Betty Crocker: The Imagined Conscious of Minnesota
Betty Crocker: The Imagined Conscious of Minnesota No matter what she or her company thinks of gay marriage, Betty Crocker remains a Minnesota treasure. By: Megan Suckut
Image Credit: General Mills It’s easy to get caught up in which companies support Minnesota’s proposed ban on samesex marriage and which don’t. Since its statement opposing the ban at the beginning of the summer, Golden Valleybased General Mills and its subsidiary brands, including Betty Crocker, have faced both protests and praise. Yes, even a brand as beloved and sacred to the state of Minnesota as Betty Crocker can fall victim to political movements. The problem when politics get involved in a cultural icon like Betty is that we tend to forget our real, bonafide connection to the icon. But Betty Crocker is up to more than just politics these days, as the brand continues to reflect the best of Minnesota to the world, regardless of political stance. Despite the lifelike portrait and friendly attitude, Betty Crocker never existed. Her character was created in 1921 by Sam Gale, advertising director of the Washburn Crosby Company, which became General Mills in 1928. He named her Betty because it was a “cheery” name, and Crocker came from the company’s recently retired director. Gale came up with the idea to create a fictitious kitchen expert to field the flood of letters with questions about baking, but
also to answer these letters in more of a personal manner than before, when Gale, himself, answered and signed them. Betty may be a fictional character, but she came at the right time to the right people, said Susan Marks, author of Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America’s First Lady of Food. “We like the idea of this allknowing grandmother figure who can help us whenever we have a question,” she said. “We’re too savvy now about these sort of things, so it would be impossible to create a character like her today. But with Betty, we still want to hold on to this nostalgic memory, even if it’s not from our era.” With the creation of Betty Crocker in 1921, the company began a policy of answering every single letter that came in for her. During the height of her popularity in the 1940s, that meant up to ten thousand letters per day, with a team of experienced home cooks employed fulltime just to handle all of them. While the policy was a living trademark of Minnesota Nice, it also proved that Minnesota’s lively food culture did in fact extend beyond hot dishes. People all around the country who were buying her cookbooks and tuning in to her radio cooking show, the first in the country, called “Betty Crocker School of the Air,” were asking for baking tips, recipes and solutions for their cooking problems, as well as general advice related to love, running a household and dealing with neighbors. This exemplified how the food culture of Minnesota was closely tied to wholesome family values and providing a voice for the American housewife, as well as providing the world with tried and tested baking tips straight from the Betty Crocker Test Kitchens. It was important for the company to give valuable advice to those asking for it, and that kept the letters pouring in. “I think we all sort of have this idea in our head that every recipe has been tested and all the kinks have been worked out,” Marks said. “There’s a part of Betty Crocker that has melded in with our culture, not just her character, but in dishes we all know.” The blend of Minnesota’s notoriously Scandinavian heritage and rich agricultural and milling traditions made it the perfect place for Betty to develop nofail recipes for cakes, including those of the bundt variety. That led to the first cake mixes, designed to ease housewives’ stress of baking a cake from scratch and wondering if it would turn out. Cake mixes took off by the 1950s and revolutionized home baking practices. Just as her brand was there to help others enjoy cooking from the very beginning, Betty still stands for fussfree cooking, from boxed mixes for various meals to a website with easy recipes and advice. Her newest cookbooks accommodate modern food trends like lowcarb and glutenfree diets. She has even picked up on the current microbrewery craze, offering tips on brewing and enjoying beer.
Betty is a perfect representative of the friendliness and foodiness of Minnesotans both back in the day and today, so the fact that her parent corporation took a political stance a couple of months ago shouldn’t change what Betty means to Minnesota. She is a product of cutting edge advertising savvy and a willingness to help anyone and everyone who needed help, and she reflects the Minnesota traditions of the importance of family and good cooking. No matter her parent company’s stance on gay marriage, abortion, foreign aid, etcetera, it’s impossible to find a better Minnesota representative than General Mills’ own Ms. Betty Crocker. Good thing Paul Bunyan hasn’t offered his opinions on alternative energy sources yet.
