12000 East Roosevelt Boulevard, Philadelphia PA
(at Byberry Road)
© Irving Kosmin, Workshop of
the World (Oliver Evans Press, 1990).
Nabisco Brands, Inc. was
created in 1981 with the merger of the National Biscuit
Company (from 1898) and Standard Brands, Inc. (from
1929). This merger produced a five and one-half billion
dollar a year company with 61,000 employees and
production in 34 countries outside the United States. The
National Biscuit Company came into existence from the
efforts of a group of 40 midwestern bakers at the turn of
the twentieth century, who were concerned about the bad
publicity caused by outbreaks of disease attributed to
the small, independent bakeries. The bakers approached
Chicago attorney Adolphus W. Green, who amalgamated their
businesses into the American Biscuit & Manufacturing
Company. About the same time, another Chicago attorney,
William H. Moore, put together a group of eight eastern
bakeries into the New York Biscuit Company; in 1898, the
two merged along with the smaller U.S. Baking Company, to
form the National Biscuit Company.
National Biscuit's first product, "Uneeda Biscuits,"
championed the new packaging of interfolded layers of wax
paper and cardboard, to form a sanitary "in-er-seal." On
the box, the design of a clear-eyed child in a yellow
rain slicker, with hat, boots, and a box of biscuits, to
denote the moisture-resistance of the package, was
placed. Along with it came the company trademark, an oval
surmounted by a double-barrel cross. A tremendous variety
of products followed over the next several decades: Zu-Zu
Ginger Snaps, Nabisco Sugar Wafers, Barnum's Animal
Crackers, Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, Babe Ruth
Candy Bars, Shredded Wheat, Ritz Crackers, and Milk-Bone
Dog Biscuits.
Standard Brands, Inc. came into being in 1929 with the
merger of the Fleischman Company (makers of baking
yeast), the Royal Baking Powder Company, and the Chase
& Sanborn Coffee Company.
Competition between the National Biscuit Company and
Standard Brands was intense and their growth across the
globe over the next several decades was dramatic. In
1976, Nabisco, as it had been officially called since
1971, reached two billion dollars in sales; in 1977
Standard Brands reached the same plateau. Four years
later, the companies merged into Nabisco Brands, Inc.
The plant on Roosevelt Boulevard was constructed for
National Biscuit Company in 1950. It replaced the older
plant at Broad and Glenwood Streets. It continues to
produce Nabisco products for the Philadelphia area.
Update May
2007 (by
Harry Kyriakodis):
The 620,000-square-foot facility on 28 acres continues to
operate. Construction began in 1955 and the factory
started production the following year. The plant's 700
employees work three shifts on eight ovens, sometimes
seven days a week, which means that cookies and crackers
can be made nonstop for weeks. The factory's 9-story
tower is a Northeast Philadelphia landmark. The
well-remembered red "NABISCO" lettering on the tower's
east side was removed and replaced with much a smaller
"KRAFT FOODS" sign and symbol sometime after 2000, when
tobacco giant Philip Morris purchased Nabisco Holdings
Corporation for almost $15 billion. Its Kraft Foods
subsidiary now operates the many former Nabisco factories
across the nation.