Oreo's are actually supposedly a knock off the Hydrox cookie, which looks almost like an exact copy of the Oreo. Usually, people think that the Hydrox cookie is a knockoff of the Oreo, but the Hydrox cookie actually came first. Hydrox cookies were introduced in 1908 by Sunshine Biscuit company, a company owned by Joseph Loose, Jacob Loose, and John H Wiles.
Below is a picture of the Hydrox cookie, and an advertisement.
Below is a picture of the Hydrox cookie, and an advertisement.
In 1890, Adolphus Green acquired a large number of bakeries joined together to form the American Biscuit company. in 1898, the American Biscuit company merged with even more bakeries to form the National Biscuit Company, now known as Nabisco.
The Oreo was created in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Nabisco. The factory was located on 9th Avenue between 15 and 16th streets. This road is now known as "Oreo Way".
The Oreo was created in 1912 by the National Biscuit Company, now known as Nabisco. The factory was located on 9th Avenue between 15 and 16th streets. This road is now known as "Oreo Way".
The first Oreo was sold on March 6, 1912 to a grocer from Hoboken, New Jersey. On March 14, 1912 a patent was applied for and was not registered until August 2, 1913. In case you were wondering, the patent number was #0093009. In 1913, the Oreo was officially named the Oreo Biscuit.
Although they were sold indivudually for about a month, on April 2, 1912 Nabisco announced that they would be releasing a trio of biscuits. The trio included the Mother Goose Biscuit, the Veronese Biscuit, and the Oreo Biscuit. The Mother Goose and the Veronese Biscuit did not sell well, but the Oreo sold well and eventually the other two biscuits were discontinued and the Oreo Biscuit was sold indivudually. Also, in 1920, a lemon filled Oreo was briefly introduced, but did not fare well and was discontinued not long after. In 1921 the name was changed to the Oreo Sandwich. The name was also changed to Oreo Creme Sandwich at one point, but I could not find the exact year this name change took place, but it was most likely in the 1940's.
Oreo's were originally sold in yellow tins, like these, for approximately 20-30 cents a pound.
Oreo's were originally sold in yellow tins, like these, for approximately 20-30 cents a pound.
The first design of the Oreo looked like this.
In 1924, the design was changed to this.
Then, in 1952, William A Turner designed the last change to the Oreo cookie. It has been the same since.
Below are some advertisements and old Oreo packaging.
An ad for the "Mother Goose Biscuit" introduced by Nabisco in 1912 as part of the "Trio", which was discussed above. I could not find an ad for the Veronese biscuit, also part of the Trio.
More Oreo advertisements
Thanks for reading!
I wonder how the ingredients have changed over the years? Presently, oreos contain an extreme amount of sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Was this always the case. Oreos are said to be as addictive as cocaine!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this informative post! It's interesting that the design of the Oreo's design has not changed since 1952 - that's a long time! I, too, am wondering about the ingredients and to what degree they have changed over the years.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what city was the Oreo made in in 1912?
One more comment: the name "Hydrox" strikes me as funny. It sounds more like a chemical, or a cleaning agent, than a cookie.
Great research!