Image Credit: General Mills It’s easy to get caught up in which companies support Minnesota’s proposed ban on samesex marriage and which don’t. Since its statement opposing the ban at the beginning of the summer, Golden Valleybased General Mills and its subsidiary brands, including Betty Crocker, have faced both protests and praise. Yes, even a brand as beloved and sacred to the state of Minnesota as Betty Crocker can fall victim to political movements. The problem when politics get involved in a cultural icon like Betty is that we tend to forget our real, bonafide connection to the icon. But Betty Crocker is up to more than just politics these days, as the brand continues to reflect the best of Minnesota to the world, regardless of political stance. Despite the lifelike portrait and friendly attitude, Betty Crocker never existed. Her character was created in 1921 by Sam Gale, advertising director of the Washburn Crosby Company, which became General Mills in 1928. He named her Betty because it was a “cheery” name, and Crocker came from the company’s recently retired director. Gale came up with the idea to create a fictitious kitchen expert to field the flood of letters with questions about baking, but
also to answer these letters in more of a personal manner than before, when Gale, himself, answered and signed them. Betty may be a fictional character, but she came at the right time to the right people, said Susan Marks, author of Finding Betty Crocker: The Secret Life of America’s First Lady of Food. “We like the idea of this allknowing grandmother figure who can help us whenever we have a question,” she said. “We’re too savvy now about these sort of things, so it would be impossible to create a character like her today. But with Betty, we still want to hold on to this nostalgic memory, even if it’s not from our era.” With the creation of Betty Crocker in 1921, the company began a policy of answering every single letter that came in for her. During the height of her popularity in the 1940s, that meant up to ten thousand letters per day, with a team of experienced home cooks employed fulltime just to handle all of them. While the policy was a living trademark of Minnesota Nice, it also proved that Minnesota’s lively food culture did in fact extend beyond hot dishes. People all around the country who were buying her cookbooks and tuning in to her radio cooking show, the first in the country, called “Betty Crocker School of the Air,” were asking for baking tips, recipes and solutions for their cooking problems, as well as general advice related to love, running a household and dealing with neighbors. This exemplified how the food culture of Minnesota was closely tied to wholesome family values and providing a voice for the American housewife, as well as providing the world with tried and tested baking tips straight from the Betty Crocker Test Kitchens. It was important for the company to give valuable advice to those asking for it, and that kept the letters pouring in. “I think we all sort of have this idea in our head that every recipe has been tested and all the kinks have been worked out,” Marks said. “There’s a part of Betty Crocker that has melded in with our culture, not just her character, but in dishes we all know.” The blend of Minnesota’s notoriously Scandinavian heritage and rich agricultural and milling traditions made it the perfect place for Betty to develop nofail recipes for cakes, including those of the bundt variety. That led to the first cake mixes, designed to ease housewives’ stress of baking a cake from scratch and wondering if it would turn out. Cake mixes took off by the 1950s and revolutionized home baking practices. Just as her brand was there to help others enjoy cooking from the very beginning, Betty still stands for fussfree cooking, from boxed mixes for various meals to a website with easy recipes and advice. Her newest cookbooks accommodate modern food trends like lowcarb and glutenfree diets. She has even picked up on the current microbrewery craze, offering tips on brewing and enjoying beer.
Betty is a perfect representative of the friendliness and foodiness of Minnesotans both back in the day and today, so the fact that her parent corporation took a political stance a couple of months ago shouldn’t change what Betty means to Minnesota. She is a product of cutting edge advertising savvy and a willingness to help anyone and everyone who needed help, and she reflects the Minnesota traditions of the importance of family and good cooking. No matter her parent company’s stance on gay marriage, abortion, foreign aid, etcetera, it’s impossible to find a better Minnesota representative than General Mills’ own Ms. Betty Crocker. Good thing Paul Bunyan hasn’t offered his opinions on alternative energy sources yet.
