Keebler

And the man behind the brand is...
Godfrey Keebler

Godfrey Keebler opened a small bake shop in Philadelphia in 1853. Around the neighborhood word got out that Keebler was baking the best cookies and crackers in the area. At the time there was no way to expand a bakery business, no matter how good; the available transportation just didn’t allow it. All around the country fine local bakeries like Keebler’s proliferated.

As horses and buggies gave way to automobiles and trucks, fresh baked goods could be delivered in a wider area than the neighborhood; distribution expanded to a regional level. Owners of local bakeries realized that certain advantages, such as purchasing economies and pooled transportation, could be derived by banding together into a business federation.

In 1927 the Keebler family bakery, now passed down from Godfrey, joined a consortium of bakeries to form the United Biscuit Company. The network eventually marketed cookies and crackers in every state east of California under a wide variety of brand names. In 1966 the company decided to operate under a single name. Of all the existing names “Keebler” was judged to be the most sound and memorable. The Keebler elves, created by a Chicago advertising firm in 1968, have made Keebler one of the most recognizable names in America.

Today Keebler is America’s second largest producer of cookies and crackers in bakeries across the country. None, however, operates in Godfrey Keebler’s hometown of Philadelphia.