1997), p. 39.
14 women controlled 80 to 85 percent of consumer spending: See Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity 1920—1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986), p. 66.
14—16 “At Miss Farmer’s Famous”: McCall’s, February 1926, p. 78.
16 “apprenticeship of the stove”: Gray, p. 178.
16 approaching 106 million: http://www.census.gov, Appendix A, United States’ population and Census Cost.
16 on meat, vegetables, eggs, and flour: Ladies’ Home Journal, May 1925, p. 139.
17 “Pour a little Pillsbury’s Pancake Flour”: Ladies’ Home Journal, February 1924, p. 70.
17 Swans Down brand: Ladies’ Home Journal, October 1924, p. 104.
17 “finest wheat”: Ladies’ Home Journal, April 1925, p. 137.
17 “Aunt Jemima Pancakes”: Ladies’ Home Journal, January 1924, p. 111.
17 “Aunt Jemima didn’t use ordinary flour”: Ladies’ Home Journal, March 1924, p. 145.
17 “Gold Medal Label”: McCall’s, October 1926, p. 26.
17 “Unqualified Guarantee”: Ladies’ Home Journal, September 1925, p. 216.
19 “Pillsbury’s Best Flour”: McCall’s, October 1926, p. 91.
19 “Why pay more?”: McCall’s, October 1926, p. 26.
19 “Miss Betty Crocker and her staff”: Ladies’ Home Journal, September 1925, p. 216.
19 “neat wooden box”: McCall’s, April 1926, p. 37.
20 “for only $1.00”: McCall’s, November 1926, p. 53.
20 “my biscuits are wonderful dainties”: Gold Medal Flour magazine advertisement, 1927, General Mills Archives.
22 Home economists Ina Rowe: Gray, pp. 171, 175—77.
22 “faint suggestion of sogginess”: Washburn Crosby Company, What Every Woman Should Know About Baking: The New Meaning of Flour—by Betty Crocker (Minneapolis: Washburn Crosby Co., 1926), p. 2.
22 auditoriums filled to capacity: General Mills, oral history of Marjorie Child Husted, conducted by Jean Tell, July 26, 1985; The Eventually News, August 1, 1923.
22 borrowed electric stove: Ibid.
25 “art of camp cookery”: General Mills, The Eventually News, September 13, 1922.
26 “Science in Your Oven”: Ladies’ Home Journal, May 1924, p. 145.
26 “recipe you’d love to prepare”: General Mills, Inc. Gold Medal Flour Cook Book (Minneapolis:Washburn Crosby Co., reprint, 1983), preface.
26 “Times certainly have changed”: Ibid.
26 “at about $900”: Bunny Crumpacker, The Old-Time Brand Name Cookbook: Recipes, Illustrations, and Advice from the Early Kitchens of America’s Most Trusted Food Makers (New York: Smithmark, 1998), p. xiv.
26 “Electrical equipment”: McCall’s, June 1927, p. 37.
26 “Up-to-Date Kitchen League”: McCall’s, June 1926 , p. 38.
27 “Westinghouse Electrical Appliances”: Ladies’ Home Journal, February 1925, p. 170.
27 “The Kitchen is the cheapest”: Ladies’ Home Journal, April 1924, p. 84.
27 “more than ninety-five”: McCall’s, June 1927, p. 37.
28 Fannie Farmer had to pay: http://www.foodreference.com.
28 “that remorseless demand”: Ladies’ Home Journal, May 1924, p. 86.
29 radio ownership soared 2.5 million: http://www.rca.com.
29 National Broadcasting Company: Ibid.
29 topped out at 30 million: Ibid.
29 its nearest competitor: Ladies’ Home Journal, January 1925, p. 134.
30 “voices are real“: Ibid., p. 100.
30 “The radio made Betty”: General Mills of Minneapolis, Fortune, April 1945, p. 117.
30 Blanche Ingersoll introduced herself: Gray, p. 176.
30 “Good morning”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, October 2, 1924, General Mills Archives.
31 People’s Gas Company: History of Betty Crocker, General Mills internal document, n.p., n.d., General Mills Archives.
31 “If you load a man’s”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, October 2, 1924, General Mills Archives.
31 “she has the wrong point of view”: Ibid.
32 “it may be that you are a young housekeeper”: Ibid.
32 “Gold Medal Radio Station”: McCall’s, October 1926, p. 91.
35 Betty Crocker’s Cooking School of the Air: General Mills, “Betty Crocker … 1921—1954” (Minneapolis, privately printed, c. 1954), Appendix “a.”
36 “make the humdrum exciting”: Excerpts from letters sent to Betty Crocker, 1920s—1930s, General Mills Archives.
36 “And the men—indeed I have not forgotten the men”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, January 20, 1926. General Mills Archives.
37 twelve regional stations: Betty Crocker Radio Script, September 21, 1925, General Mills Archives.
37 “Won’t it be fun”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, October 5, 1927, General Mills Archives.
38 “making history this morning”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, January 20, 1926, General Mills Archives.
38 Each week, “tens of thousands” of letters: Gray, p. 177.
38 “I am a young bride wanting so much to do things right in cookin
g”: Excerpt from letter sent to Betty Crocker, 1920s—1930s, General Mills Archives.
39 Marjorie Child Husted: Gray, p. 175.
41 “I like to picture you as I talk”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, October 5, 1927, General Mills Archives.
41 Marjorie Child Husted was not exactly Betty personified: Gray, p. 175; Marjorie Child Husted’s unfinished autobiography, Child Family Collection; Carol Pine, “The Real Betty Crocker is One Tough Cookie,” Twin Cities, November 1978, p. 46; General Mills, oral history of Marjorie Child Husted, conducted by Jean Toll, July 26, 1985.
41 Under Husted’s direction, Betty Crocker’s cooking shows: General Mills, “Betty Crocker … 1921-1954” (Minneapolis, privately printed, c. 1954), pp. 3—5. Note: Throughout Betty Crocker’s thirty-plus years on the radio, her programs also aired on CBS and ABC networks, depending on contractual agreements and individual stations.
42 “Please don’t let me do all the planning”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, October 5, 1927, General Mills Archives.
42 “danger of her capturing my husband?”: Excerpt from letter sent to Betty Crocker, 1920s—1930s, General Mills Archives.
43 “And now in closing”: Betty Crocker Radio Script, April 1, 1927, General Mills Archives.
Chapter Two: Betty Goes Hollywood
49 NBC network, several mornings a week: Ladies’ Home Journal, January 1930, p. 146.
49 radio advertising dollars reached 31 million: http://www.media history.umn.edu/time.
49 “The radio, it seems to me”: Christine Frederick, “A Real Use for Radio,” Good Housekeeping, July 1922, p. 77.
